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In this day and age, we do most of our writing with the help of our smartphone or a PC. We barely ever use pen and paper, and because of this, our handwriting suffers. And it turns out that’s not exactly right. Why shouldn’t we use only a keyboard or a typewriter if it makes our life a bit easier?
Well, more and more studies are showing that handwriting specifically has amazing benefits on our brain. Think of it as a cognitive training that greatly improves our hand-eye coordination, memory recall and which activates more parts of the brain than simply typing something out on the keyboard.
Writing in cursive specifically triggers our functional specialization: a complex process that combines sensation, thinking and muscle control. Studies show that cursive is also a more engaging and faster way of writing. Learning to handwrite requires remembering how each letter looks, their size and the way how they are connected. All of this is more complicated than it looks on the surface.
Just practicing for a few minutes a day can help you reap the benefits. For students who write essays, this can be especially good practice, as good writing makes you appear more professional. If you are also looking for academic support. They are reliable, and will professionally review your performance. Edusson also has a lot of article reviews, which can inspire you and make your imagination grow.
The following 5 exercises are proven to be effective forms of practice. Everybody can benefit from them, whether you are a struggling student or one of such writers. They will require lots of patience and legit work, as you can’t learn something new overnight. But be careful while choosing a new service, as there are those who may scam you.
1. Brain Exercises – ‘Lines and Clouds’
Let’s start with a good warm-up exercise. Take an empty piece of paper and fill it up with parallel lines. You should make them as straight as possible and of the same length. This will make sure that your writing is not crooked and will make your letters look sharp. When doing horizontal lines, you should write them in the form of 3 (sort of like a letter E). Every line needs to be of the same length and fully parallel. Making clouds is a good way to practice your curve lines. They should look similar to a number 8, with one more circle on top. Make sure every part is equally proportional. Do these exercises for at least 5 minutes a few times a week.
2. Cursive exercise
When doing cursive, we are using a slightly different approach – drills. You might remember this exercise from your middle school. Start by focusing on only one letter and write 2 rows of this one before going to another. This is the easiest way to start writing well and learn how to lift your hand on the upstroke. Proceed with the other letters and then do ‘drill’ technique. This movement trains your hand to get used to up and down motion which makes your writing flow easily. You will be showing others how to learn cursive in a short period.
3. Air writing
This may sound strange, but this life hack is really effective. One of the reasons why your handwriting is poor is because you don’t adequately train the muscles you need. To practice this correctly, you should move your entire arm, and not only the wrist, up to the shoulder height. Start writing whole sentences in the air for 5 to 10 minutes a day.
4. Alphabet exercise
The exercise consists of writing out capital and lowercase letters (Z-z, Y-y, etc.) until you reach the beginning of the alphabet. The trick is to do this very slow and without cheating. If you find that your writing is too messy, you can put an open magazine beneath your paper and try to trace the outlines. It’s a great idea to use children’s paper, which features spaced and dotted lines you need to stay inside. Do this once a day for a few days. After you’ve become comfortable with this, it’s time to challenge yourself with writing in cursive.
5. Letter Exercise
Here, we narrow down our focus on the most problematic letters. Start by quickly writing out all the letters of the alphabet. After you have finished, review your work. Look at the shapes of your letters, their size, and clarity of writing. Take your pen and underline 5 letters that you think look the worst. Write them out 10 times slowly and deliberately. Now repeat this process and isolate new problematic letters. Repeat this for 5 times and then rest.
One more interesting type of writing is writing with your non-dominant hand. Writing with both hands is especially beneficial for your neurological health. This is a challenging process which is exactly why it will increase your brain activity. The following exercises require a lot of focus and discipline, as your brain will be forming new neural connections.
Additional Tips for Writers
Aside from these exercises, you can do the following things to improve your handwriting:
- Change the way you hold your pen
Most people don’t ever think about how they hold their pen. Holding it correctly will improve your control and allow you to write longer without getting tired, so it is useful to master this. There have actually been studies on this, and the consensus is to use a hold called dynamic tripod. It consists of holding a pen between thumb and index, while the tip rests firmly on your knuckle. The general rule is to hold the pen 2/3 to the bottom.
Don’t hold the pen loose or too tight, or your writing will look awful anyway
- Try different accessories
According to Edusson writers experiment with different utensils to find out which one suits you the best. There is a variety of options on the market (roll-on pen, ballpoint, etc.) of different prices. You shouldn’t rest until you find something you are comfortable with.
Conclusion
These exercises will help you to improve your handwriting. Follow the rules, and you might be impressed by the result. Good luck!
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This content is sponsored by Kelly Newborn.
Photo: Shutterstock