Such an interesting idea! Unfortunately for me right now, the tendinitis in my right thumb makes hand-writing uncomfortable. If the steroid shot helps, perhaps I can try it then.
My handwriting isn’t very round either. I was in public school for grades 1-3, then private. Interesting…
oh, WOW. i thought i was the only person who held her pen oddly. it caused my teachers all manner of grief as well. and i think you’re right about public/private. my handwriting was never cute and round, either.
but i love this idea – it’s just so much more personal. i’m inspired to write a few ACTUAL LETTERS today, so thanks for that!
I have lousy handwriting. It always gets compared to a fifth grade boy’s, and honestly that’s about right. No round cuteness, just jagged edges, and everything way too intense because I press down too hard on the pen. I love this idea!
I hold my pen like that too, or at least similarly. My teachers always tried to change it but never managed. I even have a little bump on the top of my right ring finger from the pressure of the pen sitting there.
I’m a lefty, so I have horrible, smudged handwriting, and I’m sure I hold my pen incorrectly. I never had a teacher who knew how to teach me how to write. Or, I missed the Left-Handed Handwriting Assembly.
I hold my pen the same way you do. I drove my parents and teachers CRAZY. It was so uncomfortable for me to hold the pen the “correct” way. I never had nice cursive writing, but yours in quite nice and easy to read.
I have nice handwriting when I try, which is pretty much never. And I also hold my pen oddly, but not in the same way you do. I hold it between my index and and middle fingers, with the thumb supporting it.
And I like how your ‘y’s and ‘g’s have the big fishhook swoop on them.
I don’t think we did the fancy dotting of the i’s, either. I have some vague recollection of trying it once or twice, but just not feeling it. Fun post!
I think the phenomena of the round bubble writing is more of a trend that, I guess, passes through public school more so than private. One girl learns from an older sister or someone older they know, then her friends start following it because it’s “cool.”
Personally, I didn’t like the bubbly style all that much. I usually write small, so trying to write big and round was too much effort.
In public school I think handwriting was like a competition among the girls rather than a learned thing – who had the prettiest handwriting? Which resulted in everyone having identical, loopy, heart-dotted letters. Mine was like that until college when copious note-taking made me scrawl. As an adult, it’s screwy – it changes every time I write. Which might make it easy to pass off a murder as a suicide – I’d never get caught by handwriting analysis. Just a thought.
I never had that “girly” writing style either. I went to public school… maybe I did miss an assembly. Anyway, apparently my husband mistakenly attended the assembly, because he uses a little circle to dot the i.
I hold my pen the same way- I also remember the little triangle things my teachers would put on my pencil to try to force me to hold it “correctly”. Didn’t work. Just made the callous on my ring finger all the more prominent. (Do you have a callous there too?)
One of my first graders is also holding her pen this way, and her teacher mentioned it at conferences. I just sighed. Let them try, that’s my theory.
I write big and not too badly. I went to private school for 13 years. I do not nor have I ever dotted I’s with hearts or circles. I like seeing people’s handwriting. I think it’s interesting.
I’m not sure it was an assembly, but rather a bunch of girls copying off of each other. I distinctly remember several different “fads” that swept through my classes with making lowercase “a” just as shown – w/ the little hat. Also, dotting the “i” w/ a tiny circle, or worse, a tiny heart. There was also a strange “s” craze where the top of the “s” was written as an abrupt diagonal slant w/ a full, round bottom. There was also a point where we all thought it was cool to write everything in CAPS, w/ the capitalized caps just a tad bit bigger than the lowercase caps. That stopped pretty quickly b/c the teacher took off points for it.
I hold my pen like you do…that’s natural to me (obviously, I’ve been doing it awhile). My teachers never tried to correct it they just told me it was wrong again and again and again.
For a long time I aspired to be a lefty and would practice daily. That didn’t work…
You do have nice handwriting. I remember well practicing mine in grade school, but as I recall the goal wasn’t bubble handwriting but the swoopy, glamourous kind. But it looks like your hand would hurt if you held it that way for long — did that ever happen?
Hmmm you may be onto something. I went to Catholic school and don’t have the fancy bubble writing either. But I definitely did the circle i’s and maybe for a short while the hearts? I always blamed my issues on being left-handed though. Yours is definitely nice and readable. I like it!
