Wednesday, May 20, 2015

My 6 basic handwriting styles for snailmail


A big part of penpalling via snailmail is to have a great handwriting that is easy to read to the reciever. Most people who write often have a pretty decent handwriting -practice makes perfect.

When I was a kid I used to hate my writing but I have developed a few basic handwriting styles I tend to lean on. - They are pretty readible and easy. My biggest problem is, that when I get excited about writing something to a penpal I tend to get more and more sloppy throughout the letter so I'll have to work on that. - It's always a problem that the brain seems to work faster than the pen ;-)


1. My basic handwriting
This is the handwriting I usually use when I'm not really thinking. I like the spacing between the words and the easy to read letters - but it's a bit boring.


2. Capital letters
The capital letter handwriting is actually my favorite basic handwriting. As you can see in example 6 I like playing around with it - developing it. One of the other things I like to do with this writing is writing extremely small since it's still pretty easy to read.


3. Double First
This is a bit more elaborate and I usually use it in headlines, hello's etc. - It takes a bit longer to write it because you have to go over the first line of every letter twice. It looks great when colored in, in a contrasting color though.


 4. One leading to the next
When I get excited I sometimes can't wait for the pen to leave the paper before I begin the next letter. This results in a handwriting style like this. This was actually the way I was taught to write at school and therefore I find that it looks really childish - but it's easy and super fast to write like this ;-)


5. Lazy and flat
This is a handwriting style I like to use on bigger sheets of paper and when I don't really have that much to talk to my pals about but just want to send them a little greeting. If you compare number 1 to this it is basicly the same thing but this handwriting style has bigger spaces between the letters and often the letters are also 'flatter' or 'stretched' a bit. For an example of the stretched letters take a look at the "mps" in "jumps".


6. Playful capitals
The last basic handwriting style is a developement of #2. Here I play around with the last part I draw on some of the letters letting it swoop up/down or to the sides. Look at the "s" in "Jumps" or the "WN" in "brown". This is really fun and looks different every time I write it.

That's all for now. I hope these handwriting styles have inspired you. I am not a master writer but I have fun with my handwriting and I love playing around with it. I hope you will always be practicing your handwriting to make beautiful letters for your penpals!

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