National Handwriting Day

Penguin by Zoë Friend

January 23 is National Handwriting Day.*  Is there anyone out there who DOESN'T long for better handwriting?!  I know I do, and as a professional calligrapher, I write for a living.  Here are four easy steps to take that can instantly improve your penmanship:

• Get your elbow on the table.  Don't write standing up or lying down.  
• Put two sheets of paper under the paper you are writing on.  
• Upgrade your pen: from ballpoint to rollerball, from rollerball to thin marker, from marker to fountain pen, from fountain pen to calligraphy pen.  
• Write on better paper. 

If you also take half a minute to warm up, your pen will write better lines and your muscles will make better letters.
Write, by hand, to someone who would like to hear from you.  You'll be glad you did.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "...in a letter, We have not better things to say, But surely say them better." 

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*National Handwriting Day is on the birthday of John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of Independence with special emphasis.

Day 1, Countdown to February 14, Writing a love letter

Set the scene for writing words that count: provide yourself with beautiful materials, a cup of tea, favorite tunes as background music, and a comfortable chair.   Keep a picture or memento nearby of the one you're writing to.    
Tomorrow, we'll think about the paper you write on.

    You can find more suggestions in my books, about choosing paper, pens, and words: The Art of the Handwritten Note and The Art of the Personal Letter, both from Random House.   margaretshepherd.com

You may not be nimble enough to write on your lap while you sit in a garden, but at least looking at a view is good for your eyes.  Here, an Arabic scribe envisions his beloved watching him.  This illustration comes from my book Learn World Calligraphy, Random House.