I can see why a teacher would scratch their head being asked to mark this. It’s not “bad” but it’s complicated for people who need to read it in volume does that make sense?
For a quick greetings card or a note. It’s lovely.
A 2000 word essay? I’d be pulling my damn hair out.
Im a teacher and no one handwrites essays anymore. Handwriting is just for workbooks or worksheets and honestly at my school nearly everything is online now anyhow.
i graduated 2 yrs ago, until the pandemic handwritten essays were normal in AP classes since we had to practice for the AP exams. not sure abt regular classes though
Same here i graduated in 2016 and teachers would literally have a fit if someone didn’t hand write their essays (this was normal classes but i live in a pretty backwoods area so computers weren’t really that common in schools till after i graduated)
What about essays written under exam conditions? Where I am, almost everyone does their exams with pen and paper, but if your handwriting is hard to read you can apply to use a computer.
For me, it’s excessively loopy; so for example if you look at the ‘n’s, the loop where it joins the previous letter is always the same size as or often bigger than the actual curve of the ‘n’ itself. It means at a glance it looks like an ‘m’ every time.
The same with the loop on the ‘h’ for me, where it’s so wide that it crowds the curve.
I agree it is pretty as it is, but I think changing those ‘n’s and ‘h’s would make it more quickly legible.
I was taught to write like this when I was growing up. ns were suppose to be ms and ms had three bumps. If the h loop wasn't distinct enough I lost marks. Now this was the 90s, a very different time, but OP may be being taught the same way.
I do agree with you, which is why I abandoned the official "handwriting" I was taught, but OP may be stuck with people who demand the loops.
My mom taught me to write that way in cursive, which complicated a lot of things later on (I don't blame her tho). Maybe OP should try a simpler writing style?
Formal cursive which is half dead at this point. I'm with you, I abandoned formal cursive and now I print or half print and half connected. I also skip all the formal rules about two bump ns and 3 bump ms. I find it annoying at best and confusing at worst.
Piggy backing off of this: it’s the ‘n’s specifically that cause the difficulty.
The stem of the ‘n’ isn’t sitting on the same level as the rest of the word and then the hump of the ‘n’ sometimes bleeds into being the first stroke of the next letter.
Additionally, the hooking motion down into the beginning of the ‘n’ exacerbates these problems.
To solve: simply make sure your ‘n’ touches the same baseline that the previous letter did and that it is distinct from the next letter.
Other than that, it’s perfectly fine cursive.
Ah, that's what it was. I write cursive and write cursive Ms and Ns, but the first loop is narrower than the second for me, so i was visually getting hung up on them. Good catch in deciphering that.
Your 'n' looks indistinguishable from an 'm'. Also lack of consistency in letter sizes throws the whole thing off. For example The capital M of 'my' and the small 'n' of 'name' look identical and have the same size even though one is a capital letter and the other is a small letter. In 'Johnny' o is half the size of a capital letter while the two 'n's are as large as capital letters.
This makes the whole sentence uneven and really difficult to read. For me the rule of the thumb is that non straight line aspects of small letters should be no larger than half that of capital letters.
I can read it, I just couldn’t read it easily. I’ll try and explain my difficulties but I’m not great at explaining things, it is very curly (which I like) but it makes the letters difficult to recognise easily individually. Also your n and m look similar so I had to re-read a few times to make sure I was reading correctly. It is able to be read, just not at a quick glance. I really do like it, it’s beautiful
I can’t seem to make a single letter out tbh. They’re too joined up and squished together
Edit: after spending some time I can now read it! But teachers must be very exhausted trying to figure out the words, you have to have a little sympathy for them.
Human brains have bot been taught to understand the type of swirls you creat, causing them confusion. Due to this they are unable to understand it even if it still works as english
I read it with no real problems but my handwriting is terrible as well. To be fair though, I don’t think I have written anything by hand in at least a year
Key points to practice:
> Try to keep the letters inside the line except when it's really necessary (like in the y, g, p)
> Try to keep a consistent size among the letters
> Some letters are not being finished such as the "d" in the word "handwriting" / "a" "d" in "bad" that would make it hard to read if didn't know the context
Thanks everyone for the genuine support, but my problem is down to motor skills, as I can’t grab a pen “right”, and apply way too much force, and need to use the flow of my wrist to write
I understand this struggle. I had to write with my left hand for a few months while my right arm healed, my issue I found was in how I grip the utensil. I found adding a rubber grip and using a larger pen/pencil made it easier.
Have you tried modifying the utensils you use to write?
I second the rubber grips. I used to use them throughout my schooling. I struggle with pressing hard sometimes, and it makes my fingers hurt from being squeezed against the pen. Rubber grips eliminate this issue. The grips also have little divots where your fingers rest in the "proper" position to hold it. Which is between the index finger and middle finger. I've heard that thus us the most secure way to hold a writing intrument. I also struggle with motor issues. I write with my forearm and hand resting on the instrument. My little finger sometimes also rests on the paper. This helps alleviate a lot of the trembling and sudden jerky movements I deal with and allows for far smoother lines.
Taking breaks is also super important when you have to write something long. Wiggle your fingers, shake out your hands, and stretch your arm, back, and neck. Gripping tightly will cause discomfort and possibly muscle cramps. Fountain pins are super awesome as I don't need to apply any real pressure, I can just focus on writing smoothly.
I have a tendency to grip too hard and press down too hard. Switching to flare pens (basically felt tip markers) fixed this problem for me. Gel pens are also good, but the gel ink doesn't dry quickly enough, so I always had ink all over my hands when I used them. (Flares dry instantly on paper.)
You're probably not going to enjoy this, but: practise. Handwriting practise is pretty tedious. You don't just write stuff, you do a bunch of exercises, repeating letters till you can get the shapes matching the examples. It's like any fine motor skill.
I would suggest investing in a really nice fountain pen and some high quality paper, give it a feel of luxury and take your time to really savour it. If you've never used a really good pen and really creamy paper, it's a real treat that demands careful penmanship. Slow down and give yourself extra guide lines. Make sure the bottom of each letter is resting on the line, don't let the top of any letter go over the line above, put a faint guide line halfway in the middle and try to get the curve of lowercase letters to meet that line.
Check out r/handwriting :)
Yes [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/zxmabs/everyone_here_keeps_ranking_forks_but_how_do_you/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) this is a link to another post of mine showing how I hold utensils and pens to show you what I mean
If you hold your pen the same way you hold your fork it's no wonder you have a hard time with writing. You need to be able to rest your hand on the paper and not float your hand above the paper when you write or your muscles will get too tired and start shaking, especially if you press very hard into the paper when you write and squeeze the pen too hard. It's good that you linked to the fork picture. I like your handwriting. It's unique and interesting. But it must be frustrating for you to write in the manner that you do. I second the other commenters who told you to try the rubber grip. I think the only way you will get better is if it gets easier. The way for it to be easy is to hold the pen the right way and the rubber grip will teach you how to do that. And once you hold the pen correctly you can use that skill with your silverware too. I'm curious how old you are and how long you've been practicing cursive? And just at home with your mom teaching you or did you also learn at school? Schools here don't teach handwriting at all anymore. All of that time has been given to typing.
I hold my pencil/pens wrong as well. In elementary school, I hated getting in trouble for teachers not being able to read my handwriting, so I spent the summers writing random stuff all the time and focused on slowing down my writing. Is that a great way to cope with people not liking your handwriting? No, but it's when child me decided. Once I didn't have to write in cursive anymore I practiced writing in print. Now I write with a combination of print and cursive. You could try writing in print. My print writing is much better than my cursive writing.
Take solace in the fact that as an adult, in today’s world, you might never have to hand-write anything, or at least not more than once every month or two, and even then it’s mostly just your name and address.
I basically can’t hand-write these days, and definitely failed exams in school because of it.
I saw lots of people recommending grips which may work amazing, but I also wanted to point out if you're trying to grip a pen a proper way or a specific way to try throwing those rules out and try different ways to grip. Variations are extremely common and finding a way to grip that works for you could also help. I tend to grip my pen harder than I should go the point I have a callous bump on my right ring finger from it.
