National Handwriting Day Thoughts

National Handwriting Day Thoughts

It’s National Handwriting Day today and this made me have a few thoughts about handwriting using fountain pens.

Fountain pens are often thought of as the upper echelons of writing implements, and therefore if you use a fountain pen to write with, you must have very very nice handwriting.
However, this is not necessarily the case.
I personally have quite poor handwriting (though some people do say that it looks quite nice), but I do not feel the hand writing using a fountain pen actually improves your handwriting at all.

Using a fountain pen does not mean that you are into calligraphy - calligraphy pens are different to fountain pens (but there are some similarities).
A couple of years ago, a department at my then place of work asked me to handwrite all of their Christmas cards for them because they knew that I was into fountain pens - I declined. This wasn't just a case of "no, I'm not writing all of your bloody Christmas cards for you" - I pointed out to the staff that my handwriting isn't good. Fountain pens don't make your handwriting look any better (they can make it look worse!) and just because you like using fountain pens, this doesn't mean that your handwritten script looks good.

When I first started my Fountain Pen Journey I did feel that I needed to improve my handwriting. However over the years I discovered that improving one’s handwriting 1) isn’t necessary and 2) actually doesn’t mean anything to anyone else. With this in mind, all I need to tell you is this: Enjoy using your fountain pens for whatever purposes you enjoy using them for.

Nib size (width) has a great deal of effect on how your handwriting looks: Fine nibs often result in really quite scrawly, chicken scratch type handwriting (try using an EF Japanese nib!), whereas broad nibs can make it look like you have written your sentences using a felt tip.
As for selecting the best nib width for your handwriting, the rule of thumb that I learned very early on is this: If you write the letter "e" and the top part of the "e" becomes enclosed (photo example below), then you need a finer nib.

Other factors which determine what width of nib is best for you handwriting is also dictated by the paper that you use (less absorbent papers make fine nib widths look finer and absorbent papers can make you handwriting lines much broader). Also worth remembering for anyone who uses lined paper is that the lines on the page should suit your handwriting size.

Personally, I use fountain pens for all handwriting, including note taking at work and at home and for journaling.
99% of the time, only I will read what I have written, therefore I don't put too much thought into how "neat" or "attractive" my handwriting is - Nobody else cares what it looks like!
For those times when I need to hand-write a note for someone else, I write in BLOCK CAPITALS. This doesn't look pretty, but it stands a better chance of being read than my cursive scrawl!

Ah, yes - cursive...
Over the past 2-3 years I have seen many social media posts decrying how "cursive" (which is just called handwriting, here in the UK) is becoming a lost art.
In my day job, most written communication is undertaken by typing things out. (Who remembers those Memo pads, on which people used to leave each other handwritten messages?) However, I do write myself handwritten notes every day.
Whilst I fully accept that typing is now a big part of our daily lives (I'm typing this blog - you wouldn't appreciate reading this in my handwriting!), does this mean that handwriting is on the decline? Probably not, though many schoolchildren in the UK are now far more comfortable with typing things than they are with using a pen and paper.
Being able to write with a pen is a necessary skill (imagine not being able to fill out a paper form yourself), though the requirement to hand-write is nowhere near as important as it once was.

What does matter is that your handwriting is legible...

Fountain pens encourage us to have good handwriting - It's an expectation.
Unfortunately, look through any fountain pen social media posts and you will see lots of examples of other peoples' handwriting. It often looks very nice, but almost all of the time it is actually unreadable.
Maybe I'm getting grumpy as I get older, but it grinds my gears when people flaunt their "neat" and "attractive" handwriting, but it is a puzzle to try to decipher what it says.

If you want to improve your handwriting, then go for it. If you are happy with how you write, just carry on doing it this way. What matters is that you enjoy using your fountain pens.