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The only time I write stuff with a pen & paper nowdays is if I am taking notes from a book or doing an exam.

Right now I am trying to type up my notes and, geez, they're hardly legible.

My handwriting was never epic, but I think it was a helluva lot better before I had my own computer...

Anyone else noticed a deterioration in their handwriting since the advent of the computer age?

My hand writing has always been pretty bad. It is still pretty bad even though I hardly ever have to write anything any more.

Though when I attempt to write fast it is usually illegible.

Mine has improved but nothing to do with computers.

It was always criticised at school by teachers and rightly so.
Some of primary school kids at te library I volunteer at have excellent handwriting.

Mine improved when I realised wrting is no different to drawing. I started drawing letters and taking my time.

Notes still tend to be in my old style scrawl Henners.
Maybe the problem is not so much a deterioration per se, but more to do with the nature of what is written?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
ps generally I still find biros impossible to use neatly.
Gel pens are better for me.
Not sure if that comes under the bad workman/tools scenario?

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:ps generally I still find biros impossible to use neatly.
Gel pens are better for me.
Not sure if that comes under the bad workman/tools scenario?

Some types of pen are better to write with than others.

I get cramp very easily nowadays when writing with a pen. I even struggled when painting the fence yesterday, had to keep changing how I help the brush... sheesh!

I get cramp when writing, but it's still the same scruffy font (it might've actually improved a bit). I was pressured to improve my writing when I was young, but neat writing took so damn long that I was also criticised for not finishing in time, so in the end I just went for speed over neatness and ignored people saying it was scruffy because most of them could generally read it anyway, and if you can read it then I don't see an immediate issue.

Examiners etc. could also apparently read my writing, otherwise i'd have Us across the board.

Could be argued that it is a matter of respect for others to make it easier for them to understand you, and also as a matter of self respect on how you present yourself.

I've never forgotton the skills taught to me when at junior school. We were taught how to write with Italic nibs and how to joined up writing correctly. even today I take great pleasure in writing with a quality pen.

My handwriting looks worse than my 7yo's.

...but I can type like 1000 words a minute.

Just remembered I had some images of my handwriting saved

Using my graphic tablet when helping someone with their maths about 5 years ago:


And when I was showing someone on another forum what my writing looked like (this is from about 5 years ago, but my writing is pretty much the same):


And now I have updated it to have my writing as of about 1 minute ago

I learned to type properly on a mechanical typewriter when I was quite young and have used computers for my entire life... but I handwrite a lot, too, and always have.

My handwriting style has always been fairly casual though.

I can handwrite much faster than many people I know, but I've never really tried to develop a perfectly neat writing style and I don't think it has ever depreciated. It's a practical thing - presentations are always printed these days anyway!

SilverMK2 wrote:My hand writing has always been pretty bad. It is still pretty bad even though I hardly ever have to write anything any more.

Though when I attempt to write fast it is usually illegible.

This.^ if i'm in a hurry, i can't even read my handwriting!

I have been forced to use capitals for everything.
Not sure why, but my joined-up writing has been terrible from the beginning. Being a lefty is just an excuse, I expect.

I had to type up all of my English coursework at school. 8-page essays turned into a 2-page document. I wasn't happy :(

Still, it does mean I'm used to filling forms. Block Capitals they want, ad my normal handwriting they get. Ho hum.

All my notes in school were typed on a laptop... For a reason.

My writing has always been bad.
Though lately after not using a pen for ages my writing has become more cursive and actually improved a little.

My writing has always been unreadable, so no loss here

SilverMK2 wrote:And now I have updated it to have my writing as of about 1 minute ago

Wait...that's bad?

biccat wrote:Wait...that's bad?

Well, it perhaps does not come across using a graphic tablet, but my handwriting with a biro when I am in a rush is utterly terrible to the point of being random squiggles on the page (quite literally)

Edit: And now I have figured out what has been bothering me about that image - I spelled "write" as "wright" - curse you dyslexia!

Mr. Self Destruct wrote:My hand writing has always been pretty bad. It is still pretty bad even though I hardly ever have to write anything any more.

Though when I attempt to write fast it is usually illegible. -SilverMK2

Mine is fine.
I still write stuff out by hand, then type it up.
For a cheat, I even found a font that looks almost like my handwriting, so I can type up my handwritten notes and then make them look like my handwritten notes and print them out.

I had messy handwriting as a kid. I had to practice a lot to improve it. I'm also a lefty, so have to hold the pen in such a way that my hand didn't follow along and smudge the still wet ink.

If I make an effort, my print is actually quite legible; probably moreso in fact than most of my male friends. My script is pretty legible as well, but I write REALLY slow then.

I use block when I write. It ranges from bad to kindda neat looking. Depends on the letters and such
Its ALOT better now then when I was a kid in school and wrote all the time. Figure that out

If I know someone else is going to read it, I take the time and write the best I can in cursive.

When it's my turn to take notes for my DND campaign, I just print as poorly as I feel like it to make sure I have time to get as much detail. This will be typed into our message boards the following week (we take notes so that we know what we missed if someone's out and we're all getting old enough to be forgetful...). However, the handwriting for my personal notes is horrible.

I often forget how to form certain letters. Mostly in cursive, but also in print.

Sometimes I can't read my own notes after a lecture, it doesn't help that I am rotten at spelling.

my handwritings about the same, my spelling got worse due to spellcheck, but now I can't get any spellcheck to work on the computer the bad spelling gets transfered, not like a give a poo.

My handwriting was implodeded by computers... it kind of sucks because where I'm currently working we kind of rely on some handwritten stuff like labels on circuits and such.

I pretty much never wrote anything for years until I went back to school. I always wrote sloppy but it was completely illegible for about half a semester.

I think it is because when writing I try to choke out my pen, when I think about it and relax my grip I write ok, but as soon as I get going I always go back to squeezing the crap out of that poor pen.

I write like a fething moron!

It's all in capitals and is incredibly messy. I think it's because I press too hard, as my hand cramps up after a very short period of time when writing - to the point that I had to stop and have a smoke break whilst writing a letter to a pal, a letter which was only one side of A4....

It's always been bad - when I was a kid, I used to have to use a special grippy thing that they put on pencils for 'special' kids. I think it's related to my learning difficulty.

I don't know that it's the computer that killed my handwriting...as my handwriting has always been pretty bad...I can read it,but my Missus (and just about everyone else) has to ask me just what the hell I've written down...