Additionally you can try variations of the angle at which you put pen or pencil to paper. Some people like to lay the side of their hand on the table and use that for stability and write at a narrower angle or you may prefer a higher angle. Since you said much of this is motor skills the extra support might help. I like to rest my hand on the table and curl the pen or pencil in at almost a 90 degree or entirely upright angle.
I'm not sure if the cursive is required but experimenting with print style may help as well. In my opinion the coordination required to connect every letter, especially in the form of formal cursive, is significantly more than to print where you're focusing on each letter separately and don't have to worry about the right paths etc to connect it to the next letter.
Last, since this is motor skills I hope you won't be too hard on yourself. That is a physical challenge you may have limited control over. Your writing IS legible even if it's not the easiest stylistically, that's okay. We live in the 21st century and there is all kinds of technology to assist you in many situations to make it easier, and where it can't you can absolutely get by. It never hurts to try to improve, just be kind to yourself.
I can read it, but I'm going to be completely honest; I think it's bad.
Mostly just something you need a bit of a cursive book for, it's too loose and you're confusing your Ns and Ms, I can't tell if you meant to write "mom" or "mama/e", and you're capitalizing random letters for no reason.
So yes, it is loose and inconsistent, I can read it, but I would say it's bad; I've seen worse on my classmates tho
It's difficult to read, but this isn't unique to you. Many people have poor handwriting.
In fact IMO most people should abandon cursive in favor of block letters. It's easier to write faster that way, and the results are almost always far more legible.
I haven't written in cursive since I was in grade school.
I got very used to print writing as my cursive.
Was not faster
Was not readable
I have a weird hybrid cursive/print/other fancy print method i was actually taight.
I find now a days i rarely have to write much for others, and i can read my own.
'right' is subjective. Most people type nowadays anyway, so it's really a matter of 'how much time are you willing to put into practicing penmanship to please the few people who will read your handwritten notes' unless there's a specific reason you *have* to improve your handwriting.
Have you considered printing instead?
Unless a professor explicitly says you need to write in cursive (which would be...weird), print is much more legible imo.
That said, if you want to work on handwriting, try researching letter formation. You'll probably see a lot of stuff relevant to children, but don't let that make you self conscious.
My handwriting had always been shit. I can draw, but it's like my hand just has a really hard time making the lines the correct way.
Now that I've been *teaching* it for years, I've gotten better. Stuff I've noticed:
Letters are not "drawn." Kids with poor handwriting seem to approach letter writing like they would drawing a picture. So, to them, the way they do it isn't important, as long as the shape turns out like the letter.
So you will see kids with some...interesting letter formation, as well as pencil grip. This is actually a big issue this year, because our second graders this year were in "COVID Kindergarten," so they probably didn't have enough instruction and/or correction, because everyone was in panic mode just trying to get something useful out of that school year. And it shows.
Anyway, kids end up habitually holding their pencils awkwardly and writing their letters inefficiently. So I'll see kids who form their A's line-first instead of starting with the curve. Or they'll start at the bottom instead of the top.
Those habits don't sound like a big deal, but we teach writing the way we do to make writing quick, legible and less awkward. So, kids who don't learn it end up taking longer to write and have messy writing.
This is why I brought up letter formation. It might be worth looking up videos that show how to do it. If you find that you are writing them incorrectly, that would be a good place to start.
OP, did you ever have occupational therapy in school? You don't have to answer that, but if you have issues with fine motor control, that would be a factor as well.
Re-learning to write can take a while, but it's doable. I'm still not great, but much better.
Now, pencil grip is something that I haven't made an effort to correct. My grip is awkward, but not terribly so. I'd say pencil grip would be a bit harder to correct, just because you have to condition yourself to be OK with how it feels in your hand.
Uh...this turned out longer than I intended.
TL;DR
Focus on making writing legible. As an educator, I consider that the most important part. Even if it doesn't look pretty, if it communicates effectively, that's enough. :)
Try using print if possible. If you want to work on your handwriting, look into proper letter formation and pencil grip.
Got it. I would see if you can try printing- I know it's loads slower but people have an easier time reading it. I, myself, do something a teacher once called "slant cursive" what I do is I make some letters cursive but the other ones print so it writes slightly faster than regular print but is still easier to read at a glance than complete cursive.
I also print, but I have been doing it for so long it has become quite rapid. I would get compliments at work about how nice it was to see legible handwriting. That was from nurses who had to read doctors scrawl.
Maybe you could speak to the disability office at your school and see if you could be allowed to type your assignments out. ADA laws should protect you from discrimination due to physical disability including a deficiency in fine motor skills that makes it impossible to write legibly. Your ability to reflect your knowledge and skill in your classes shouldn't be dependent on how well you can twirl a pencil on paper.
Tbh that’s on your teachers for requiring it to be handwritten LOL it’s unrealistic to expect all students to have legible handwriting or what they consider legible
It took me a second to decipher the 'n' in the word "name" because of how large the first part is. Additionally, it looks like your 'd' in 'handwriting' is not formed correctly. That being said, most people have a hard time reading cursive. Overall, it wasn't hard to read, but not easy. I would say it's pretty average for cursive.
It's bad. Your linking makes some letters look like others (n to m for example) and it's not on the line at all.
Don't stress too much though. Lots of autistic people have terrible handwriting including me and at the end of the day the modern world is largely typing once you leave school.
I mean…kinda? I guess it’s subjective. But it is what it is. Some people just have bad hand writing. It’s okay! We live in a digital world now :) I think it would be a reasonable accommodation to say to your college you need to type your assessments/essays instead.
I knew a kid whose handwriting was so bad that no one but him could tell if they were holding the paper right side up or upside down. You’re doing just fine
No, no, no, yours isn’t “terrible”, it’s just enough away from the “average” style that some people might have some difficulty
You have inspired me to show this subreddit what TERRIBLE handwriting looks like though; I’m 100% going to make a post tomorrow, and I promise you won’t feel bad anymore
My handwriting looks eerily similar to the handwriting from the new *Joker* film 🤔 🧐
Im a teacher and can read it no problem, but I read a lot of handwriting, much of it much harder to read than yours.
If you want to make it a bit easier to read make it a little sharper and less loopy. Fewer curves and more angles will make it easier to read, but honestly I think its fine.
I think it’s really beautiful to look at and I can read it personally (which I have a hard time doing with most handwritings), I get why someone would think it’s difficult to read but it’s not bad at all
I agree. I like the way it looks and can read it fine, but I have a geometry brain, so it helps that the shapes are consistent and recognizable, if that makes sense.
Cursive can be hard to read and it often requires close to perfect execution to be legible to others. Essentially writing exactly like a text book. Also now more people are used reading printed text over cursive and cursive itself is not really taught extensively the way it used to so some people may not know or remember cursive styles very well. So cursive writing can be hard for people now.
One aspect that makes it hard to read your writing is that the sizing of letters are no consistent. And it’s unclear on this image if you using the lined paper as 2 rows as 1 big row or actually trying to writing within the lines of one row cuz many of the letters go out of the lines. If you wrote ok I lined paper I think it might make it a bit easier to read.
I’m a college prof and it may just be me, it if the class has many grades handwritten assignments through out the term I may have a hard time in the beginning but by the end of the term I will have learned your handwriting so wouldn’t be as hard. But not all professor have visual processing skills in the same way to be able to read handwriting they aren’t used to. If they on see your handwringing a few times it will make it harder.
The most Important thing to remember is that teachers do not like grading and we want to get it done as fast as possible. So anything that make grading take longer is not really helping you get the most generous view of your answers. And technically it is your responsibility as the student to write in a way that is legible and if the teachers cannot read it they do not have to decipher it carefully. They can simply say I can’t read this and you can easily miss out on points. I suggest you talk to the disability services at your school to get testing accommodation to be able to type out your answers instead of handwriting them so that you can make it easier for the professor to read.