I did the circles on the i’s for awhile but moved out of it for some reason. (Probably peer pressure…school!) My friend now STILL does it (at 30 years old!) and it makes me think her handwritting is so childish. Mean, I know. I like your long tails on your letters though. Very swoopy!
Graaaah, I never got all As in Catholic school due to handwriting. Boo hiss. I hold my pen the way you do and have had a callous on my right birdie finger since I was taught cursive (grade 2). I LOVE your script! It’s so elegant!
I always associated that bubble writing w/ popular kids – isn’t that strange? Mine is not bubbly and I wasn’t one of the “popular” kids… I went to private school, but there were kids in my school w/ that writing.
I like this for a post, maybe I’ll steal it during NaBloPoMo!
My mother used to make me sit at the kitchen table and practice “penmanship” the way she had been taught it at school. I am pretty sure it was called the Palmer method, and it was a matter of practicing making flowing circles within the lines on your paper. As if this wasn’t bad enough, she’d insist that my posture had something to do with it and make me sit up straight (tor-ture!) and put both feet squarely on the floor. If I had known about Child Protective Services in those days, I would have turned her in. And it didn’t work for me anyway. My handwriting is just okay, sometimes lousy, and hers was seriously beautiful. Oh well, I’ll try to fall back on my other attributes!
I LOVE this post!! I am so fascinated with people’s handwriting. I met alot of friends on the internet and a lot of times I’d ask them to fax me a handwritten note just so I could see their handwriting. I might have to do this on my blog as well although I’m pretty sure no one could read it. I did go to public school and I never had the handwriting you speak of either, at least I don’t think so. I used to work on having really nice hand writing and copy other people’s hand writing. But in the end, I just inherited my dad’s and my grandmother’s handwriting. I’m pretty sure we were all doctors in previous lives. =) I trained myself to hold my pen/pencil odd in HS becuase I’d developed a calous on my middle finger from holding the pen properly, but with too much tension. So I made myself start holding it on the ring finger so relieve the tension on the middle finger. my handwriting did not improve at all.
I never hand write anymore if I can help it. and I found that when I starting typing on a computer, my creative writing improved and opened up soooo much because I could finally almost keep up with my brain. My hand and a pen never could.
You are squeezing the shit out of your pen. Poor thing. I like your handwriting not bubbly. Mine is bubbly and I’m embarrassed by it. I normally write in all uppercase print to avoid Teh Cute.
I just posted this so I thought but I don’t see it now. Hope it doesn’t show up twice.
I think your handwrting is perfectly fine. It is maybe not the MOST aesthetically pleasing but perfectly legible which is more that can be said for mine. I’ve adopted this weird half cursive – half print style that I can’t seem to shake. I can’t even remember how to make most cursive uppercase letters anymore . . .
BUT! Forget HOW you are writing – what are you writing WITH?!? I remember a discussion where all your pen-freak readers came out but I don’t recall a follow-up with your findings. Don’t leave us hanging . . .
Sally- I think my favorites are the new Sharpie pens, but those are kind of intense for regular letter writing, so then I use a bank pen my friend mailed me.
I hold my pen the same way! But no one’s ever given me crap over it. Did you know your BF Target is selling a fountain pen from Pilot called the Plumix? It is seriously awesome, and has such a nice design, feel, and heft. It turns my scribble into something elegant. I got one for my niece as she is as much of a pen fanatic as I am. :)
I have really nice handwriting and I hold my pen the same way you do. No one noticed until I was about 12 and my mom (a teacher) asked me one day, “How long have you been holding your pen like that?” I just laughed and told her she was way too late to change that.
I finally got around to doing this myself. Handwriting fascinates me. I have to say, though, the way you hold your pen looks painful! You don’t get a hand cramp?
Such an interesting idea! Unfortunately for me right now, the tendinitis in my right thumb makes hand-writing uncomfortable. If the steroid shot helps, perhaps I can try it then.
My handwriting isn’t very round either. I was in public school for grades 1-3, then private. Interesting…
oh, WOW. i thought i was the only person who held her pen oddly. it caused my teachers all manner of grief as well. and i think you’re right about public/private. my handwriting was never cute and round, either.
but i love this idea – it’s just so much more personal. i’m inspired to write a few ACTUAL LETTERS today, so thanks for that!
