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Ever since I was a kid, I've had lousy handwriting. I remember when I was in grade school my parents had me working with someone outside of school to even hold a pencil properly for writing. I got through handwriting classes, but barely, and even then my writing was sloppy but fully legible. As I grew, I ended up caring less about sloppiness and whenever I could type something, I did so. These days my normal handwriting just kinda sucks - it's a scrawl that I can read and maybe my dad, who has even worse writing. I don't always handwrite but when I do, it causes a bit of straining sensation in the middle of the back of my hand and around my wrist. As such, I can't handwrite for too long without taking breaks. This is only relevant when I'm studying for IT certification exams - I take notes as I go with a pen and paper, it just helps me remember better. I'd like to be able to write for longer at a stretch if at all possible. I tend to push down on the pen a little bit when writing and have to force myself to relax, but the issues persist. Here's some photos of my lovely handwriting and probably lovely pen holding, if it helps. I've already tried using different pen grips but no luck there. If there's something I can try, I'm  .  
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Oct 5, 2017 18:04
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| # ? May 3, 2024 21:41 |
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Are you squeezing the pen hard? That makes my hands sore. Try using a more gentle grip. If you need to push down hard with your pen, try using a gel pens instead, I find those tend to glide across the paper a lot easier than regular pens. Pens that write finely also like to cut into the paper in my experience so you could get something bolder if that is an issue at all.
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Oct 5, 2017 18:29
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1) Don't squeeze the pen so hard. You might not think you're doing this, but if you're having problems pushing down on the paper then you're probably squeezing too hard as well.. 2) If you have to use pens, buy better pens. A better pen will give you a better line with less pressure. Go to an office store and look at their pens and scribble on the scratch paper there. Then go get them off of Amazon for cheaper. 3) If you don't have to use pens, try using a decent mechanical pencil. This helped me stop pushing down so hard on the pen because when I'd do it I'd break the lead. 4) Write slower and neater. This will help, I promise you. You won't clamp down so hard, and you won't move your hand as much.
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Oct 5, 2017 21:43
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Dude, you might have dysgraphia. Think of it kinda like the output version of dyslexia. My solution is to type. They hadn't identified it yet when I was in public school, so they just assumed I was retarded and put me in special ed class. Then they realized I'm a genius, took me out of special ed, put me into gifted classes (which I highly recommend you never do to your kids) and assumed I was just lazy. Which I am, but that wasn't the reason my handwriting is horrid. So they gave me a little electric typewriter to use, and off I went. I have no problem painting minis, playing complicated video games with rapid intricate inputs, playing clarinet, I got fine motor skills all over the place, but goddamn, I simply cannot form legible letters without an amazing amount of effort and discomfort, and even then, for short periods of time.
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Oct 6, 2017 14:22
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Well, you might try holding your pen a little higher up, but have you considered a fountain pen? They require no pressure at all to write, and it's much easier to write using your wrist and elbow rather than your fingers, which is normally the problem. Join us. Do not be afraid.
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Oct 6, 2017 15:34
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What's with the weird yellow grip attached to your pen? It almost looks like you're kind of cradling it with your middle, ring, and pinky fingers when they should be fairly relaxed.
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Oct 7, 2017 06:53
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The grips are something used for people who find pens painful to hold. I think it's a thing if you have large hands because I have to hold them the same way and it does hurt after a while.
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Oct 7, 2017 20:02
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Seriouspost: like this.
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Oct 7, 2017 20:43
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I too have very bad handwriting (teachers had mentioned dysgraphia to me) and my hands get strained easily. Like TheCenturion said, I find it way easier to type than I write, and since I finished my undergrad I almost never write on paper (even when I was on school I didn't take many notes either). The other thing that helps me, as a few other posters mentioned, is to get better pens. I use extra-fine-tip gel pens and that's just about the only thing that doesn't bother my hand so much. I've also heard good things about fountain pens, although I've never tried them.
