Day 3, Countdown to February 14, Tricks of the trade

Don't let the state of your handwriting stop you from sending a love letter.  Since even the average person judges other people's handwriting much more indulgently than their own, the person who loves you is going to cut you a lot of slack when it comes to forgiving your scrawl.

Now that you've gotten motivated to use your own handwriting, you can spruce it up with a few simple tips:

 

• Lay two sheets of plain paper underneath your stationery to pad it.  [above]
• Upgrade your pen, from ballpoint to rollerball, from rollerball to marker, from marker to fountain pen, from fountain pen to calligraphy pen.  You'll be amazed at what a difference this makes.  My favorites, and great value for the price, are the low-cost Pilot Varsity fountain pen, way under $10, and the Rotring calligraphy pen with a 1.1 nib, under $20. 
• Warm up your handwriting on scratch paper by repeating strings of loops and curls. [at right]
• Practice a dozen different ways of writing your Valentine’s name, and of signing your own name. 
• Improve any awkward letter connections and capital letters.