In the past 24 hours I fell down a rabbit hole of penmanship guides on archive.org and fundamentally changed the way I write.
Not the lettering style - I like my handwriting and for the most part I don't plan to change it drastically right now - but I've entirely changed the muscles and method I use. It's unbelievable how fast it was.
Anyway, these are the penmanship guides I've largely been using.
Spencerian key to practical penmanship
Palmer Method of Business Writing
Both teach pupils to use their entire arm to write, not their fingers and wrist. It sounded tiring and annoying when I decided to try it, but I know it works for painting and drawing, so I gave it a shot.
It immediately eliminated hand/wrist fatigue from writing. I can write multi-page letters without pause now.
It's also notably faster than writing with your fingers & wrist.
There was about one page of writing where it felt clunky and awkward, and my writing was kinda ugly and all my letters were too big. Then I adjusted mentally and physically (following the hand & arm positions they recommend makes a huge difference), and it feels great now. YMMV on the timeline, but my adjustment was rapid.
Hate to sound like an evangelist here, but it's neat and I'm not arguing with results. My hand strain from writing is solved, just like that.
[image ID: A handwritten note in dark red ink that says, “If your hands hurt when you write, give arm writing a try. And maybe get a fountain pen (one with a wider grip) — the smooth glide with minimal pressure required helps a tremendous amount too.”]
