6 Super Simple Tips to Improve Your Handwriting

Would you like to make your everyday handwriting more beautiful? A beautiful handwritten script can turn paper craft projects and artwork into meaningful, artistic messages. And making your day-to-day handwriting worthy of creative projects isn’t as hard as it seems.

White handwriting on black

As a professional calligrapher, I spend a lot of time thinking about calligraphy and handwriting. I’ve come up with a handful of tips for how anyone (not just artists!) can transform their handwriting.

1. Write slowly.

Writing slowly is the easiest way to improve your handwriting immediately. When you take your time writing, you can pay more attention to the actual shapes of the letters, instead of just the content.

2. Use guidelines.

Having your writing clearly sitting on a line improves the clarity. If you can’t use lined paper, lightly draw in your own lines using a ruler and pencil.

3. Pay attention to your posture and position.

In historical movies, you might notice that characters who are writing pen and ink letters are seated at a desk with an inkwell nearby. They’re not writing on a scrap of paper against the door of the horse drawn carriage!

Take a hint from yesteryear: Posture is key to improving your handwriting. Sit down comfortably to write, with your feet on the floor and back straight. Do not hunch or curl over your writing; stay upright. Keep your writing in front of your chest, not to the left or right of your body.

Calligraphy Tools

4. Use nice materials.

Bring out your lovely paper and your favorite pen, and watch your writing improve! Using nice materials will automatically make your more attentive to the shapes your are creating. Write with your beautiful fountain pen every day.

5. Don’t forget spacing

Keep enough space between the lines of your writing. When you leave more room between lines, you can avoid collisions of ascenders and descenders (such as the tail of the g or the loop of the f). This will greatly improve legibility. Another rule of thumb: Keep the equivalent of a small letter n in between each of your words or numbers.

6. Hold your pen gently.

Don’t strangle your pen. Don’t push too hard. Enough said.

Share tips, start a discussion or ask one of our experts or other students a question.

2 Responses to “6 Super Simple Tips to Improve Your Handwriting”

  1. Nancy

    Why are there two dots over the y?

  2. Jean Tremblay

    Have a little difficult understanding posture and position. Is your way that you show on this site the right way