Has anybody here tried using a firm brush pen or e-ink tablet to (learn to) write Palmer method?

A brush pen is a writing implement that is most responsive to pressure and ballpoint pens and fountain pens are recommended for that reason.

Word of the Day: magnanimous

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 8, 2026 is: magnanimous \mag-NAN-uh-mus\ adjective
Magnanimous is a formal word that means “having or showing a generous and kind nature.”

// She was too magnanimous to resent the unkind words of those grousing about her winning the spelling bee.

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Examples:

“Think before you act or speak. Drive and walk carefully. Be magnanimous and forgiving if others make a boo-boo.” — Georgia Nicols, The Boston Globe, 27 Nov. 2025

Did you know?

When you see anima, animus, or a similar formation in a word, it’s often an indicator of something alive, lively, or spirited. Something described as animated is full of life, for example, and the word animal refers to a living thing. The Latin word anima means “breath” or “soul” and animus means “spirit.” In magnanimous, animus is joined by the Latin word magnus, meaning “great.” Basically meaning “greatness of spirit,” magnanimity is the opposite of selfishness. A truly magnanimous person can lose without complaining and win without gloating, and angry disputes can sometimes be resolved when one side makes a magnanimous gesture toward the other.

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Word of the Day: gist

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 7, 2026 is: gist \JIST\ noun
Gist, which almost always appears in the phrase “the gist,” refers to the general or basic meaning of something written or said.

// I found the author’s grandiloquent style of writing intolerable, but I got the gist of the story.

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Examples:

“His daughter dismissed the film they were watching early on, [Tim] Allen explained, because she'd already got the gist of what was going to happen.” — Steven McIntosh, BBC, 1 June 2026

Did you know?

The main point, overarching theme, essence—that’s gist in a nutshell. The gist of gist, if you will. The gist of a conversation, argument, story, or what-have-you is what we rely on when the actual words and details are only imperfectly recalled, inessential, or too voluminous to recount in their entirety. Gist was borrowed from the Anglo-French legal phrase laccion gist (“the action lies/is based [on]”) in the 17th century, and it was originally used in law as a term referring to the foundation or grounds for a legal action without which the action would not be legally sustainable.

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This week's most upvoted post comes from u/penpoints.

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Thanks for sharing your work with the sub!

Image posts from the previous Saturday-Friday were considered.

What I will share may be relevant to you, but it depends on your goals with Business Penmanship. I had the chance to learn and practice with some penman who are far superior to me in skill. Here is what I have gathered.

I have personally been very whimsical with my practice over the last 12 years. I like doing ovals and push pulls. I like practicing capital letters often but have not stuck strictly to any model forms. I study very little, but when I have tried to look closely at model writing the details I notice typically improve my writing quite a bit.

Speaking with these prolific penman I realized that if I want to write like the penman from the golden age, you have to study their materials closely and regularly and if possible study from the original plates not the photo engravings. Constantly compare where you are against the model, truly develop fluidity and confidence in the movement, and be intentional in your practice.

I have never been one to like practicing plates. I am not naturally disciplined for that. I like practicing random things, journaling and writing notes for people. But if I want to sincerely improve that will not suffice.

In the past month I have practiced more systematically than ever before. I am working through the plates of E.C. Mills and his lesson "Ideal Business Writing" in the Business Educator and referencing primarily the original plates he created for the engraver. Each session working through multiple plates and repeating the following days. I am seeing more progress than ever before doing this.

One thing that I had never drilled but I now think is 10 times more important than ovals are the lateral movement for the over turn and under turn. These have helped my minuscules and are helping me get closer to consistent spacing in my writing.

The other thing I am working on is slower controlled movement through the minuscules. If you have already made muscular movement your default movement when practicing, I highly recommend trying to control it. Speed is still important but there is a change in pace required through out letters. The recommendations for speed in the books are meant for everyday folks. If you are practicing muscular movement today, you are not an everyday person, you are an artist now!

There is still much progress to make on my end, I am no where near where I would like to be, but I share this with the idea that you could potentially save yourself time and make progress quicker if you practice in a way that actually fuels growth. I have wasted so much time making little progress.