I have lousy handwriting. It always gets compared to a fifth grade boy’s, and honestly that’s about right. No round cuteness, just jagged edges, and everything way too intense because I press down too hard on the pen.
I love this idea!
I hold my pen like that too, or at least similarly. My teachers always tried to change it but never managed. I even have a little bump on the top of my right ring finger from the pressure of the pen sitting there.
I’m a lefty, so I have horrible, smudged handwriting, and I’m sure I hold my pen incorrectly. I never had a teacher who knew how to teach me how to write. Or, I missed the Left-Handed Handwriting Assembly.
I hold my pen like that too!!
I hold my pen the same way you do. I drove my parents and teachers CRAZY. It was so uncomfortable for me to hold the pen the “correct” way. I never had nice cursive writing, but yours in quite nice and easy to read.
I have nice handwriting when I try, which is pretty much never. And I also hold my pen oddly, but not in the same way you do. I hold it between my index and and middle fingers, with the thumb supporting it.
And I like how your ‘y’s and ‘g’s have the big fishhook swoop on them.
I don’t think we did the fancy dotting of the i’s, either. I have some vague recollection of trying it once or twice, but just not feeling it. Fun post!
I think the phenomena of the round bubble writing is more of a trend that, I guess, passes through public school more so than private. One girl learns from an older sister or someone older they know, then her friends start following it because it’s “cool.”
Personally, I didn’t like the bubbly style all that much. I usually write small, so trying to write big and round was too much effort.
In public school I think handwriting was like a competition among the girls rather than a learned thing – who had the prettiest handwriting? Which resulted in everyone having identical, loopy, heart-dotted letters. Mine was like that until college when copious note-taking made me scrawl. As an adult, it’s screwy – it changes every time I write. Which might make it easy to pass off a murder as a suicide – I’d never get caught by handwriting analysis. Just a thought.
I never had that “girly” writing style either. I went to public school… maybe I did miss an assembly. Anyway, apparently my husband mistakenly attended the assembly, because he uses a little circle to dot the i.
I hold my pen the same way- I also remember the little triangle things my teachers would put on my pencil to try to force me to hold it “correctly”. Didn’t work. Just made the callous on my ring finger all the more prominent. (Do you have a callous there too?)
One of my first graders is also holding her pen this way, and her teacher mentioned it at conferences. I just sighed. Let them try, that’s my theory.
I write big and not too badly. I went to private school for 13 years. I do not nor have I ever dotted I’s with hearts or circles. I like seeing people’s handwriting. I think it’s interesting.
I’m not sure it was an assembly, but rather a bunch of girls copying off of each other. I distinctly remember several different “fads” that swept through my classes with making lowercase “a” just as shown – w/ the little hat. Also, dotting the “i” w/ a tiny circle, or worse, a tiny heart. There was also a strange “s” craze where the top of the “s” was written as an abrupt diagonal slant w/ a full, round bottom. There was also a point where we all thought it was cool to write everything in CAPS, w/ the capitalized caps just a tad bit bigger than the lowercase caps. That stopped pretty quickly b/c the teacher took off points for it.
I hold my pen like you do…that’s natural to me (obviously, I’ve been doing it awhile). My teachers never tried to correct it they just told me it was wrong again and again and again.
For a long time I aspired to be a lefty and would practice daily. That didn’t work…
You do have nice handwriting. I remember well practicing mine in grade school, but as I recall the goal wasn’t bubble handwriting but the swoopy, glamourous kind. But it looks like your hand would hurt if you held it that way for long — did that ever happen?
hehe – you were right – it’s all about handwriting! I don’t have great handwriting, but it’s better than my husband’s. He’s a lefty though.
Hmmm you may be onto something. I went to Catholic school and don’t have the fancy bubble writing either. But I definitely did the circle i’s and maybe for a short while the hearts? I always blamed my issues on being left-handed though. Yours is definitely nice and readable. I like it!
I did the circles on the i’s for awhile but moved out of it for some reason. (Probably peer pressure…school!) My friend now STILL does it (at 30 years old!) and it makes me think her handwritting is so childish. Mean, I know. I like your long tails on your letters though. Very swoopy!
I love this idea! And I love your handwriting.