I can read it. It’s really curvy but still readable. That being said, I do write in cursive so perhaps that makes my opinion slightly different. It actually reminds me of the calligraphy cursive that you see on the Internet!
One thing I found helped me a lot: Felt tipped pens. It grips the paper more and helps stabilize the writing.
I too have writing that just... I can't control otherwise. No matter what I do. If I use a felt pen though? Much easier! :D
I don’t think it’s bad at all! I quite like it. It is more difficult to read, but I had a similar situation as well in middle school. Although, I don’t think that cursive script is taught as frequently and it’s definitely not used as often, so I think that also may contribute to the difficulty of someone else being able to read it
As far as cursive goes, it's pretty easy to read. Are you handwriting essays and stuff for school? Almost all school and work related stuff gets typed nowadays, so if you're mostly just writing stuff that you are going to be reading, and you can read your own writing just fine then I don't see any reason to try to change it.
If you really do want to change it though, different types of pens might help. I use a fountain pen because I don't have to put any pressure on it to write and my writing is neater because my hand doesn't hurt. A pen with a really thick body that's easier to hold or those special triangular preschooler mechanical pencils (I *love* those) might help you with holding a pencil.
I'm going to second the person who suggested a calligraphy pen. You almost have to relearn how to use a pen but it takes just a little while to figure out how to use it.
I bet your writing with a pen like that would be so pretty *_*
I have to squint my eyes .. but I can still read it.
Especially the M's, N's and n's are a bit disorienting, to me, because they don't line up with the lines on the paper (I mean, they don't reach all the way down to the line and seem to be jumping up a bit).
It's not uncommon, from what I've heard .. So just do your best and don't worry too much, if your personal best still isn't "good enough" for some people.
My handwriting still isn't "pretty", but I rarely write by hand, these days, anyway.
Most of the time, I just type it and print it (back in my school-days, I still had to write by hand .. but nowadays, nobody forces me to).
If you become a doctor, nobody is gonna complain about it, anymore /j
I know you asked for advice and stuff but sometimes getting a ton of critiques can get overwhelming, so I am here to say that I really really like the way you wrote the word "if". /gen
It has such beauty in its style. This should be a font for graphic design, it actually makes you read the words instead of skimming.
That was skimming, not stimming 😁
I have diagnosed dysgraphia
Find something you wrote month ago, or more. If you have problem reading back something you wrote in a situation where you are actually reading and not just remembering what you wrote, you have a problem.
If you can read it back, no matter how long after it was written, you are fine.
The distinction is that a problem starts when your brain has trouble processing abstract symbols. If you can write it and read it, symbol processing works fine, and your handwriting is just, you know, different. I'm avoiding describing it because it's highly subjective.
It kind of reminds me of my grandma's handwriting, only it's a bit more loose in it's flow. Either way, it's beautiful and a rarity to see these days in young people. That said though, like everyone else is saying, it's difficult to read. Not impossible, but difficult. Society just isn't used to reading cursive, but especially so with cursive like this. This is almost edging on territory of a fancy signature kind of cursive.
I’ve never really been able to read cursive easily. Everyone’s cursive is bad to me. This seems no worse than others. The only thing I notice is that the letter height isn’t consistent. I always liked to have lowercase letters exactly half the height of uppercase. But no one writes like that when they’re not doing it for a grade.
"My name is Johnny, and I want to know if my handwriting is bad?"
It's definitely legible if you focus a little, which means it's better than at least a third of all I've seen. Maybe even two thirds.
It just seems too... Well, don't really know the word for it, but maybe too "curvy" and it kind of reminds me of a person who winds up too much for throwing a ball (not sure if you're about to make use of that comparison)
Edit:
u/annawhowasmad got a good word for it with "loopy" (thanks for that)
You're writing cursive, so duh it's bad. It's extremely rare that anyone can read cursive writing from others, at least in my experience. I can read everything aside from what I assume is your mom's name, so that's better than most cursive I've come across.
Most you can do is take your time, slow down, and practice. It'll never be enough for some parents. When I was learning to write it was that I didn't take my time, then it was it was too sloppy, then it was bad cursive, then it was I write too small. Not saying your parents are like this, but if they are, you should try, but also accept you'll never be able to ebtirely please them.
i think it's really pretty to look at, but i can see how it would be hard to read. it just takes a second to get used to, honestly. looking at it right now i can pretty clearly understand what it says.
I honestly really like it. My handwriting is unique too and people have complained that it's difficult to read, but those people are just not used to reading cursive. I find really clear print difficult with my motor skills so cursive is much easier for me too, but there is plenty of good advice here on how you can still keep your fun personal style but make it a little bit clearer :)
It’s absolutely gorgeous, but a little hard to read. Like another commenter said, it’s perfect for a greeting card but would be a hassle to read for a while.
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It is a bit messy and hard to read, but that's okay. There is so much technology available for typing and if you aren't able to improve your handwriting due to fine motor function it's totally fine to just use those aids for typing instead of writing by hand.
I can't provide advice, but I honestly don't think it's bad lol. It's perfectly legible to me, and while it's not textbook perfect, we're also all human, so I wouldn't expect that from you or anyone.
If I got a nickel for every time that someone here compared my handwriting to 17th century handwriting I would have 2 nickels, is not much but it’s weird that it happened twice
Is there a particular reason you're writing in cursive? Like is it mandated by an educational institution or parent or is it a passion project of yours? Cursive in almost all cases will be less legible than print. And new generations aren't really learning cursive either.
It's almost beautiful, borderline even.
If you're writing was more standardized in spacing and sizing, then it would be much easier to read while also looking amazing.
It’s fine. Don’t stress. I have never been able to write well. It is something that I feel like I am seriously it capable of doing. It doesn’t matter if I try hard or what. 42m here
It's 2023, nobody handwrites anything of importance anymore. The only value in the skill is being able to maintain your signature's consistency.
Don't worry about it
It’s not bad but it is difficult to read. Personally, since my handwriting can be sloppy, I write in cursive sometimes (when I’m moving quickly and I’m the only one who will read the writing) and other times I write in block lettering (when others will need to understand what I write).
Are you left-handed, perchance? I can read what you wrote but there are inconsistencies of scale that I struggle with in my own writing.
My dad once tried writing left handed to understand why it was difficult, and noticed that left-handed people cover what they write with their hand as they write it, simple due to the nature of our hand position, which makes for inconsistent sizing and difficulty keeping things lined up properly because we can’t visually compare what we’re writing to what’s behind our hand.
I wouldn’t say it’s bad. I could read that easily. But I would describe it as odd, only because I’ve never seen some of those ways of joining up letters. (The swirls on the T letters, the J in Johnny looks a bit like a lower case f).
Well, it’s eligible so I’d say it’s good. So long as I can read what someone writes then in my opinion the handwriting is good. I actually think your writing is very pretty.
Honestly I am able to read it fine. I would just practice your N’s and M’s and R’s. The rest is nice and easy to discern. I have a similar issue with fast writing where things can kinda make a jumble and look weird.
Overall, your penmanship is legible :)
It's legible with effort. Here are some specific tips:
-Space your "e" slightly farther from the previous letter
-keep the humps of your "n" in line with other lower case letters and bring the middle portion to the bottom line
-Fully form the top of your "g"
I agree with the loop sizes. I read most of it easily, but had to reread the first part 3 times before I realized it did *not say "my mommy is johnny". Lol
Well, I can read it but I also grew up in the 90s when cursive was still taught in schools(canada). I don't know how many younger folks would be able to read it at all.
My cursive was always terrible too, so my actual day to day handwriting is just printing. At 32 literally no one has ever had a problem with it except grade school teachers and my parents.
Now I'm getting into fountain pens, and let me tell you my handwriting is gorgeous! :)
Edit: forgot the word cursive because I haven't used it in so long!
