When Cursive Cried Wolf

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When was the last time you were mesmerized by your own handwriting? Probably the last time you were taking notes in a classroom. Laptops, tablets, smart phones, and their kin have managed to make the once ubiquitous writer’s bump lie flat. Cries of the demise of cursive have become commonplace. And now cursive instruction, also known as penmanship class, is no longer required by the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which has been adopted by all but six states. With cursive no longer mandatory in most public schools, administrators find themselves conflicted about using resources to teach it. Is there any value in possessing handwriting skills in a world of digital communication?

Judging by a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the answer is yes, though people seem increasingly to value it as a luxury or a hobby, rather than a necessity. Handwritten notes are making a comeback, but not strictly as a means of communication. The rise of “small stationery makers” is largely thanks to “tech-savvy paper-lovers” who connect on Facebook and Twitter. Notable among the stationery set is a Connecticut blogger who loves writing notes so much that she has written over four hundred “love letters” to anyone who requests one and provides a mailing address. Another is a Twitter executive who runs her own boutique stationery company, Paperwheel Press.

But there is good reason for everyone—not only the ironically appropriate niche digerati crowd—to reclaim handwriting. Medical studies suggest that writing by hand enhances neurological activity, and helps children develop fine motor skills. Some schools even use cursive to help dyslexic students maintain letter and word order, and links have been found between ADHD and writing disorders.

For those of us who simply want to brush up on our handwriting so that the insides of our semi-monthly Papyrus splurges are as beautiful as the out, the Internet reveals that adult handwriting clinics abound. There's one to suit every style:

• Do you love the big loops of cursive? Do you find the formality of script writing paradoxically liberating?

Chances are you’re a Palmer Method writer, through and through. This style is probably what you encountered in elementary school. Palmer writers were those kids always got top marks on their quick brown foxes and lazy sleeping dogs. To write like this, dig up some old Palmer worksheets, or, for the more adventurous writer, check out the Palmer derivative, D’Nealian, for a cursive that’s a bit more similar to print.

• Are you a forward thinker? Do you need the right kind of handwriting to match?

Why not give Getty-Dubay a try? This method will teach you modern italic handwriting. If you thought italic writing was something achievable only by ctrl + I, this is the style for you. The sample pages from the instruction manual look pretty sophisticated, and everyone knows that italics make a statement.

• Would you generously describe your handwriting as chicken scratch? Did the Palmer method never make sense to you? Is your handwriting more illegible than a drug prescription?

The Barchowsky Method is probably what the doctor ordered. Benefits of the Barchowsky Method include a lack of distinction between print and script, and an economization of writing that allows certain letters to connect and certain letters to stay separate. It also preserves the idiosyncrasies of the writer even as they are absorbed into the mechanics of a stronger handwriting system. For a great account of using the Barchowsky Method in a handwriting clinic, check out Emily Yoffe’s mother-daughter efforts to relearn how to write.

Happy writing!