How To Have Better Handwriting

When you are writing letters, you want nice, clean, happy penmanship that is legible and suits your personality.

It’s a point of pride for paper and letter lovers.

But some of us might be new to writing letters, or not already in the habit of writing daily. Those of you may want to have better handwriting, but don't know where to start. I have been changing, practicing, and perfecting my handwriting for years, so I’m here to help. 

The best way to have better handwriting is, of course, to practice. Now, I’m not going to tell you to start writing for 10-20 minutes a day, because I know that I’d be silly to think you don’t already have a full schedule. If you can work up to it, great. But if you’re not ready for that, you can always try incorporating writing into your everyday lifestyle. I’ll put some tips below for how and when to practice.

• Hand-write lists and ideas

In today’s digital age, we often make our lists and record our ideas on our phone. If you want to have better handwriting, convert more of your notes and lists back to paper!

• Copy a recipe from online, instead of bookmarking it or emailing it to yourself.

• Write someone a handwritten note instead of sending a text.

• Plan your week out on paper. 

Whether you use a bullet journal, single sheet of paper, lined notebook, or a paper towel, make a weekly schedule for yourself to practice spacing (both your letters and evenly dividing up your paper).

• Journal daily, weekly or bi-weekly

Journaling is tough to keep up with if you’re not already in the habit of doing it. If you want to journal more often and you want the habit to stick, it is best to start off doing it once a week, then gradually move up to a few times a week, then daily. Any habit is easier to pick up if you can match it up with something already in your routine. Pick a regular time and place to write, like every morning while you have your coffee or every day while the kids are napping, or each evening after the dishes are done. To learn more about habits, pick up this amazing 30 Day Habit Journal by the Dutch company WorthyTweaks. It changed my life. 

Other than practicing, there are other simple things you could do to have better handwriting. I’ll put a few more below.

• Try adjusting the way you hold the pen or pencil. Experiment with a new grip.

• Try different brands and types of pens.

Inkgel, ballpoint, fine point, felt… the list goes on and on. Try out new pens and see which one fits your fancy!

• Try writing at a slant, or tilting the paper at an angle.

• Make sure your hand is relaxed. Don’t grip the pen with white knuckles.

• Pick a letter and try different variations of it.

Don’t we all have letters that we think are ugly? Or at least ugly when we write them? I used to always struggle with the capital letter “J”. It just didn’t look that great when I wrote it and it didn’t match the rest of my handwriting. One day, when I’m in the mood to write but I don’t know what, I’ll get out a piece of scrap paper, make a bunch of different variations of that letter until I found one I like. It usually trickles into my natural handwriting over the course of the next few weeks, and in a few months, the strokes are practiced and it looks even better, even if I write it in a rush. If you need inspiration, do a Google or Pinterest search.

• Try out new fonts and practice them

You can print out your favorite Google Docs or Microsoft Word fonts and copy them as you journal, write lists, write letters, or write nonsense. Just type the alphabet, one letter at a time. Be sure to type out all capital and lowercase letters. Print it out and practice the letters. (For detailed instructions, read this companion blog post on How to Write in Different Fonts).

Well, those were quite a few of my tips on how to have better handwriting... I hope they were helpful to you! I would love to see and hear about your progress.

Did you learn something new from this blog post? Let me know what you thought in the comments below, and share with a friend!