Story Behind My Handwriting
This year, I learned that January 23rd is National Handwriting Day. I completely missed posting anything about it, of course, but it got me thinking about my own handwriting and why I write the way I do. As someone whose daily routine is to write on paper, I never observed the quirks that I have until now - I thought I would share them here for fun!
English Print
This is how my handwriting looks most of the time. I write fairly fast and not in the neatest way, but I’m okay with it because pretty much everything I write is for my own reference anyway. Although I share pictures of my notebooks on this blog and Instagram, I’ve never felt the pressure to showcase a super neat handwriting style. It’s far from being picture perfect, but I enjoy how I write in English print - at the very least, it’s legible!
Sometimes it’s inconsistent - I tend to switch between a few ways of writing certain letters. For example, my s’s are either slanted print or in cursive form, and I give or take away “tails” on my y’s and g’s randomly. There’s no rhyme or reason to any of this, and I can’t tell you when or why I’ve formed this habit. Kind of funny, don’t you think?
English Cursive
A long time ago, someone on Instagram asked me where I learned to write in cursive. The short answer is: from a school workbook!
When I moved to the United States as an 11-year-old, my elementary school teacher noticed how much I liked to write and gave me a cursive handwriting workbook. It wasn’t required for me to complete it or anything, but I vaguely remember her telling me that it might be handy for me to learn cursive if I found it fun.
A lot of scribbling and practicing later, I became very comfortable with writing in cursive. I can write at almost the same speed in cursive as I can in print, and enjoy doing so from time to time. Thanks to my teacher Ms. Boyd, I gained the ability(?) to peer grade papers in English class in high school - there was always that one kid who wrote their essays in cursive, but they couldn’t escape my cursive reading eyes. They probably didn’t like me too much for that, but I was quite happy to help!
I want to add a quick note here to say that lettering is another story altogether. I have a harder time with modern brush lettering and calligraphy because the way the letters “bounce” doesn’t come naturally to me - I’m used to writing in cursive in a straight line. I occasionally include some lettering in my journals, but I don’t do too much of it as a result.
Korean
Korean is my mother tongue and first language I ever learned! I used to have really neat handwriting in Korean to the point where I won a few awards in school in handwriting competitions (although it sounds so funny to say that out loud). However, after moving to California and writing in English almost exclusively over the years, my Korean handwriting has deteriorated significantly. I often feel like a kid again trying to write in Korean, which makes me a bit sad! I’m keeping a Korean journal in a Nolty Efficiency notebook this year in an attempt to improve my Korean handwriting. Like many other things, I seem to be better at it when I slow down - hopefully one day, I can scribble as quickly in Korean as I can in English.
I hope you enjoyed reading a little more backstory about my handwriting! In a digital age where I often hear people say they barely write by hand anymore, I’m glad there’s a huge analogue community that still encourages recording of our daily lives on paper. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I’ll see you back here soon with another update!
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