General

Don't worry about it. No one will use handwriting in the not so distant future.

@Juni [url=http://laurengracejewellery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Gothic-Initial-Charms.png]Gothic.[/url] [url=http://www.fonts101.com/previews/510/Black_Chancery_font_preview_2008_2.png]Chancery.[/url]
I still prefer copperplate to either.

@polymerase: ooh pretty nice pen. thanks for showing
gosh, calligraphy of that level is just unbelievable, especially watching it being written. it seems inhuman o.o
i'm more interested in the fancy artsy kind (gothic?), and other languages. the brushstroke style asian languages use is pretty fun

@Juni IIRC, there are studies showing that writing in cursive stimulates far more regions of the brain than does printing or typing. There's an article somewhere that finds that people who write their SAT essays in cursive get better overall SAT scores.

There's effectively no such thing as a modern nib that will give you the flex and spring qualities that vintage gold nibs do. You can try to hunt one down, but rarity and price are your greatest constraints. I'm pretty sure the standard Namiki Falcon is the only fountain pen that comes close to rivaling vintages. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWpUvyLNJDA]Here's the pen I've been using for a while. Twenty dollars get you a decent fountain pen with a flex nib. The only downside is that it has no spring.[/url]

I would love to learn copperplate and Spencerian. [url=http://www.iampeth.com/artwork/LesterFields_cert.jpg]This is truly beautiful handwriting[/url]

@polymerase: awesome, i've always wanted to learn calligraphy. i'd like to buy a nib to practice it too someday.
that is a shame. seems like cursive's a pain to do for most people (including myself). practically the only times i was required to use cursive in my life was like, learning it in grade school, then having to copy the agreement thing for the SAT. that article is interesting though, i can see how cursive may be more important than it seems. i think it certaintly helped me write faster by knowing how to make letters flow in a legible manner.

@Juni I've practiced both Chancery and Gothic Hand with a disposable calligraphy pen. I'll probably buy a 1.1mm stub nib for daily writing and 5mm nib for hardcore calligraphy.
Yes, the flourishes in my signature look pretty neat if I do say so myself. Not uploading my signature for privacy. But @Akgold knows what it looks like.

It's really a shame that cursive (maybe even neat manuscript) in the United States is nearly extinct. I'd estimate that forty percent of all modern handwriting is chicken scratch.

I read somewhere that Trayvon Martin's girlfriend couldn't read a letter in court because she can't read cursive.

Edit: Found it. http://news.yahoo.com/cursive-writing-dead-162632387.html

Schools stopped teaching cursive like 10 years ago.

[quote=polymerase]@Limusocobobo I do write in cursive -- my papers, lecture notes, exams, quizzes, etc. are all nicely handwritten. It makes my work look more legit when compared with what students these days can produce. I print only when it's for important paperwork, in which case I use bulletproof black ink and write uppercase manuscript letters.
I've seen a few people in my college write script: some students and my math and biology professors. Long live good penmanship.

Edit: [url=http://i.imgur.com/jqmWAl.jpg]I plan to buy this pen as soon as I get a job. Fourteen karat gold nib, black resin, gold trim, cigar shape. Classic design.[/url][/quote]

that's pretty cool! have you ever tried calligraphy? you seem to be good at flourishes!

ot: i think handwriting's all about [url=http://i.imgur.com/rHkKAG7.png]control[/url]. it's easier to write neat slowly so try that and maybe gradually speed up until you've gained the control to write neatly quickly

@Limusocobobo I do write in cursive -- my papers, lecture notes, exams, quizzes, etc. are all nicely handwritten. It makes my work look more legit when compared with what students these days can produce. I print only when it's for important paperwork, in which case I use bulletproof black ink and write uppercase manuscript letters.
I've seen a few people in my college write script: some students and my math and biology professors. Long live good penmanship.

Edit: [url=http://i.imgur.com/jqmWAl.jpg]I plan to buy this pen as soon as I get a job. Fourteen karat gold nib, black resin, gold trim, cigar shape. Classic design.[/url]

Do you actually write in cursive? Or print? Because nobody writes in cursive anymore.

@Diegusie Enjoy. http://i.imgur.com/FalweYc.jpg

@Diegusie Yeah... you're gonna have to wait. I'm on lunch break right now. Plenty of studying to do. But I [b]will[/b] upload by tonight.

@Diegusie My hands shake when I try to focus my camera, so image quality sucks. Really pitiful when I need to snap a picture of my professor's lecture.

"2013 August 31... polymerase

Sample of my handwriting

The quick brown fox jumps over
the lazy dog.

... Basilmarket"

@Lpoopster Broke and unemployed college freshman looking to teach cursive for money.

@Mapleandacorn What I uploaded is old. My handwriting is much better now, and because I'm using a flex nib, I can get some nice line variation in my writing. I did these when I was bored in math lecture
Almost no flex: http://i.imgur.com/CWJNNTW.jpg (this upload the the next one were done on cheap paper )
Moderate flex: http://i.imgur.com/b6mzC1Y.jpg
Full flex: http://i.imgur.com/qqOGAEk.jpg
Something I did for a fellow Basiler: http://i.imgur.com/VRlvofD.jpg

Just tell people you're practicing for when you're a doctor.

[quote=polymerase]http://i.imgur.com/KdcgGUj.jpg
Here's a writing sample I did for a thread a while ago.[/quote]

Your handwriting is so lovely haha, I'm jealous(even though I'm quite bad at reading cursive)

In forth grade, my teacher ripped my homework right in front of me due to my illegible hand writing.

@polymerase

wtf teach me pls.

http://i.imgur.com/KdcgGUj.jpg
Here's a writing sample I did for a thread a while ago.

Lol.. when I was in 5th grade my teacher said my handwriting was so bad he wouldn't accept anything unless I printed everything so he could read it.
Since then the only thing I use script for is my signature when I have to sign something like a check.
Now I get comments like "Hey you must have taken mechanical drawing cause your handwriting is so nice and clear".

If people can understand your writing/grammar, you are fine.

If you don't feel fine, try different styles.

Practice a little.
In my freshmen year my writing was not that good imo, but as I got older people have told me that it looks quite nice and girly.

But in all honesty if you're a guy it's not that big of a deal, if you're a girl that sucks cause I wouldn't date a girl with messy writing