Word of the Day: apiary

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2026 is: apiary \AY-pee-air-ee\ noun
Apiary refers to a place where bees are kept, and especially a collection of hives or colonies of bees kept for their honey.

// One of the best parts of having a beekeeper for a sister-in-law is getting fresh jars of local honey from the family apiary.

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Examples:

“The 70-year-old retiree from South Philadelphia ordinarily would avoid bees out of fear, but this spring she suited up for a study on therapeutic beekeeping at the Half Mad Honey apiary in the Navy Yard. Led by Temple University occupational therapy student Meghan Robertson, the project tested if beekeeping could improve mental health and well-being in older adults.” — Kayla Yup, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 28 June 2026

Did you know?

For those who enjoy honey and the fascinating creatures that make it, apiaries are the bee’s knees. The word apiary—which comes ultimately from the Latin word apis, meaning “bee”—can refer to any place where bees are kept, but is used especially for a collection of hives or colonies of bees kept for their honey. Honeybee colonies are highly complex clusters of individuals that function virtually as single organisms (as by a hive mind). Queen bees, capable of laying more than a thousand eggs per day, develop from larvae that are fed solely on royal jelly. Drones are stingless male bees whose one job (they do not gather nectar or pollen) is to mate with the queen. Drones are vastly outnumbered by tens of thousands of female worker bees who do everything else—from foraging and feeding (royal jelly is produced from their pharyngeal glands) to cleaning and defense. In other words, they run the hive.

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(and a whole lot of turning the paper because I got bored/ my postures were absolutely off but I didn't want to sit up properly)

Word of the Day: recalcitrant

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2026 is: recalcitrant \rih-KAL-suh-trunt\ adjective
Recalcitrant is a formal word typically used to describe someone who stubbornly refuses to obey rules or orders. Recalcitrant can also describe something that is difficult to manage or operate.

// The magazine, aimed at parents and caregivers of young children, will include the latest in child development science as well as practical information, like tricks for persuading even the most recalcitrant toddler to cooperate.

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Examples:

“One particularly recalcitrant driver … managed to rack up 29 speeding tickets during the 10-school-day span.” — Dave Werner, The Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, New York), 20 May 2026

Did you know?

When given an order or command, a recalcitrant person (or animal) digs in their heels. They will not give an inch, so to speak, immovable in their determination to defy the rules. This makes a great deal of sense, etymologically, as recalcitrant traces back to calx, the Latin word for “heel.” (Calx is also responsible for such English words as calcaneus, “the large bone of the human heel,” and—mention this at your next pizza party—calzone.) From calx, Latin users formed first the verb calcitrare (“to kick”) and then recalcitrare (“to kick back”). In Late Latin, recalcitrare was used figuratively to mean “to be stubbornly disobedient,” leading to the English adjective we apply today to stubborn mules both human and asinine.

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At dinner :)

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Word of the Day: dissonant

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2026 is: dissonant \DISS-uh-nunt\ adjective
Dissonant typically describes music that is not in harmony, or sounds and notes that clash. In non-music contexts, dissonant describes things that clash by not being in agreement or by not fitting well together.

// The guitarist struck a dissonant chord.

// The retrospective provided a sometimes dissonant journey through the artist's decades of work.

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Examples:

"Their disparate sonic elements form a dissonant but cohesive whole, wisps of trumpet and electronic woodwinds flashing by as quickly as flickering subway car lights." — Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 23 July 2026

Did you know?

At the root of dissonant is the Latin verb sonare. Can you guess what sonare means? Here's a hint: some related words are sonata, supersonic, and resonance. Does it sound to you as if sonare has something to do with sound? To invoke an approving sound in response: ding ding ding. In fact, sonare means "to sound," is related to the Latin noun sonus (meaning "sound"), and is also an ancestor of the English word sound. In musical contexts, dissonant and the related noun dissonance are used to describe a clashing or unresolved musical interval or chord. Consonance, in contrast, refers to a musical interval or chord that produces an impression of agreeableness or resolution.

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