[HN Gopher] On Handwriting and Switching to Cursive
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On Handwriting and Switching to Cursive
Author : sonicrocketman
Score : 43 points
Date : 2024-02-25 07:27 UTC (15 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (brianschrader.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (brianschrader.com)
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| I like writing by hand, but why cursive? why not
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_lettering#Freehand_l... ?
| sonicrocketman wrote:
| I was already somewhat familiar with cursive, and I knew it was
| a ~more proper~ way to write in that cursive is designed to
| lessen strains on the hand and be easier to write at speed.
| Also I wanted to. -\\_(tsu)_/-
| vonjuice wrote:
| What's fairly clear to me is that it's not designed to be
| read. At least my own, it's just too easy to end up with an
| almost doctor's hand writing. I refuse that on principle.
|
| I had a similar click as you describe in starting to gain
| enjoyment out of handwriting, but for me was simply to get a
| pen that felt fluid and smooth.
| candiddevmike wrote:
| I wish my handwriting looked that good
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| It's not as if the latin alphabet has changed significantly
| over the last century, so there are plenty of handbooks which
| are long since out of copyright and have been scanned online.
| After finding one you like, it's just a matter of practising.
| adrian_b wrote:
| During high school, I have switched from cursive to technical
| lettering, and I have used that ever after, including for
| taking notes during university.
|
| With modern writing instruments, i.e. rollers or fineliners,
| the difference in speed between cursive and technical lettering
| is negligible and the latter is much more legible.
| pizzafeelsright wrote:
| Print for others. Cursive for me.
|
| I developed my own writing style. I can write about 60wpm.
|
| Cursive is faster than print at the cost of legibility for
| those with less than perfect penmanship.
| toomanyaccts wrote:
| Can you share more about using a dip pen for cursive? Or what pen
| you're using? I always assumed that would be rough given the
| upward strokes. I do love a dip pen, but it's definitely a slower
| mode.
| mistrial9 wrote:
| slow is a feature not a bug ?
| sonicrocketman wrote:
| For my daily-driver, I use a Schneider Fountain. The exact two
| I have aren't made anymore, but I linked the most similar one I
| could find.
|
| The dip pen is actually just one of those almost-novelty quill-
| looking ones. I cut off the ornamentation and just use it as a
| regular dip pen. Works great. It came with a set of nibs
| including one that is basically just a traditional fountain
| pen. That nib is the one I use the most.
|
| Importantly, dip nibs often splotch ink because they're coated
| with oils by the manufacturer. I found out much later that you
| need to prep the nibs before you use them (either by wiping the
| oils off or lightly burning it off, which is what I did). That
| fixed the splotchy-ness for good.
|
| Lately I've been considering some nice wooden dip pens.
|
| Fountain Pen: https://www.amazon.com/Schneider-Fountain-Light-
| Barrel-16820...
|
| Nib Prep Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE12e60BA6E
|
| [Edit: Addendum]
|
| Cursive felt slower to me at first, but now writing those print
| samples in the post felt slower than the cursive sample. It's
| really important to just practice the strokes. I spent an hour
| a day for almost two weeks just writing "the quick brown fox
| jumps over the lazy dog" over an over to get the strokes right.
| forbiddenvoid wrote:
| The first example that I think was meant to show "bad" is still
| about 100 times better than my handwriting has ever been.
| polycaster wrote:
| I've been intrigued by taking notes on paper often before. Every
| attempt has failed because of the lack of proper system for
| organization of my notes. For instance, I have two topics I have
| to take notes for. Now I have to start planning how much space I
| have to reserve for the first note. Otherwise I have to continue
| the note after the second note, which is kind of confusing. Are
| the handwriting folks among you using a particularly clever
| organizational system or is this just something you live with and
| even appreciate?
| sonicrocketman wrote:
| I've solved this in several ways that depend on the need.
|
| 1. Multiple small notebooks. I love ~50pg, 5"x7" lined
| notebooks. They're cheap, and portable. Just get one for each
| project.
|
| 2. I usually allow myself 1-2 extra pages for longer thoughts
| or things that will require follow-up. That almost always
| works.