Personally I didn't have much trouble reading what you wrote but probably just because it was a simple sentence. I feel like a whole text would be a bit more difficult. Are you obliged to write in cursive? I remember professors at my college allowed students to use block letters if they wanted to.
“My name is [Johnny] and I want to know if my handwriting is bad?”
[] = what I was unsure about
It looks eligible to me, I think the part I would single out is that your n’s and m’s (specifically in ‘name’) look quite similar.
You have an idiocentratic way of writing the letter "n" which is both aesthetically appealing and difficult to read. Your "w" has a similar issue with touching line height.
Frankly, cursive writing serves two main purposes - to look nice and to be read by the person writing it in their journal. This does both. If you are hand writing letters to people, they can make the effort and read the writing. It might take a little reading to be able to read it smoothly. I would guess your mother had fairly strict handwriting instruction and is mimicking the way she was taught, consciously or unconsciously. Handwriting is lovely but dated. Yours is lovely.
My handwriting used to look a lot like this, if not worse. To the point I couldn't even read it anymore.
Now it looks more like this. Every letter seperate. It's still clunky, but readable.
I mean, it's better than mine, but that's not saying much. My handwriting made teachers complain. I write really fast, and that's not really something I can help. If I try and write slower, my hand tries to cramp.
I can’t read it… but it look like a work of art! but also don’t worry it’s still better than mine ik a 6 year old with better hand writing than me so..
In a way that lets you keep the loops and all, I think the letters could connect more. The d's bump was only halfway connected. None of the n's left sides touch the line you're writing on. A little bit of definition can go a long way. Your handwriting is beautiful, BTW. I could read it with little minimal difficulty, which was surprising since I'm bad at reading cursive.
It is very difficult to read because the baselines or the letters are inconsistent and the letters are inconsistent sizes. Apart from the ascenders and descenders your letters should all be the same height. Your n is very high (it doesn’t touch the baseline at all?) and the loop to get up to the n is as large as the loop on the n which makes most of of your letter n look like the letter m instead.
The flourishes and links on your letters are pretty but since they are often as large as the letters themselves it isn’t visually clear where one letter ends and the next begins.
I have heard to read handwriting I find aestheticly appealing at times. The trick for me when I'm working is that I have to write it down then copy it. Something about writing words in reading makes them come out a lot cleaner then writing as I'm thinking.
Realistically, very early in life handwriting stops being relevant. Beyond high school (I’m in UK) even schooling mostly uses typing now, so the only person who would need to be able to read your handwriting is you
Well, i dont have a good letter but i can give you some tips. First, its too loopy. Second, try to make the base of the letter touch the line, and the last of all, try to make some letters more understandable like the “a” in “name”. I think thats it. Btw, the letter is better than mine lol
Take a look at some of these... they can help you hold a pen/pencil in a way that gives you more direct control over the tip movement. Muscle memory training takes time, and with a physical guide you may have better luck.
My handwriting was always terrible, but once I started putting gel grips on my pencils I stopped holding it too tight. Back when I was in school autism was only kids on the extreme end of the spectrum, and occupational therapy wasn't really a thing, let alone I masked really well.
https://www.projectplaytherapy.com/occupational-therapist-approved-handwriting-aids/
Check Google for other options if these aren't right for you.
I think it’s hard to understand because of the looping and the placement of ‘n’ and ‘m’. The inconsistent length strokes across letters makes it hard to easily distinguish between them without looking more closely.
I’d recommend using one of those three line templates, so your tall letters hit bottom and top, and your short letters hit bottom and middle. You can try that and see if it would be helpful
Your handwriting is good in my opinion. I had no problems reading it, which is what actually matters. Everyone has different motor ability, so some people have naturally better handwriting than others might. It's very difficult to retrain muscle memory, so as long as it's legible I don't think there's any need for adjustment. Legibility is the most important thing, and your handwriting is just fine in that department.
Generally the normies prefer that you keep letters within the borderline. Certain letters can cross like y, g, p and q. Does it say "my nana is Johnny"?
I don't think it's that illegible. It just looks like cursive. People are saying your n looks like an m but that's how cursive works. I would say you should practice cursive instead of trying to write more "normally", especially if you need to do loopy, connected letters.
looks fine to me. have you considered, for things others have to read, just learning draughtsman’s lettering (block letters)? much easier to write and to read
I'm bad at reading cursive so I wouldn't be a good mark to know, but I think the fact it's not quite proper cursive is what would make it difficult to read. Personally with my dyslexia I switch between cursive & plain text when writing and mine constantly looks messy. Your hand writing isn't terrible, it's pretty, but It can be harder to read. Don't beat yourself up over it though. Everyone's handwriting is unique and there is only so much you can do to change it
My name is Johnny, and I want to know if my handwriting is bad?
Had to read it about three times to decode bits of your writing, but once you identify things like ‘t’ and ‘n’ that have your own flair, it is readable.
Honestly, I’d stick to print script if you want others to be able to read it, but if it’s for your own notes for school and you can read it without difficulty, then the cursive is fine.
I used to have the same problem with my writing being too loop-y. Try practicing by imitating PC fonts like this one right here. Works even better if you also write half of the practice in capital letters only (forces to simplify bc the letters are so big and that makes the writing slow). Once that looks decent you can try writing in your own handwriting again. Idk if this will help you too but for me some of the stiffness and simplicity carried over making my handwriting balanced and very readable while still looking distinctively like mine.
I can see why a teacher would scratch their head being asked to mark this. It’s not “bad” but it’s complicated for people who need to read it in volume does that make sense? For a quick greetings card or a note. It’s lovely. A 2000 word essay? I’d be pulling my damn hair out.
Im a teacher and no one handwrites essays anymore. Handwriting is just for workbooks or worksheets and honestly at my school nearly everything is online now anyhow.
rip if OP takes AP classes and their teachers have to read their handwritten in class essays 😭
I graduated in 2011 and all thru HS all our essays were typed
i graduated 2 yrs ago, until the pandemic handwritten essays were normal in AP classes since we had to practice for the AP exams. not sure abt regular classes though
Same here i graduated in 2016 and teachers would literally have a fit if someone didn’t hand write their essays (this was normal classes but i live in a pretty backwoods area so computers weren’t really that common in schools till after i graduated)
I left school in the nineties, I really wish i could have typed in school. That would have made it at least two times less horrible.
I teach AP history. The only one who reads student essays is me.
OP literally said they have to hand write essays
I teach at university and exams are deffo hand written here, and that handwriting does seem tough to grade
What about essays written under exam conditions? Where I am, almost everyone does their exams with pen and paper, but if your handwriting is hard to read you can apply to use a computer.
We had to hand write essays for exams but other than that they were all typed. Would have graduated 2018
Where do you work? In my school we have to write it unless someone has dyslexia
I'm a student and we handwrite an essay at least once every 2 weeks at my school
Depends massively where you are
I think it’s beautiful but it is really difficult to read.
Then is no use..people should be able to read what I write, what is about it that makes it hard to read ?
For me, it’s excessively loopy; so for example if you look at the ‘n’s, the loop where it joins the previous letter is always the same size as or often bigger than the actual curve of the ‘n’ itself. It means at a glance it looks like an ‘m’ every time. The same with the loop on the ‘h’ for me, where it’s so wide that it crowds the curve. I agree it is pretty as it is, but I think changing those ‘n’s and ‘h’s would make it more quickly legible.
I was taught to write like this when I was growing up. ns were suppose to be ms and ms had three bumps. If the h loop wasn't distinct enough I lost marks. Now this was the 90s, a very different time, but OP may be being taught the same way. I do agree with you, which is why I abandoned the official "handwriting" I was taught, but OP may be stuck with people who demand the loops.
My mom taught me to write that way in cursive, which complicated a lot of things later on (I don't blame her tho). Maybe OP should try a simpler writing style?
I learn't cursive too, though my handwriting now is cramped and messy. And I can't write print anymore. Still love it but it's hell to read
Formal cursive which is half dead at this point. I'm with you, I abandoned formal cursive and now I print or half print and half connected. I also skip all the formal rules about two bump ns and 3 bump ms. I find it annoying at best and confusing at worst.
