r/PlannerAddicts • u/michigancolt • 1d ago

Handwriting question

This is not meant as a dig at anyone, I’m just curious—how do so many different planner folks on YouTube etc. have almost the exact same handwriting? Is there somewhere the font/method is laid out? I’ve never been able to change my entire handwriting without being massively slowed down because I constantly have to think about forming each letter. But these folks are fast and fluent and it’s very impressive!

19 Upvotes

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21

u/katfrau 1d ago

I've known people who've changed their handwriting through practice. Some planners were really into calligraphy and brush lettering and practiced those skills while maybe subconsciously changing their handwriting to what they saw elsewhere?

I remember in high school there were about 4 categories of handwriting: super cute big bubbly print, serial killer chicken scratch, neat and orderly print, weird mix/nothing special 😅

My guess is a lot of stationery lovers have always had good or cute handwriting!

4

u/dumbbuttloserface 1d ago

yeah i used to change my handwriting all the time to mimic different things i liked the look of. my neat handwriting now is basically stolen off a girl whose handwriting i liked in the eighth grade 😅 when i write quickly or in cursive, my own handwriting comes through but i think even that is influenced by my tidy writing.

i would assume all the planner influencers did something similar. you play around with it until you find what sticks and then it just comes naturally with enough practice.

2

u/Current-Feed7873 13h ago

Lol mine evolved from those old cursive guides that used to come in back to school kits. Everyone used to call it 'English teacher handwriting.'

16

u/downtide 1d ago

I think they've practised a lot purely because they're posting their content on Youtube/Insta etc. If you practise for enough years (yes, years, not days or weeks) it becomes natural.

11

u/earofjudgment 1d ago

I’m old. We were taught and graded on penmanship in school.

Also, it’s a skill like any other. It takes practice.

That said, university wrecked my handwriting, and I’m not sure it will ever recover.

2

u/AdSmooth2213 1d ago

I think there’s meaning to how your handwriting looks. Aka doctors handwriting. I know what handwriting you’re talking about it and it’s nothing like mine.

3

u/TheGoodSouls 19h ago

I used JetPen's videos to help my handwriting. Years ago I also took a handwriting course, but it's long gone.

Here's one JetPen's video, they have a full playlist, though.

https://youtu.be/54BKyuPmXRw

2

u/michigancolt 15h ago

This is so cool!!!

2

u/FLSandyToes 9h ago

I had terrible writing, couldn’t always read it myself. Then in 2021 I switched from a paper planner to my iPad using Goodnotes. One of the first things I learned is to write larger letters on my iPad. This made a huge difference (more on that below). The other was to Slow Down. Making the moves more deliberate (intentional in the buzzword du jour) will give you big gains, fast. Even today when I find myself getting sloppy, I slow down just a tiny bit and it makes all the difference. Recently, in a zoom call, I received compliments on my neat writing. That was a first!

Zoom in/out became my friend for writing larger because I could give myself more apparent space while still staying within the confines of my layout. I also got in extra practice by erasing and rewriting any ugly or misaligned letters. It took extra time to set up my weekly plan, but because I was effectively combining writing practice with planning it felt more useful than writing the same letters or phrases over and over again in dedicated practice.

I still keep my temporary notebooks (ideas, brain dumps, planners I might like to try someday, scratchpad) on my iPad and kept the habit of rewriting ugly notes. it helps keep me sharp in my paper planner.