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An Rodriguez
An Rodriguez

Posted on • Originally published at anrodriguez.substack.com on

How to improve your handwriting

Beautiful print letter practice example

It is almost always inspiring to find notes of one-self written long in the past.

In my recent trip 7/2023 to my home country, I was able to check out the notebook from pre-school that my dad had carefully saved for all these years for me to have the pleasure to see.

Handwriting at five years old

This is my writing when I was a kid, in science notebook:

It reads - Planet earth: Planet Earth is where we live live more than 1000 people but in Venezuela exist 100 people. If we divide Earth in 4 parts there is more water than land. all of the planets in total are 9. we have a layer that covers us that is called the atmosphere

From when I was young, my father wisely trained me to be curious about by younger self.

Handwriting in my late teens

I also discovered much older handwritten notes like this other one from my late teens:

It reads - Nothing lasts forever, not even the best of lies - o - The more a lie lasts, the more damage it will do when it’s discovered. One has to be a man and face our own acts and responsibilities no matter at what cost. It is those moments that makes us real human beings and when time passes we will be proud of our courage.

This time, more than writing about the substance, I want to talk about the form.

Handwriting decades later - obvious decline

This is a note that I posted today on Instagram:

My hand writing as of today 2024-01-19. There has been an obvious decline over time.

It is not hard to notice the obvious decline. I figure it is because nowadays I hardly handwrite and mostly type or tap.

What I am planning to do now

I have been thinking for a long, long while (years, actually) to do writing exercises.

My father used to have formats to practice that I could match after some quick google searches.

After googling things like ways to stroke letters in print easy clear fast or is printing faster than scripting, or improve handwriting in YouTube where I found this video How to improve your handwriting without hurting your soul where a beautiful and flirty girl - apparently named Leah Eckardt - explains very clearly how your handwriting shows your inner self and proposes way on how to improve it.

In contrast to Leah, graph paper is more convenient than rule paper. Avoid white paper for initial practice.

Resources on How to Improve Your Handwriting

After some YouTube-watching, I decided to find some resources.

In the description box of this other video, called “How to Improve Your PRINT Handwriting! 🖊️” from Jetpens YouTube channel , I found a very useful resource: Print Handwriting Practice Sheets

This URL has all of the information.

Found a great website with a ton of resources to improve your handwriting.

Here’s is one example of the lower-case practice images I downloaded from the website; notice it has the order and shape of strokes:

Example format so learn to write more legibly. Notice it shows the order and shape of the strokes.

Practice, practice, practice; if you want to improve you handwriting

A common topic all-around is that if you want to get better at something, anything, you have to practice.

Practice makes perfect, they say. Although I think perfection is only something to strive for. Good enough is good enough.

In the same website you can find other resources to help you practice your handwriting at the same time it helps you better organize your life (by common standards of organization):

  • Monthly calendars, where you can write and plan you activities
  • Weekly to-do lists, again to better plan your time ahead
  • Coloring books (because practicing strokes it’s not just about writing, it’s about hand control, muscle relaxation, rhythm, and more)

Other useful gear to help you writing

Over time, humans have mastered the use and design of tooling to better achieve their desires.

In the case of handwriting, this translates to paper, pens, pencils, and so much more.

Just take a look at this index of the posts they have:

There is a lot of content in this website. For example, Posts by Category: Guides (904), Beginners’ Guides (78), Calligraphy Beginners’ Guides (7), Fountain Pen Beginners’ Guides (13), Pencil Beginners’ Guides (6), Stationery 101 (7), Watercolor Beginners’ Guides (6), Pens (403), Ballpoint Pens (36), Brush Pens (25), , Comic / Manga Pens (9), Fountain Pens (63), Gel Pens (54), Highlighters (19), Markers and Felt Tip Pens (43), Multi Pens (27), Refills (3), Rollerball Pens (22), Stylus Pens (3)

Definitely worth checking the website out and do some hunting-gathering stuff.


I’ll keep on handwriting, with an improved, guided, more purposeful practice; on graph paper, with a ballpoint or gel pen.

What about you?

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