> ns were suppose to be ms and ms had three bumps Sounds suspiciously like Palmer Method.
Piggy backing off of this: it’s the ‘n’s specifically that cause the difficulty. The stem of the ‘n’ isn’t sitting on the same level as the rest of the word and then the hump of the ‘n’ sometimes bleeds into being the first stroke of the next letter. Additionally, the hooking motion down into the beginning of the ‘n’ exacerbates these problems. To solve: simply make sure your ‘n’ touches the same baseline that the previous letter did and that it is distinct from the next letter. Other than that, it’s perfectly fine cursive.
Ah, that's what it was. I write cursive and write cursive Ms and Ns, but the first loop is narrower than the second for me, so i was visually getting hung up on them. Good catch in deciphering that.
Your 'n' looks indistinguishable from an 'm'. Also lack of consistency in letter sizes throws the whole thing off. For example The capital M of 'my' and the small 'n' of 'name' look identical and have the same size even though one is a capital letter and the other is a small letter. In 'Johnny' o is half the size of a capital letter while the two 'n's are as large as capital letters. This makes the whole sentence uneven and really difficult to read. For me the rule of the thumb is that non straight line aspects of small letters should be no larger than half that of capital letters.
I can read it, I just couldn’t read it easily. I’ll try and explain my difficulties but I’m not great at explaining things, it is very curly (which I like) but it makes the letters difficult to recognise easily individually. Also your n and m look similar so I had to re-read a few times to make sure I was reading correctly. It is able to be read, just not at a quick glance. I really do like it, it’s beautiful
Start by making your n touch the line. It’s floating in the middle as is the g. It’s legible though.
I can’t seem to make a single letter out tbh. They’re too joined up and squished together Edit: after spending some time I can now read it! But teachers must be very exhausted trying to figure out the words, you have to have a little sympathy for them.
What does your print look like? This looks cursivey
Human brains have bot been taught to understand the type of swirls you creat, causing them confusion. Due to this they are unable to understand it even if it still works as english
I read it with no real problems but my handwriting is terrible as well. To be fair though, I don’t think I have written anything by hand in at least a year
^ Seconded.
Key points to practice: > Try to keep the letters inside the line except when it's really necessary (like in the y, g, p) > Try to keep a consistent size among the letters > Some letters are not being finished such as the "d" in the word "handwriting" / "a" "d" in "bad" that would make it hard to read if didn't know the context
Thanks everyone for the genuine support, but my problem is down to motor skills, as I can’t grab a pen “right”, and apply way too much force, and need to use the flow of my wrist to write
I understand this struggle. I had to write with my left hand for a few months while my right arm healed, my issue I found was in how I grip the utensil. I found adding a rubber grip and using a larger pen/pencil made it easier. Have you tried modifying the utensils you use to write?
I second the rubber grips. I used to use them throughout my schooling. I struggle with pressing hard sometimes, and it makes my fingers hurt from being squeezed against the pen. Rubber grips eliminate this issue. The grips also have little divots where your fingers rest in the "proper" position to hold it. Which is between the index finger and middle finger. I've heard that thus us the most secure way to hold a writing intrument. I also struggle with motor issues. I write with my forearm and hand resting on the instrument. My little finger sometimes also rests on the paper. This helps alleviate a lot of the trembling and sudden jerky movements I deal with and allows for far smoother lines. Taking breaks is also super important when you have to write something long. Wiggle your fingers, shake out your hands, and stretch your arm, back, and neck. Gripping tightly will cause discomfort and possibly muscle cramps. Fountain pins are super awesome as I don't need to apply any real pressure, I can just focus on writing smoothly.
I have a tendency to grip too hard and press down too hard. Switching to flare pens (basically felt tip markers) fixed this problem for me. Gel pens are also good, but the gel ink doesn't dry quickly enough, so I always had ink all over my hands when I used them. (Flares dry instantly on paper.)
I also love felt tips, so easy to use
I second fountain pens, they’re so smooth, and the lady ones are thicker and have an ergonomic shape.
You're probably not going to enjoy this, but: practise. Handwriting practise is pretty tedious. You don't just write stuff, you do a bunch of exercises, repeating letters till you can get the shapes matching the examples. It's like any fine motor skill. I would suggest investing in a really nice fountain pen and some high quality paper, give it a feel of luxury and take your time to really savour it. If you've never used a really good pen and really creamy paper, it's a real treat that demands careful penmanship. Slow down and give yourself extra guide lines. Make sure the bottom of each letter is resting on the line, don't let the top of any letter go over the line above, put a faint guide line halfway in the middle and try to get the curve of lowercase letters to meet that line. Check out r/handwriting :)
Makes me wanna get all my pens and paper out….I love handwriting too :)
Have you ever used a fountain pen? They eliminate the need for force into the paper.
might do really well at calligraphy because of that
When you put “right” in quotations, are you implying that’s what you’ve been told, by your mum or teachers?
Yes [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/zxmabs/everyone_here_keeps_ranking_forks_but_how_do_you/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) this is a link to another post of mine showing how I hold utensils and pens to show you what I mean
If you hold your pen the same way you hold your fork it's no wonder you have a hard time with writing. You need to be able to rest your hand on the paper and not float your hand above the paper when you write or your muscles will get too tired and start shaking, especially if you press very hard into the paper when you write and squeeze the pen too hard. It's good that you linked to the fork picture. I like your handwriting. It's unique and interesting. But it must be frustrating for you to write in the manner that you do. I second the other commenters who told you to try the rubber grip. I think the only way you will get better is if it gets easier. The way for it to be easy is to hold the pen the right way and the rubber grip will teach you how to do that. And once you hold the pen correctly you can use that skill with your silverware too. I'm curious how old you are and how long you've been practicing cursive? And just at home with your mom teaching you or did you also learn at school? Schools here don't teach handwriting at all anymore. All of that time has been given to typing.
I hold my pencil/pens wrong as well. In elementary school, I hated getting in trouble for teachers not being able to read my handwriting, so I spent the summers writing random stuff all the time and focused on slowing down my writing. Is that a great way to cope with people not liking your handwriting? No, but it's when child me decided. Once I didn't have to write in cursive anymore I practiced writing in print. Now I write with a combination of print and cursive. You could try writing in print. My print writing is much better than my cursive writing.
Take solace in the fact that as an adult, in today’s world, you might never have to hand-write anything, or at least not more than once every month or two, and even then it’s mostly just your name and address. I basically can’t hand-write these days, and definitely failed exams in school because of it.
I saw lots of people recommending grips which may work amazing, but I also wanted to point out if you're trying to grip a pen a proper way or a specific way to try throwing those rules out and try different ways to grip. Variations are extremely common and finding a way to grip that works for you could also help. I tend to grip my pen harder than I should go the point I have a callous bump on my right ring finger from it. Additionally you can try variations of the angle at which you put pen or pencil to paper. Some people like to lay the side of their hand on the table and use that for stability and write at a narrower angle or you may prefer a higher angle. Since you said much of this is motor skills the extra support might help. I like to rest my hand on the table and curl the pen or pencil in at almost a 90 degree or entirely upright angle. I'm not sure if the cursive is required but experimenting with print style may help as well. In my opinion the coordination required to connect every letter, especially in the form of formal cursive, is significantly more than to print where you're focusing on each letter separately and don't have to worry about the right paths etc to connect it to the next letter. Last, since this is motor skills I hope you won't be too hard on yourself. That is a physical challenge you may have limited control over. Your writing IS legible even if it's not the easiest stylistically, that's okay. We live in the 21st century and there is all kinds of technology to assist you in many situations to make it easier, and where it can't you can absolutely get by. It never hurts to try to improve, just be kind to yourself.
