What you write with and what you write on can make a whole lot of difference

Relaxing exercises

Free scribbles help you to loosen up. Do some and you will soon see how easily your pen should travel across the paper. Use them whenever you are tensed up, when retraining your grip, or when trying out a different pen.

Most of us at one time or another reach for the nearest ballpoint to make a quick note. You may cling to a favourite fountain pen that has great sentimental value. However, its nib or barrel may not have been chosen to suit you at all. You must experiment with all kinds of writing implements to see what suits you best. Try everything that you can lay your hands on, from an extravagant gold nib to the cheapest pen you can fi nd. Walk into a good stationery shop and sample the wide variety of points and barrels that is available.

The most expensive is not necessarily the best for you.

Next try this experiment. Begin with a pencil with a very hard lead.

Write out a simple sentence. Repeat the same sentence with a soft-leaded pencil and then with as many different pens as possible.

You will notice how different they feel to write with, and you will see how your writing changes too.

Left-handers need as free-fl owing a point as possible, so perhaps a fi bre tip would suit them best. Other people say just the opposite:

they fi nd these pens run away with them. They lose control and their writing deteriorates, so they might prefer a traditional fountain pen or the discipline of a broad-edge nib.

Try a variety of pens.

The traditional way of holding a pen is in a gentle pincer grip between your thumb and fi rst fi nger, resting on the middle one. The angle of the pen to the paper will vary from person to person and from pen point to pen point. This penhold may not work as well with modern pens. See pages 33 and 34 for illustrations of an alternative penhold.

You must choose what is easiest for you to write with and what is best for the appearance of your handwriting.

The size and shape of the barrel affect the way you hold your pen.

This, in turn, can make a difference to your writing. You must fi nd a pen that is comfortable for you to hold. There are fat pens and medium-sized pens. If you like using a very slim pen, then you can buy the fi bre-tip refi lls that are meant to fi t inside expensive cases.

There are barrels moulded to different shapes that are supposed to be easy to hold. Some pens are made of shiny materials, some matt. There are round pens and pencils, and hexagonal ones.

Some people fi nd that hexagonal ones help to correct their grip.

What one person likes, another hates.

Of course you need not keep to one pen only. Different tools suit different jobs: a ballpoint may be best for writing notes in an aircraft and a broad-edge nib for a formal invitation.

The paper that you use also infl uences your writing. You write differently on a smooth surface than on a sheet with a slightly rough surface. Different pens behave differently, again depending on the quality of the paper.

That adds another permutation. When you have found a pen to suit your hand, fi nd a paper to suit your pen. As always, you must choose for yourself: the most expensive paper need not be the best.

7 Lines. Well spaced, even lines of writing create an immediate impression of clarity and legibility. Not everyone can achieve this. Their writing may sag in the middle of a line or droop at the end. It can go in a series of waves, perhaps colliding with the line above.

Few people are really happy writing important letters on lined paper.

If you have trouble keeping your writing in a straight line or level on the page, slip a ruled sheet of lines under your paper to guide you. It is quite easy to rule your own if the sheets that are usually supplied with writing pads are not spaced as you wish.

You do not want to get too dependent on guide lines. Use them only to train in good habits. It may not be your eye that is at fault.

You may be writing in fi ts and starts along a page. You need to even out your pressure and intensity to maintain a good fl ow of writing. Then your lines will become more regular.

Some people may occasionally feel the need for four guide lines. If so, it is important that they use a size that is appropriate to their usual handwriting.

There is an alternative to ordinary lines – the faintly squared paper much used in continental Europe. This gives a certain amount of lateral support without imposing any particular size.

Lines while retraining

The relaxing exercises are meant to be free and uninhibited, so they are best done on unlined paper. For all the other exercises, however, use lined paper or, even better, squared paper. Initially you will need the assistance that lines give you, as they help train your hand and eye together to produce a disciplined hand. Then you should be able to do without them. Do not choose a pad with lines too close together, however.

Double lines ruled to fi t your writing can be helpful in retraining really uncontrolled writing. More often they are used as a guide to enlarge a small writing or reduce a large one. Three or even

four lines can help where there are problems with ascending or descending strokes. They will help to stretch or shrink your writing as required, depending on how they are spaced.

Carefully measured lines are a help. Badly ruled ones are a hindrance, as your eye automatically obeys them.

Would some widely spaced double lines help this person with very small writing to write larger? Very unlikely. Relaxing exercises would be of more help.

Would double lines spaced closely together help this writer to write smaller? Not at all. He has slight co-ordination problems and fi nds it diffi cult to do the intricate movement that would enable him to reduce the size of his writing.