Handwriting

Blogging ofcourse I've started this weekend itself, however before this I'd taken to writing stuff down in in writing pad for sometime. The following is a reproducion from there. (Yes yes, I was very bored and very jobless at home .. but I still didn't get my license made and now I'll probably suffer because of that :()

One of those things about me which is never going to change - my bad handwriting. Basically since I'm writing all this time the bad handwriting thing is more obvious or rather observable. and hence gives me something to ponder over. I tried various things in my school years as part of attempts to improve my handwriting. I think one of the very first tips I received was to apply a lot more pressure while writing. I guess it ensures better control or something. I was in upper KG at that time, so I s'pose it helped make my handwriting somewhat more legible atleast I remember a teacher telling me so. However over the years this habit of pressing the pen a little too hard on paper while writing has proved something of a liability - broken nibs, torn paper and so on.

Then somewhere down the line, I think in 6th standard, I started breaking my words and writing. I don't remember if it was somebody's suggestion or my own whim but I stuck with this for one year and then I started linking everything up again, not quite everything though, I still break a word or two after and I or an f. I also changed my word formation somewhat over the years. Everything used to be a lot more curlier when I was young, cursive handwriting style. So, I made my 'f's, 'h's, 'l's sharper and meaner. Oh unfortunately I can't show the difference here but I changed my 'm', 'B', 'b', 'G' etc. as well. However all this didn't really help to improve the overall sloppiness of my handwriting. Which brings me to the realization that my handwriting has always been sloppy. I might form individual alphabets alright, but while writing words my 't's get bent, 'e's nudge each other, alphabets become tall and short as suits their fancy, crooked, bent and generally falling over each other. Basically in one word 'sloppy'.

I wonder what a handwriting expert would have to say to this and also the fact that I realize this flaw and yet haven't corrected it. Some people insist that the inherent sloppiness of my handwriting is due to wrong grip of the pen. Very early in life I adapted my grip and my style of writing to ensure maximum speed. The thing is I think fast or rather I used to be able to come up with answers fast and I would be in a terrible hurry to put them down and move on to the next thing. I used to hate it if someone would finish their classwork (or homework) before me. I suppose hence the sacrifice of proper word formation for the sake of speed. Those who know me now would find it hard to believe that I did anything in a hurry.

Its true though, I hate taking too long over anything. Once I get started on something, I have to finish it asap, be it cleaning my room, writing a report, mugging for a quiz or an exam, or discussing important life-affecting matters, and I've often sacrificed being thorough and meticulous for the sake of speed. Infact I have a well earned reputation at home that any plans I make have to be changed eventually and often with some expense involved. That's mainly due to the fact that I'm never patient enough to wait a while and then decide. Patience brings me to how I get bored of most things pretty fast but that's for another time.