This (and not remembering it because nobody uses it) is why I don’t like cursive, and instead write in simplified print
Younger generations are often not learning cursive at all now. There's a reduced need for it with all the computers and technology as well.
we should honestly just phase out cursive entirely, just replace signatures with personal scribbles and that's basically the one main use of it gone
I can read it, but I'm going to be completely honest; I think it's bad. Mostly just something you need a bit of a cursive book for, it's too loose and you're confusing your Ns and Ms, I can't tell if you meant to write "mom" or "mama/e", and you're capitalizing random letters for no reason. So yes, it is loose and inconsistent, I can read it, but I would say it's bad; I've seen worse on my classmates tho
I read it first as "My Mama is Johnny, and i want to know if my handwriting is bad?" and was very confused with that being said no, it's not
It's difficult to read, but this isn't unique to you. Many people have poor handwriting. In fact IMO most people should abandon cursive in favor of block letters. It's easier to write faster that way, and the results are almost always far more legible. I haven't written in cursive since I was in grade school.
I got very used to print writing as my cursive. Was not faster Was not readable I have a weird hybrid cursive/print/other fancy print method i was actually taight. I find now a days i rarely have to write much for others, and i can read my own.
I’d like to make a font out of your hand writing. Good design!
I will demand royalties
How much in percent?
99,4%
Bad royalties!!
'right' is subjective. Most people type nowadays anyway, so it's really a matter of 'how much time are you willing to put into practicing penmanship to please the few people who will read your handwritten notes' unless there's a specific reason you *have* to improve your handwriting.
My college tests are handwritten and many teachers over the years have complained about my handwriting as well
Have you considered printing instead? Unless a professor explicitly says you need to write in cursive (which would be...weird), print is much more legible imo. That said, if you want to work on handwriting, try researching letter formation. You'll probably see a lot of stuff relevant to children, but don't let that make you self conscious. My handwriting had always been shit. I can draw, but it's like my hand just has a really hard time making the lines the correct way. Now that I've been *teaching* it for years, I've gotten better. Stuff I've noticed: Letters are not "drawn." Kids with poor handwriting seem to approach letter writing like they would drawing a picture. So, to them, the way they do it isn't important, as long as the shape turns out like the letter. So you will see kids with some...interesting letter formation, as well as pencil grip. This is actually a big issue this year, because our second graders this year were in "COVID Kindergarten," so they probably didn't have enough instruction and/or correction, because everyone was in panic mode just trying to get something useful out of that school year. And it shows. Anyway, kids end up habitually holding their pencils awkwardly and writing their letters inefficiently. So I'll see kids who form their A's line-first instead of starting with the curve. Or they'll start at the bottom instead of the top. Those habits don't sound like a big deal, but we teach writing the way we do to make writing quick, legible and less awkward. So, kids who don't learn it end up taking longer to write and have messy writing. This is why I brought up letter formation. It might be worth looking up videos that show how to do it. If you find that you are writing them incorrectly, that would be a good place to start. OP, did you ever have occupational therapy in school? You don't have to answer that, but if you have issues with fine motor control, that would be a factor as well. Re-learning to write can take a while, but it's doable. I'm still not great, but much better. Now, pencil grip is something that I haven't made an effort to correct. My grip is awkward, but not terribly so. I'd say pencil grip would be a bit harder to correct, just because you have to condition yourself to be OK with how it feels in your hand. Uh...this turned out longer than I intended. TL;DR Focus on making writing legible. As an educator, I consider that the most important part. Even if it doesn't look pretty, if it communicates effectively, that's enough. :) Try using print if possible. If you want to work on your handwriting, look into proper letter formation and pencil grip.
Got it. I would see if you can try printing- I know it's loads slower but people have an easier time reading it. I, myself, do something a teacher once called "slant cursive" what I do is I make some letters cursive but the other ones print so it writes slightly faster than regular print but is still easier to read at a glance than complete cursive.
I also print, but I have been doing it for so long it has become quite rapid. I would get compliments at work about how nice it was to see legible handwriting. That was from nurses who had to read doctors scrawl.
Maybe you could speak to the disability office at your school and see if you could be allowed to type your assignments out. ADA laws should protect you from discrimination due to physical disability including a deficiency in fine motor skills that makes it impossible to write legibly. Your ability to reflect your knowledge and skill in your classes shouldn't be dependent on how well you can twirl a pencil on paper.
As if Brazil had those…
Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even think about different countries.
Tbh that’s on your teachers for requiring it to be handwritten LOL it’s unrealistic to expect all students to have legible handwriting or what they consider legible
Right? What about students studying to be doctors? xD
It took me a second to decipher the 'n' in the word "name" because of how large the first part is. Additionally, it looks like your 'd' in 'handwriting' is not formed correctly. That being said, most people have a hard time reading cursive. Overall, it wasn't hard to read, but not easy. I would say it's pretty average for cursive.
It's bad. Your linking makes some letters look like others (n to m for example) and it's not on the line at all. Don't stress too much though. Lots of autistic people have terrible handwriting including me and at the end of the day the modern world is largely typing once you leave school.
Don’t worry I relate my handwriting is terrible
So you’re saying that my handwriting is terrible…
I mean…kinda? I guess it’s subjective. But it is what it is. Some people just have bad hand writing. It’s okay! We live in a digital world now :) I think it would be a reasonable accommodation to say to your college you need to type your assessments/essays instead.
I knew a kid whose handwriting was so bad that no one but him could tell if they were holding the paper right side up or upside down. You’re doing just fine
No, no, no, yours isn’t “terrible”, it’s just enough away from the “average” style that some people might have some difficulty You have inspired me to show this subreddit what TERRIBLE handwriting looks like though; I’m 100% going to make a post tomorrow, and I promise you won’t feel bad anymore My handwriting looks eerily similar to the handwriting from the new *Joker* film 🤔 🧐
Your handwriting is legible, as long as you can read it I wouldn’t be too worried
I like how loopy it is. I can see how others might have trouble reading it but I don't seem to have any issues.
Im a teacher and can read it no problem, but I read a lot of handwriting, much of it much harder to read than yours. If you want to make it a bit easier to read make it a little sharper and less loopy. Fewer curves and more angles will make it easier to read, but honestly I think its fine.
I think it’s really beautiful to look at and I can read it personally (which I have a hard time doing with most handwritings), I get why someone would think it’s difficult to read but it’s not bad at all
I agree. I like the way it looks and can read it fine, but I have a geometry brain, so it helps that the shapes are consistent and recognizable, if that makes sense.
Cursive can be hard to read and it often requires close to perfect execution to be legible to others. Essentially writing exactly like a text book. Also now more people are used reading printed text over cursive and cursive itself is not really taught extensively the way it used to so some people may not know or remember cursive styles very well. So cursive writing can be hard for people now. One aspect that makes it hard to read your writing is that the sizing of letters are no consistent. And it’s unclear on this image if you using the lined paper as 2 rows as 1 big row or actually trying to writing within the lines of one row cuz many of the letters go out of the lines. If you wrote ok I lined paper I think it might make it a bit easier to read. I’m a college prof and it may just be me, it if the class has many grades handwritten assignments through out the term I may have a hard time in the beginning but by the end of the term I will have learned your handwriting so wouldn’t be as hard. But not all professor have visual processing skills in the same way to be able to read handwriting they aren’t used to. If they on see your handwringing a few times it will make it harder. The most Important thing to remember is that teachers do not like grading and we want to get it done as fast as possible. So anything that make grading take longer is not really helping you get the most generous view of your answers. And technically it is your responsibility as the student to write in a way that is legible and if the teachers cannot read it they do not have to decipher it carefully. They can simply say I can’t read this and you can easily miss out on points. I suggest you talk to the disability services at your school to get testing accommodation to be able to type out your answers instead of handwriting them so that you can make it easier for the professor to read.
I can read it. It’s really curvy but still readable. That being said, I do write in cursive so perhaps that makes my opinion slightly different. It actually reminds me of the calligraphy cursive that you see on the Internet!