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Oct 8, 2017 16:07
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Getting better pens or whatever isn't going to make your handwriting better. Although writing with a fountain pen you need very little pressure so that might help with your strain issues but you'll probably get ink all over your fingers. You learned how to write in a hosed up way as a kid, and now as an adult you solidified that muscle memory and continue to write that way. Some people with really good handwriting I notice turn the page they're writing on at an angle and actually write UP instead of across, which is weird but produces beautiful handwriting. You can look up YouTube exercises for handwriting that after months of daily effort you'll start to see improvement. I've been through all this myself. I was embarrassed of my handwriting because it looks like a child's, but really like you said the majority of the time we just type nowadays.
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Oct 9, 2017 05:48
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bromplicated posted:Getting better pens or whatever isn't going to make your handwriting better. It won't make your lovely handwriting less lovely, but it can make your lovely handwriting cause you less hand pain.
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Oct 9, 2017 05:56
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I could never get past about half a page without severe pain all the way through high school and switched to that between the fingers grip + fountain pen in my 20s, seriously, best thing I've ever done for myself.
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Oct 9, 2017 06:50
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I've never heard of that between the fingers grip before and it looks super weird to me. I tried it just now and of course since I've never done it before the writing came out all screwy, but it didn't feel nearly as bizarre as I expected. If I put a couple weeks' effort into it I'm sure I could get used to it. So yeah, you might want to give that a try, OP. I can almost guarantee it will hurt your hands less than your current grip does. It DOES pretty much force you to keep your hand still and write with your arm.
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Oct 9, 2017 14:26
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Dysgraphia kinda makes sense. I was born in 82 so I grew up in an era where attention to these sorts of things was not paid and we were still in "your son isn't applying himself or staying focused, he needs to try harder" and all the fun stuff that came with. Even now I kinda find myself asking "why did I write DNS when I was literally thinking DHCP" or other minor transpositions. I imagine as a grown adult it's a bit too late to fix, but it would definitely be within spec for all the other ADD/ADHD problems I had growing up. The thing with me is that I tend to remember stuff better when I write it down, and typing it just doesn't quite have the same impact since I'm a really good typist. I think I tried fountain pens once a year or two ago but I can't recall if it worked or not. I also used that tiny-rear end five-dollar fountain pen. I just ordered a Metro and we'll see if that helps. That between-finger grip felt way too weird for me to process. If I wasn't aiming to have notes transcribed for an exam by New Year's Eve I'd try it, but I'm a bit behind schedule. We'll see how things progress, never hurts to try.
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Oct 9, 2017 19:50
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In your second picture your hand looks crabbed, with the wrist bent and the hand level with the line you're writing. When I got one-on-one lessons a long time ago because of my lovely handwriting, this was the major change I can remember. What works for me now is when my hand and wrist are positioned directly below the word I'm writing. The barrel of the pen sits in the web of the thumb and forefinger, not the knuckle, and has a shallower angle so the hand doesn't block line of sight to the letters that I'm writing. The whole lower arm from the elbow shifts a bit when moving from one word to the other and the wrist stays more or less straight. I am a lefty though. Consistency of letters is what makes handwriting look neat, e.g all your c's start and stop at different angles. But that should come naturally if you have a more comfortable grip.
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Oct 9, 2017 23:08
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When I do that between the fingers grip the pen ends up directly along the line I'm writing on, it may mostly have been helpful by being so weird I was forced to actively think about what I was doing instead of going into badly-programmed autopilot
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Oct 10, 2017 02:05
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| # ? May 3, 2024 21:41 |
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All of my life I've had terrible hand cramps whenever I would write for a long time, so I can sympathize there. It took until college for me to realize that the writing utensils that are commonly available are made for much smaller hands than mine. The diameter on Bic pens and other cheap utensils is so small that I was using a death grip to try and get a feeling of control. When I started using pens with a diameter of around 12mm, it was a revelation. I can't really help on having better handwriting aside from just slow down and think about the marks you are making. My handwriting is much neater when I do so.
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Oct 22, 2017 00:12
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