Graaaah, I never got all As in Catholic school due to handwriting. Boo hiss. I hold my pen the way you do and have had a callous on my right birdie finger since I was taught cursive (grade 2). I LOVE your script! It’s so elegant!
I always associated that bubble writing w/ popular kids – isn’t that strange? Mine is not bubbly and I wasn’t one of the “popular” kids… I went to private school, but there were kids in my school w/ that writing.
I like this for a post, maybe I’ll steal it during NaBloPoMo!
Okay, here’s how old I am…
My mother used to make me sit at the kitchen table and practice “penmanship” the way she had been taught it at school. I am pretty sure it was called the Palmer method, and it was a matter of practicing making flowing circles within the lines on your paper. As if this wasn’t bad enough, she’d insist that my posture had something to do with it and make me sit up straight (tor-ture!) and put both feet squarely on the floor. If I had known about Child Protective Services in those days, I would have turned her in. And it didn’t work for me anyway. My handwriting is just okay, sometimes lousy, and hers was seriously beautiful. Oh well, I’ll try to fall back on my other attributes!
I LOVE this post!! I am so fascinated with people’s handwriting. I met alot of friends on the internet and a lot of times I’d ask them to fax me a handwritten note just so I could see their handwriting. I might have to do this on my blog as well although I’m pretty sure no one could read it. I did go to public school and I never had the handwriting you speak of either, at least I don’t think so. I used to work on having really nice hand writing and copy other people’s hand writing. But in the end, I just inherited my dad’s and my grandmother’s handwriting. I’m pretty sure we were all doctors in previous lives. =)
I trained myself to hold my pen/pencil odd in HS becuase I’d developed a calous on my middle finger from holding the pen properly, but with too much tension. So I made myself start holding it on the ring finger so relieve the tension on the middle finger. my handwriting did not improve at all.
I never hand write anymore if I can help it. and I found that when I starting typing on a computer, my creative writing improved and opened up soooo much because I could finally almost keep up with my brain. My hand and a pen never could.
but I still love looking at handwriting.
so thanks for this post. dig it!
I do not have round handwriting. Private school grades 2-5, your theory has legs.
Your handwriting has character, round bubble writing does not.
I hold my pen the same way, and so does my 2-year-old. Is it genetic? Or is the wrong way just so instinctively right?
Love it. Your handwriting is very soothing.
I’m afraid I’m one of those round, bubble people, though I do not recall an assembly. Must have been out sick.
I sign a lot of crap at work, including CHECKS, and the owner of our company once called my handwriting “boisterous”. Hmm.
OMG! I hold my pen the EXACT same way, and people have been giving me crap about it for YEARS!!!
So awesome to find out I’m not the only one!
Your handwriting looks so much like mine!!
You are squeezing the shit out of your pen. Poor thing. I like your handwriting not bubbly. Mine is bubbly and I’m embarrassed by it. I normally write in all uppercase print to avoid Teh Cute.
I just posted this so I thought but I don’t see it now. Hope it doesn’t show up twice.
I think your handwrting is perfectly fine. It is maybe not the MOST aesthetically pleasing but perfectly legible which is more that can be said for mine. I’ve adopted this weird half cursive – half print style that I can’t seem to shake. I can’t even remember how to make most cursive uppercase letters anymore . . .
BUT! Forget HOW you are writing – what are you writing WITH?!? I remember a discussion where all your pen-freak readers came out but I don’t recall a follow-up with your findings. Don’t leave us hanging . . .
Sally- I think my favorites are the new Sharpie pens, but those are kind of intense for regular letter writing, so then I use a bank pen my friend mailed me.
I hold my pen the same way! But no one’s ever given me crap over it. Did you know your BF Target is selling a fountain pen from Pilot called the Plumix? It is seriously awesome, and has such a nice design, feel, and heft. It turns my scribble into something elegant. I got one for my niece as she is as much of a pen fanatic as I am. :)
I have really nice handwriting and I hold my pen the same way you do. No one noticed until I was about 12 and my mom (a teacher) asked me one day, “How long have you been holding your pen like that?” I just laughed and told her she was way too late to change that.
I finally got around to doing this myself. Handwriting fascinates me. I have to say, though, the way you hold your pen looks painful! You don’t get a hand cramp?
How did I miss this post? I hold my pen the same way!!! Ouch it hurts.