Pencil Techniques for Improved Handwriting

There aren’t too many things I write out by hand these days. I email my coworkers and text my friends, I take notes in Word or an app on my phone. When I finally do write something by hand, I find that my hand writing is a lot worse than I remember, and holding a pencil feels awkward and strange.

I remember this phenomenon from my childhood. My summer vacations were spent reading in the hammock, riding horses, and swimming in creeks – not a whole lot of writing was involved. The first week back at school was a painstaking process of relearning how to maneuver a pencil over a page and turning in chicken scratch, and my hand was sore from the effort at the end of each day. By the end of week two I could write legibly again, and the pencil no longer felt foreign in my grip. These days, getting my handwritten groove back takes a lot more work.

Fortunately, there’s this article – and even though the focus is on pens, it has some great tips that can be adapted to my writing implement of choice, the pencil. Todd Craver, former pen shop owner, recommends using a fountain pen because it forces you to slow down and consider the shape of each letter more carefully. When ink comes out of a pen too quickly, you are forced to write quicker to avoid ink bleed. Pressure is another issue – when you press too firmly to generate enough ink to write with, your handwriting takes a nosedive.

For pencil-users like me, the lesson is simple: keep your pencil very sharp, or use a mechanical pencil. You won’t be able to press too hard because you’ll risk breaking the tip – especially irritating with a mechanical pencil. This will also slow you down because you’ll want to be conscious of wearing down the tip evenly.The Caran D’Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine is awesome because it gives you tons of control, from the size of the pencil you’re sharpening to the length of the tip you want. Plus, it looks pretty darn snazzy. If that’s out of your budget, fret not – we’ve got lots of great pencil sharpeners that will get the job done!

The article also mentions the importance of grip and heft to achieving a comfortable fit. Palomino Blackwings are a personal favorite of mine because the eraser end has a really nice weight to it. Faber-Castell makes some really neat pencils, the GRIP 2001 variety, and although they’re technically drawing pencils I like the GRIP for writing as well. If you take issue with the whole shape of the pencil, I urge you to try the Kitaboshi triangular pencils, which are also versatile for both drawing and writing.

Once you’ve found a pencil and a technique that are comfortable for you, practice makes perfect!