Mine is absolutely horrible. It actually is illegible unless you're me. My boss thinks its the worst he's ever seen in his life.
It was never all that great but I admit I haven't written very much since high school when I started typing all the time. When I do put pen to paper, its usually short-hand notes I'm taking during a meeting or phone call.
My father's penmanship is immaculate. He takes great pride in it--he could easily be a letterer or even do calligraphy. He's also an amateur artist though. The reason I bring him up is two-fold: is his being so much better perhaps partially because of a generational gap and partially because he's an artist? How is the penmanship of some of our other artistic talents?
Posted by Dev Em on :
I waffle back and forth depending on who actually has to read it. If it's for me only...nobody is figuring it out. For others, totally legible.
Posted by cleome on :
I'd call mine serviceable. Nobody complains about being unable to read it, but nobody proclaims it to be beautiful, either.
I do get compliments on the sign lettering I do for the local co-op. After five years of volunteering, I can do it relatively easily, but I still wish it was better.
Posted by Kent on :
crappy. my mom always said that I should be a doctor, based on my poor handwriting.
and its gotten worse over the years, as my hand tends to cramp more.
Posted by Set on :
It was bad before I got onto the computer, and I resisted for like, a decade, being a luddite.
Now it's incomprehensible. Sometimes I can't sleep because of an idea running around in my head and sit up and jot it down to 'get it out of my head.' The next morning, it's gibberish and I feel like I'm trying to translate heiratic glyphs...
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
Well, I am not artistic. As for my penmanship. THe only thing I write in cursive is my signature. Everything else I print. I remember learning cursive in school, but After we were taught it, I went back to printing.
As for legibility, when I was studying for the bar exam, the review course said to check if your handwriting is legible. This is because there were 10 essay questions. Hard to score if they can't read your essay. To determine if your handwriting is legible, they suggested that you write down a paragraph or two of something and then giving it to someone else to see if they can read it.
Posted by Lad Boy on :
Elegant when the occasion calls for it, incomprehensible otherwise.
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
Terrible.
Basic print is poor. Cursive is illegible.
Even I don't know what I've written after awhile.
Posted by Karie on :
Mine is incredibly neat, i'm slightly OCD when it comes to my handwriting. Although I did do an article on a few bands one night, drank to much wine while I was listening to them, and then spent nearly a week trying to figure out what I'd written... I had three pages of scribbles and straight lines.
Posted by Set on :
Other bizarre quirk;
As a kid and teen, I wrote so small that nobody could read my writing.
And yeah, no cursive, just for my signature, which nobody is supposed to be able to read anyway...
Posted by Arachne on :
Mine's decent. I used to work pretty hard at it, though. I did calligraphy for awhile, too.
Posted by Jerry on :
Legible, but not pretty. Heavy and dark with little style. My parents were always pretty appalled by my penmanship and made me practice. When I was in high school, my mother complained about it to my English teacher at a parent teacher conference. The teacher showed her samples of the handwriting of the other boys in my class, which was much worse than mine. They laid off after that. My mom, dad, and sister all have beautiful penmanship.
Posted by Blacula on :
If I write very slowly mine can actually be quite neat and nice. But if I apply any type of speed to it, it becomes worse than a 3 year-old's scrawl. Completely messy and illegible.
I've just sat three exams and I feel sorry for the markers who have to try and make some sense of what I've written.
Of the generations thing - my Dad's is just as bad or worse than mine but my Grandad's was completely immaculate. He could write in that beautiful, flourishy calligraphy style that you might see in some centuries old book or something.
I wish I'd paid more attention to his tips and lessons when I was younger.
Posted by Triplicate Kid on :
Generally neat (and used to be more so). Not if I'm taking notes as someone's speaking, though; I'm not that fast. My style is close to standard school-taught handwriting, so it amazes me when some people have difficulty understanding it.
My brother has a similar style and quality. My mother was taught a rather flourishy style, but in my lifetime, she generally uses a half-writing-half-printing. My father's writing is illegible, which is probably why he almost never uses it. He does everything in printing, and that's quite sloppy and shaky.
Posted by stuorstew on :
Utterly appalling at the best of times and bizarrely gets even worse depending on the colour ink I am using.
Posted by Kent on :
even my print, which I think is legible, others have a hard time with. Even in block letters.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Mine is actually pretty good. Plus I like to experiment with it.
Also, I can imitate just about any handwriting I see. I was always the guy you brought something you needed a forged signature on in school.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Mine makes doctors go "Uhhh, wha...?"
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
My signature is the only thing I write in cursive any more.
My printing, when I'm not rushed, is very neat and legible, but I have to remember not to rush. I learned to write before my fine motor skills really developed, so I hold a pen kinda funny. The result is a very angular, almost elegant printing, if I take my time.
Otherwise, it's a jumbled mess.
Posted by Ram Boy on :
I write like a slightly retarded right-handed doctor who's using his left hand. BUT I can pull off a fairly decent style I developed (stretched out and slightly florid) for checks, cards and short letters.
I also print like a typewriter (fast, small and neat).
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH: Mine is actually pretty good. Plus I like to experiment with it.
Also, I can imitate just about any handwriting I see. I was always the guy you brought something you needed a forged signature on in school.
Awesome! Now I need to find Giff's handwriting and have you sign my GDS trade!
Posted by Sketch Lad on :
My printing looks like it's cursive somehow. Well, I do give the g's and y's a nice loop. When I begin a paragraph, I make the first letter rather decorative. But it's not over the top or anything!
My cursive actually isn't as nice looking as my printing which looks like cursive!
When I write in all caps, it sorta looks like traditional comic book lettering, but not as precise.
Like most of the others, if I rush, it can be nearly impossible to read what I wrote.