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Has Anyone's Handwriting Changed Over the Years?

(34 Posts)
Sparklefizz Sun 17-Oct-21 13:35:50

I was decluttering and came across something I'd written about 25 years ago. I didn't even recognise it as my own handwriting at first, it's nothing like my writing nowadays and I realise that my script must have "evolved" over the years.

My Mum's handwriting stayed the same throughout her life and seemed to be her original "schoolgirl style".

Has anyone's handwriting drastically changed over the years?

grandtanteJE65 Sun 17-Oct-21 13:41:13

Well, mine certainly has, due to my eyesight becoming poorer.
It was never very good to start with, as the writing we were taught at school changed as new ideas were brought in regarding the teaching of handwriting.

My parents, too, wrote more and more illegibly as they aged, due to arthiritis and poor eye-sight.

If hand-writing remains the same for years, I imagine it is either because the writer had a job where it was necessary to write carefully by hand, which is highly unlikely to be the case today, or made a concious effort to write well.

Zoejory Sun 17-Oct-21 13:50:28

Yes. My writing now looks as if it's been written by a 4 year old. Probably because I hardly ever write anything. We don't really need to any more. Technology has removed the need for much of the writing we used to do.

I used to write with calligraphy and it was lovely to see.

But apart from birthday/Christmas cards there's little else and I've lost the ability.

Grandma70s Sun 17-Oct-21 13:52:53

Oh yes. As a teenager I had really beautiful italic handwriting. It’s got worse and worse, partly as a result of using ballpoint pens. A fountain pen demands more care, I think. We weren’t allowed ballpoints at school.

Grandma70s Sun 17-Oct-21 13:54:07

I still write by hand a lot, because I keep a diary.

SueDonim Sun 17-Oct-21 14:51:40

No, I don’t think mine has changed much. Although these days I don’t write much more than cards and lists. When I do write the occasional letter I must confess, I’m impatient and the writing gets scrawlier the more I write.

Three of my four children have very similar writing to me, which always baffles me when a hand-written envelope arrives. grin

Blossoming Sun 17-Oct-21 15:18:04

Yes, mainly due to nerve damage.

crazyH Sun 17-Oct-21 15:24:19

Strangely enough, my hand writing has got better with time !!

starlily106 Sun 17-Oct-21 15:31:02

My handwriting changed dramatically after I had cataracts removed. I was short sighted before and now am long sighted. My handwriting is now scribble and I cannot seem to improve it.

Georgesgran Sun 17-Oct-21 16:49:46

Mine hasn’t changed much. My Dad wrote beautifully all his life - he could paint and draw too.

Judy54 Sun 17-Oct-21 16:51:10

Mine was never great as a left hander but arthritis in my hands has made it look even worse.

sodapop Sun 17-Oct-21 17:39:45

My handwriting is the same Starlily it's appalling and for no good reason. I think faster than I can write so need to slow down but no great improvement. Must do better smile

BlueSky Sun 17-Oct-21 18:43:08

My handwriting as a youngster used to be ghastly, apparently a sign of anxiety which was the case with me. When I got older I made a conscious effort to better it, it’s ok now, but I still admire those people who have a naturally beautiful handwriting.

Witzend Sun 17-Oct-21 18:55:38

Mine hasn’t changed much - still a fairly messy scrawl.

It never recovered from a change of school at 9 (had to go from modern round cursive to old-fashioned loopy) and again at 11, where we all had to do italic.,

I well remember a teacher’s comment in red - ‘Writing MUST improve!’

By the time I was early 50s and doing OU courses, I was so unused to handwriting, I had to make a real effort to practise, in order to be able to write 4 legible essays during a 3 hour exam.

H1954 Sun 17-Oct-21 19:01:46

My handwriting rather depends on the speed that I need to write....a quick list is a bit untidy but when writing a greetings card I do take more care.
My late Mum had beautiful handwriting; she wrote me a short note some months before she died, I'd taken her and Dad out for the day and she wrote a thank you note. I still have the note to this day.

M0nica Sun 17-Oct-21 19:41:38

There has never been a time when my writing was anything other than an illegible scrawl. Teachers tore their hair out over it. Even in the VI Form they were getting me to try different techniques to try to inmprove it.

In my 40s, I discovered why. I am mildly dyspraxic. Discovered when DS was having physiotherapy for the same reason. I was prescribed special exercises

This improved my handwritng a bit. It started sloping forward rather than back and writing became easier.

Since this dramaic change noting much has happened. My writing is still illegible still looks messy, but is forward sloping enthusiastic inllegibility instead of a backward leaning reticent illegibility.

LadyGracie Sun 17-Oct-21 19:44:57

Mine was still neat until I broke my wrist.

HumblePie Sun 17-Oct-21 19:49:26

Oh yes. I used to write as a secretary with a Mont Blanc fountain pen. Now I use cheap biros it's more of a scrawl than handwriting. My mother's improved with the use of biros and ballpoints- though hers was always a lovely loopy handwriting.

MrsPickle Sun 17-Oct-21 19:49:50

I am naturally left handed, but mum was of the generation which thought left was sinister!
So i was forced to write with my right hand. Unfortunately, part of that is missing, so i was on to a loser straight away.
I had some form of electro therapy to help me write, but she still considered my writing worse than a spider sprawl.
Funnily enough. I'm a decent enough artist, even with a wonky hand!

Redhead56 Sun 17-Oct-21 20:07:12

Mine is appalling now because of osteoarthritis and Duputrens contracture. My writing is now a scrawl but there is nothing that can correct it. I can still garden draw sew and string pearls so that's something.

Marydoll Sun 17-Oct-21 20:51:14

My is now appalling, due to RA.
I taught handwriting to pupils and prided myself on my blackboard writing, I also did calligraphy for a hobby. Sometimes when I go back to read something, I can't decipher it. Thank goodness for word processing!

Marydoll Sun 17-Oct-21 20:51:40

So is my spelling!!! grin

Grannybags Sun 17-Oct-21 20:55:32

Mine has gone down hill in the last few years. I don't write much now only birthday and Christmas cards really.

My spelling has also deteriorated. I blame my phone for that!

aggie Sun 17-Oct-21 22:01:02

OH had beautiful handwriting , but it got smaller and smaller as his PD progressed it was still legible though.
I learned to write italic in Scortand , but came over to Northern Ireland aged 9 and the Nuns insisted I rounded my letters , the resulting script was and is a disaster , my Grandchildren write out my shopping lists if they are getting messages for me cos they can’t read my writing ?

aggie Sun 17-Oct-21 22:02:01

Blimey I can’t spell Scotland!