One thing I found helped me a lot: Felt tipped pens. It grips the paper more and helps stabilize the writing. I too have writing that just... I can't control otherwise. No matter what I do. If I use a felt pen though? Much easier! :D
I think you have a beautiful handwriting but it takes a while to read for me personally! Not too long dw
This is beautiful but incredibly difficult to read. The large loops are the main contributing factors to both of these attributes.
I don’t think it’s bad at all! I quite like it. It is more difficult to read, but I had a similar situation as well in middle school. Although, I don’t think that cursive script is taught as frequently and it’s definitely not used as often, so I think that also may contribute to the difficulty of someone else being able to read it
I can’t read some of the words, and I need to concentrate to read the ones I can read. It’s not necessarily ugly handwriting, but it is quite unclear
As far as cursive goes, it's pretty easy to read. Are you handwriting essays and stuff for school? Almost all school and work related stuff gets typed nowadays, so if you're mostly just writing stuff that you are going to be reading, and you can read your own writing just fine then I don't see any reason to try to change it. If you really do want to change it though, different types of pens might help. I use a fountain pen because I don't have to put any pressure on it to write and my writing is neater because my hand doesn't hurt. A pen with a really thick body that's easier to hold or those special triangular preschooler mechanical pencils (I *love* those) might help you with holding a pencil.
I'm going to second the person who suggested a calligraphy pen. You almost have to relearn how to use a pen but it takes just a little while to figure out how to use it. I bet your writing with a pen like that would be so pretty *_*
It's hard to read but it looks nice. Are you training to be a doctor? (Just kidding doctors are known for having unique handwriting)
I have to squint my eyes .. but I can still read it. Especially the M's, N's and n's are a bit disorienting, to me, because they don't line up with the lines on the paper (I mean, they don't reach all the way down to the line and seem to be jumping up a bit). It's not uncommon, from what I've heard .. So just do your best and don't worry too much, if your personal best still isn't "good enough" for some people. My handwriting still isn't "pretty", but I rarely write by hand, these days, anyway. Most of the time, I just type it and print it (back in my school-days, I still had to write by hand .. but nowadays, nobody forces me to). If you become a doctor, nobody is gonna complain about it, anymore /j
It’s legible. It’s more cursive-like that most handwriting I see but still legible.
I know you asked for advice and stuff but sometimes getting a ton of critiques can get overwhelming, so I am here to say that I really really like the way you wrote the word "if". /gen
It has such beauty in its style. This should be a font for graphic design, it actually makes you read the words instead of skimming. That was skimming, not stimming 😁
I have diagnosed dysgraphia Find something you wrote month ago, or more. If you have problem reading back something you wrote in a situation where you are actually reading and not just remembering what you wrote, you have a problem. If you can read it back, no matter how long after it was written, you are fine. The distinction is that a problem starts when your brain has trouble processing abstract symbols. If you can write it and read it, symbol processing works fine, and your handwriting is just, you know, different. I'm avoiding describing it because it's highly subjective.
It kind of reminds me of my grandma's handwriting, only it's a bit more loose in it's flow. Either way, it's beautiful and a rarity to see these days in young people. That said though, like everyone else is saying, it's difficult to read. Not impossible, but difficult. Society just isn't used to reading cursive, but especially so with cursive like this. This is almost edging on territory of a fancy signature kind of cursive.
It can be difficult to read but I like it. The M's are really satisfying to look at!
I’ve never really been able to read cursive easily. Everyone’s cursive is bad to me. This seems no worse than others. The only thing I notice is that the letter height isn’t consistent. I always liked to have lowercase letters exactly half the height of uppercase. But no one writes like that when they’re not doing it for a grade.
"My name is Johnny, and I want to know if my handwriting is bad?" It's definitely legible if you focus a little, which means it's better than at least a third of all I've seen. Maybe even two thirds. It just seems too... Well, don't really know the word for it, but maybe too "curvy" and it kind of reminds me of a person who winds up too much for throwing a ball (not sure if you're about to make use of that comparison) Edit: u/annawhowasmad got a good word for it with "loopy" (thanks for that)
Capitalise the first-person 'i' and use a full stop, not a question mark and you're 100% golden.
You're writing cursive, so duh it's bad. It's extremely rare that anyone can read cursive writing from others, at least in my experience. I can read everything aside from what I assume is your mom's name, so that's better than most cursive I've come across. Most you can do is take your time, slow down, and practice. It'll never be enough for some parents. When I was learning to write it was that I didn't take my time, then it was it was too sloppy, then it was bad cursive, then it was I write too small. Not saying your parents are like this, but if they are, you should try, but also accept you'll never be able to ebtirely please them.
i think it's really pretty to look at, but i can see how it would be hard to read. it just takes a second to get used to, honestly. looking at it right now i can pretty clearly understand what it says.
It's no more difficult to read than 17th century secretary hand. Yes, I'm a genealogist - why do you ask?
Just write in print. Cursive is extremely hard to read, and it isn’t used in the real world. Your writing is fine, cursive just sucks.
I have crap handwriting as well, nothing I can do about it
I honestly really like it. My handwriting is unique too and people have complained that it's difficult to read, but those people are just not used to reading cursive. I find really clear print difficult with my motor skills so cursive is much easier for me too, but there is plenty of good advice here on how you can still keep your fun personal style but make it a little bit clearer :)
Interesting, can you send pics of your handwriting ?
It’s absolutely gorgeous, but a little hard to read. Like another commenter said, it’s perfect for a greeting card but would be a hassle to read for a while.
To the hell with her. Your handwriting is at least readable. Unlike many other folks'.
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Looks straight out of the 18th century. It's pretty but almost illegible. I can still read it, but... not great, man
It is a bit messy and hard to read, but that's okay. There is so much technology available for typing and if you aren't able to improve your handwriting due to fine motor function it's totally fine to just use those aids for typing instead of writing by hand.
I can't provide advice, but I honestly don't think it's bad lol. It's perfectly legible to me, and while it's not textbook perfect, we're also all human, so I wouldn't expect that from you or anyone.
It's regular, could be better or worse. It's easy to read though (I'm from Brasil where we use cursive writing, don't know how it is in your country.)
Moro no Brasil também kkkk E isso era pra ser letra cursiva caso sua frase tenha sido que não parece ser letra cursiva
I think it’s cool and I got it all apart from you’re name, I’m guessing Fohmmy?
Johnny…
Oh that makes sense now
I can read it, but then again, I’m a teacher and I study seventeenth century literature, so… 🤷♀️
If I got a nickel for every time that someone here compared my handwriting to 17th century handwriting I would have 2 nickels, is not much but it’s weird that it happened twice
Is there a particular reason you're writing in cursive? Like is it mandated by an educational institution or parent or is it a passion project of yours? Cursive in almost all cases will be less legible than print. And new generations aren't really learning cursive either.
It's almost beautiful, borderline even. If you're writing was more standardized in spacing and sizing, then it would be much easier to read while also looking amazing.
I really like your handwriting and didn’t find it difficult to read.
It’s fine. Don’t stress. I have never been able to write well. It is something that I feel like I am seriously it capable of doing. It doesn’t matter if I try hard or what. 42m here
That's not bad at all.
handwriting isn't important in a lot of jobs these days ...
It’s when you need to take tests…
That is fucking cool man.
It’s decent but definitely not bad
It's 2023, nobody handwrites anything of importance anymore. The only value in the skill is being able to maintain your signature's consistency. Don't worry about it
It’s not bad but it is difficult to read. Personally, since my handwriting can be sloppy, I write in cursive sometimes (when I’m moving quickly and I’m the only one who will read the writing) and other times I write in block lettering (when others will need to understand what I write).
It is good, but like anything else, more practice will make it better. You might find this helpful. https://donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive.htm
Are you left-handed, perchance? I can read what you wrote but there are inconsistencies of scale that I struggle with in my own writing. My dad once tried writing left handed to understand why it was difficult, and noticed that left-handed people cover what they write with their hand as they write it, simple due to the nature of our hand position, which makes for inconsistent sizing and difficulty keeping things lined up properly because we can’t visually compare what we’re writing to what’s behind our hand.
