Write On!

January 23 is National Handwriting Day (not to be confused with National Letter Writing Week, Jan 8-14). We can think of no better day for you to practice your penmanship. Take it from our new Words of Wisdom poster series:

How to Write.

Before you can start practicing how to write your Ps and Qs, you need to learn how to hold a writing utensil. According to this poster, apparently you're supposed to hold a pen like a well-educated adult, not some graceless monkey who may use the pen to inadvertently jab himself in the eyeballs.

Some handy tips to remember:

     -Hold the pen firmly, but not so tightly as to cramp the fingers.

     -Avoid the finger movement. It is not practical.

     -The thoughtful student in penmanship, as in other studies, will win.

And for the love of all that's holy, "Keep both feet on the floor."

Italics mean the poster is serious.

Now that you have learned how to hold a pen, what are you going to do with it? Conduct an orchestra? Stick it in your ear? Eat soup with it?

Why not write someone a letter? Or do your taxes? Or make a list of all the reasons you can't eat soup with a pen? According to this here poster, good penmanship doesn't come naturally, so you'd better study up on how to ensure that your ledger is legible:

How to Improve Your Penmanship in Letter Writing.

Here are a few easy tips:

     -Write plainly and neatly as possible, rapidly if you can, slowly if you must.

     -Neatness, elegance, and correctness are all equally important as mere legibility.

     -Making a wavy line to represent a word is an injury to the writer and is vexatious, unsatisfactory, and disrespectful to the reader.

     -Vexatious: adjective; causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration, or worry
 
     -You're welcome.

Now that you're able to hold a pen and form words out of letters on a piece of paper, the possibilities are endless! You could apply for a job, practice appropriate business conduct, or buy a horse.

Hey, these posters didn't write themselves.

Whatever you choose to do with your new skills, always remember, keep those feet planted, buddy.