|
| 3. Indexes. Set aside 20pgs at the front (or back) for a table
| of contents. I do this with my longer notebooks (~200pgs) and I
| never have trouble finding things. If you need to continue a
| section later on call it "Project X (cont.)"
|
| I feel like #3 is something that generations before us knew
| implicitly that we've forgotten.
|
| [edit: grammar]
|
| [Edit: Addendum]
|
| Also, _always_ date your entries. That helps a lot.
| polycaster wrote:
| Hey, thanks for the input. About the references ("Project X
| (cont.)"): Coming from a digital context this feels super
| awkward, naturally. But I come to believe that this might
| actually be supportive when it comes to navigating physical
| sheets. It might help to _shape_ your spatial model.
| BobaFloutist wrote:
| I rarely if ever use handwritten notes as a reference tool, I
| take handwritten notes because the act of taking the note helps
| me remember the material.
|
| If the material is something I particularly need to remember, I
| can shift it to an actual reference document which contains all
| the most essential details.
| quectophoton wrote:
| I don't organize in any clever way, but I use MUJI's loose leaf
| notebooks (I use A5 size but they have other sizes as well).
|
| Highly recommend.
|
| I can't use any other type of notebook more or less for the
| same reason as you, and this has made me stop worrying too much
| about writing stuff "the wrong way" or having the notebook
| become too thin because I remove sheets.
|
| So I just start writing about a "topic" on its own blank sheet,
| and then I periodically move stuff around when I need more
| pages. If I know I will write/draw a lot about a topic (e.g. a
| project I'm still brainstorming), I usually leave a few blank
| sheets between this and the next topic.
|
| Any unused blank pages can be shuffled around anytime. I like
| to move "quick reference" stuff to the beginning.
|
| The notebook always has roughly the same amount of sheets
| because even if I remove a few, I can add more in their place.
|
| If you go specifically for MUJI and want to try this out, the
| normal way would be to use their "loose leaf cover", but you'll
| only be able to fit around 80 sheets or so. If you want
| something more chonky, you can use their kraft or polypropylene
| binders as "cover" and just use that as notebook. I'm literally
| doing that, and it seems to be an expected use, because each
| loose leaf package has a _suspiciously convenient_ amount of
| sheets to conveniently fit one binder.
| rcarmo wrote:
| Cursive died when we got ballpoint pens, IMHO. I get the author
| found it easier to do cursive with a fountain/dip pen (I went
| through a phase where my college notes were also with those kinds
| of pens, because they were stylish _and_ fun to write with), but
| cursive quickly devolves into oblique scratches and loops when
| written at speed (or by doctors, cof cof).
|
| I (and my kids, who are teens) independently adopted a fairly
| standardized "printed" style as soon as we could. Nothing like
| the amazingly ruler-straight stylish handwriting my father has
| (having gone through "trade school", where readability was
| important, and being a jeweler/diamond cutter, where minutiae in
| control were appreciated), but at least our handwriting is
| legible.
|
| It could always do with a little more practice, though, and I
| resort to handwriting when I _really_ want to remember things.
| Using keyboards (even at speed) might be very much a sign of the
| times, but memory and retention simply isn't the same as the
| multiple associations you form when shaping out words with a pen.
|
| Which is why I still wish we had proper digital notebooks and
| insist on using Apple's Scribble whenever feasible -- even if
| it's frustrating, the interstitial thoughs you work through as
| you write really help with memory (and writing style).
| unsignedint wrote:
| Cursive writing often seems designed with right-handed
| individuals in mind. As someone who is left-handed, my last
| encounter with mandatory cursive writing was during my school
| years, within a brief part of the curriculum, and it was an
| exceedingly challenging experience. I find myself longing for a
| writing system that accommodates left-handed people more
| naturally and efficiently, offering an alternative that does
| not feel as cumbersome as cursive or as basic as print.
| sonicrocketman wrote:
| I'm left-handed too, and I've always felt that I struggled
| with handwriting partly because of that.
|
| Though after smearing my hands with ink for the past 12
| months, I can say that with some practice cursive has turned
| out to be fine. These days even the dip pen I'm using dries
| faster than I'm writing.
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