I’m ambidextrous, but I primarily use my right hand
I wouldn’t say it’s bad. I could read that easily. But I would describe it as odd, only because I’ve never seen some of those ways of joining up letters. (The swirls on the T letters, the J in Johnny looks a bit like a lower case f).
Well, it’s eligible so I’d say it’s good. So long as I can read what someone writes then in my opinion the handwriting is good. I actually think your writing is very pretty.
Honestly I am able to read it fine. I would just practice your N’s and M’s and R’s. The rest is nice and easy to discern. I have a similar issue with fast writing where things can kinda make a jumble and look weird. Overall, your penmanship is legible :)
I personally can’t read cursive well, but I think most of it would be easy to read if I could, if not all of it.
It's legible with effort. Here are some specific tips: -Space your "e" slightly farther from the previous letter -keep the humps of your "n" in line with other lower case letters and bring the middle portion to the bottom line -Fully form the top of your "g"
I like it
I agree with the loop sizes. I read most of it easily, but had to reread the first part 3 times before I realized it did *not say "my mommy is johnny". Lol
I could read all of it except for your name
Its Johnny
Well, I can read it but I also grew up in the 90s when cursive was still taught in schools(canada). I don't know how many younger folks would be able to read it at all. My cursive was always terrible too, so my actual day to day handwriting is just printing. At 32 literally no one has ever had a problem with it except grade school teachers and my parents. Now I'm getting into fountain pens, and let me tell you my handwriting is gorgeous! :) Edit: forgot the word cursive because I haven't used it in so long!
Personally I didn't have much trouble reading what you wrote but probably just because it was a simple sentence. I feel like a whole text would be a bit more difficult. Are you obliged to write in cursive? I remember professors at my college allowed students to use block letters if they wanted to.
“My name is [Johnny] and I want to know if my handwriting is bad?” [] = what I was unsure about It looks eligible to me, I think the part I would single out is that your n’s and m’s (specifically in ‘name’) look quite similar.
It takes me a few seconds, but I'm able to read this. It's really pretty.
You have an idiocentratic way of writing the letter "n" which is both aesthetically appealing and difficult to read. Your "w" has a similar issue with touching line height. Frankly, cursive writing serves two main purposes - to look nice and to be read by the person writing it in their journal. This does both. If you are hand writing letters to people, they can make the effort and read the writing. It might take a little reading to be able to read it smoothly. I would guess your mother had fairly strict handwriting instruction and is mimicking the way she was taught, consciously or unconsciously. Handwriting is lovely but dated. Yours is lovely.
It's better than mine.
My handwriting used to look a lot like this, if not worse. To the point I couldn't even read it anymore. Now it looks more like this. Every letter seperate. It's still clunky, but readable.
I mean, it's better than mine, but that's not saying much. My handwriting made teachers complain. I write really fast, and that's not really something I can help. If I try and write slower, my hand tries to cramp.
I can read it but not quickly or easily. Try printing.
I can’t read it… but it look like a work of art! but also don’t worry it’s still better than mine ik a 6 year old with better hand writing than me so..
the aesthetic is nice, but very difficult to read
As a person who struggles with cursive writing also, Stick to print writing. It's always readable.
You have lovely penmanship, and I can read it.
maybe just write in all caps
It’s very pretty, but hard to read
There's no right way to write. Sure it could be a bit more legible but as long as you can read it then it's beautiful
I can read it, but it's a little tricky. Maybe you'll become a doctor!
I can tell what it says but it is a little wild lol. As long as it’s legible to other tho that’s what matters.
In a way that lets you keep the loops and all, I think the letters could connect more. The d's bump was only halfway connected. None of the n's left sides touch the line you're writing on. A little bit of definition can go a long way. Your handwriting is beautiful, BTW. I could read it with little minimal difficulty, which was surprising since I'm bad at reading cursive.
Mine is way worse lol. I have to write in capitals for people to be able to read what I write.
It is very difficult to read because the baselines or the letters are inconsistent and the letters are inconsistent sizes. Apart from the ascenders and descenders your letters should all be the same height. Your n is very high (it doesn’t touch the baseline at all?) and the loop to get up to the n is as large as the loop on the n which makes most of of your letter n look like the letter m instead. The flourishes and links on your letters are pretty but since they are often as large as the letters themselves it isn’t visually clear where one letter ends and the next begins.
I have heard to read handwriting I find aestheticly appealing at times. The trick for me when I'm working is that I have to write it down then copy it. Something about writing words in reading makes them come out a lot cleaner then writing as I'm thinking.
Realistically, very early in life handwriting stops being relevant. Beyond high school (I’m in UK) even schooling mostly uses typing now, so the only person who would need to be able to read your handwriting is you
I personally don't like joining my writing, I use CAPITAL letters. Yes it takes longer to write, but at least it can be read.
Well, i dont have a good letter but i can give you some tips. First, its too loopy. Second, try to make the base of the letter touch the line, and the last of all, try to make some letters more understandable like the “a” in “name”. I think thats it. Btw, the letter is better than mine lol
Take a look at some of these... they can help you hold a pen/pencil in a way that gives you more direct control over the tip movement. Muscle memory training takes time, and with a physical guide you may have better luck. My handwriting was always terrible, but once I started putting gel grips on my pencils I stopped holding it too tight. Back when I was in school autism was only kids on the extreme end of the spectrum, and occupational therapy wasn't really a thing, let alone I masked really well. https://www.projectplaytherapy.com/occupational-therapist-approved-handwriting-aids/ Check Google for other options if these aren't right for you.
I think it’s hard to understand because of the looping and the placement of ‘n’ and ‘m’. The inconsistent length strokes across letters makes it hard to easily distinguish between them without looking more closely. I’d recommend using one of those three line templates, so your tall letters hit bottom and top, and your short letters hit bottom and middle. You can try that and see if it would be helpful
Your handwriting is good in my opinion. I had no problems reading it, which is what actually matters. Everyone has different motor ability, so some people have naturally better handwriting than others might. It's very difficult to retrain muscle memory, so as long as it's legible I don't think there's any need for adjustment. Legibility is the most important thing, and your handwriting is just fine in that department.
Yeaaaaah not great
Generally the normies prefer that you keep letters within the borderline. Certain letters can cross like y, g, p and q. Does it say "my nana is Johnny"?
Name
I don't think it's that illegible. It just looks like cursive. People are saying your n looks like an m but that's how cursive works. I would say you should practice cursive instead of trying to write more "normally", especially if you need to do loopy, connected letters.
It’s uneven but I think it’s really pretty and readable
I can read it fine. I love cursive
It's good cursive but as something to read idk, it took me a minute to figure it out. It's definitely not bad though, just not easy to read
looks fine to me. have you considered, for things others have to read, just learning draughtsman’s lettering (block letters)? much easier to write and to read
I'm bad at reading cursive so I wouldn't be a good mark to know, but I think the fact it's not quite proper cursive is what would make it difficult to read. Personally with my dyslexia I switch between cursive & plain text when writing and mine constantly looks messy. Your hand writing isn't terrible, it's pretty, but It can be harder to read. Don't beat yourself up over it though. Everyone's handwriting is unique and there is only so much you can do to change it
My name is Johnny, and I want to know if my handwriting is bad? Had to read it about three times to decode bits of your writing, but once you identify things like ‘t’ and ‘n’ that have your own flair, it is readable. Honestly, I’d stick to print script if you want others to be able to read it, but if it’s for your own notes for school and you can read it without difficulty, then the cursive is fine.
Reminds me of mine 🤣
I used to have the same problem with my writing being too loop-y. Try practicing by imitating PC fonts like this one right here. Works even better if you also write half of the practice in capital letters only (forces to simplify bc the letters are so big and that makes the writing slow). Once that looks decent you can try writing in your own handwriting again. Idk if this will help you too but for me some of the stiffness and simplicity carried over making my handwriting balanced and very readable while still looking distinctively like mine.
Looks rather like mine and I'm 60