#cross writing

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 1131

I don't normally post pages of my journal on this blog, because I have another blog dedicated to that sort of thing. However, I am making an exception to that rule, and will probably just queue this post into the schedule of the other blog. However, I have spent about 30 minutes over the course of three days (because things have been busy) to do this:

This is called cross writing, and it's a technique I came across in a Youtube Short, the person claims some people wrote like this to save space on paper, which sounds like it could happen, but I do question the validity of the claim, just because reading it, can be an issue.

And this is coming from a person whose job, includes reading doctors' handwriting.

However, the effect looks really neat, and I think both as a writing exercise and an art piece this is something I had to try once. I did experiment with one page back in July, and learned a few things from that.

First, if you insist on using cursive writing (for readability the person suggested print not cursive), use a juicer or thicker ballpoint pen, or if you're a fountain pen user, use a medium nib. Also, if you're using a fountain pen, use an ink that flows well.

When I experimented last month, I happened to be using a fine nib with an ink that was giving me a lot of trouble. Whereas this month I am using a medium nib with an ink has been a joy to write with.

Second, write every other line, not only will it help you get that cross hatch visual effect, but it's easier to see where your next line is. It does mean this method isn't that great for saving pages while you write, since you'd be force to use every other line instead of every line.

I might be able to do every line as long as I'm using a medium nib, but that is an experiment for a future me.

Now, the question is, why would you want to do this?

I think visually it's very pretty, and I wouldn't mind doing a scrapbooking collage either over it, or writing around a collage in this method. Just because you can't read anything write away, which makes it a really good neutral background. That being said, if someone could make a wide washi tape with this style of writing, I would buy it. Like I said, visually it is great.

But, if you want to use this as a writing project, as much as s visual one, I'd recommend writing something in opposites. The person who made the Youtube Short explained that they did morning and evening journaling using this method. Now, they're journaling in a small passport sized journal, so it's not a lot, but what they do is write in one colour in one direction for the morning, and then do evening reflection in a different colour in the other direction.

A part of me wants to do that, and I do have passport sized journals, but I also work full time and don’t know if I can dedicate mornings to do this.

The other opinion if you're going to do this as a once off, is just to pick a topic or a thing in which there was an opposite in some way.

In this case, I decided to write about how I felt playing Book of Travels versus The Incident at Galley House, which, at some point I'll write about both in separate posts. It's a neat project, and I certainly at some point want to experiment in mixing this writing technique with a scrapbooking collage.

[insouciantlycinched]

serendipitous moment. i spent an an hour writing a single sentence repeatedly on scrap paper to make sure my penmanship was legible enough, then scanned and cross-layered them when I couldn’t decide which looked the best for this project. it was the last design element i worked on. i started the project cluelessly cross-writing the title.

[fathermulcahyofficial]

The dangers of being a yapper include having to cross write in a card like some sort of Regency fool

[littlebirdy0301]

Aaaa so I don’t even remember what brought it about but I just had Fond Memories of a past hyperfixation that was Cross-writing (aka crossed letters aka cross-hatching). Where to save postage and paper money, people would write out their letter normally then turn the paper 45 or 90 degrees & continue writing with the new lines angled against the first set (creating a cross hatched look, hence the name). I used to do it cause I thought it was cool and cause if I journaled in cross writing and in cursive, it would be virtually unreadable to most people, cause for some reason younger me had anxiety about ppl reading anything I wrote.

So anyways I remembered cross-writing & looked into it again for funsies. & I’ve always thought the cross writing with diagonals looks prettier than the right angle cross writing but I’m bad at keeping the lines straight and consistent if I try to write diagonally. & I was like “hm it’d be cool if there was a lined paper that had a set of horizontal lines & a set of diagonal lines, that’d solve it”

AND APPARENTLY CALLIGRAPHY PRACTICE PAPER IS EXACTLY THAT!!!!! I CAN BUY A CALLIGRAPHY PRACTICE NOTEBOOK & WRITE A PRETTY N AESTHETIC CROSS HATCHED JOURNAL!!! IM SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS!!

[msrandonstuff]

I HATE CROSS-WRITING

LIKE BITCH JUST TAKE ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO TRANSCRIBE THIS SHIT????

[ooklah]

I never knew this was a thing, and I feel like... I would never have been creative enough to even think of doing this or even try it. 

But now that I know it exists, I think I have to give it a try.

[lowcountrydigitallibrary]

Some of our favorite items at the Lowcountry Digital Library are the cross written letters. This is an example of cross writing from the Barnwell Family Papers collection.

354. Robert Woodward Barnwell to Unknown -- December, 1855.

Letter from the Barnwell Family Papers collection held by the College of Charleston Libraries.