How To Write Faster and Neater Without Practicing

Ashutosh asked me how to write faster and neater at the same time. Nothing beats practice, but there are some real game changers you could use to get instant results. In this video I give a bunch of tips to help you improve your handwriting speed straight away. Some of them are real ninja hacks I think. Get up to speed for writing in exams, on tests, papers, taking notes, and so on. Spoiler: you want to get a fountain pen.

[mask]

"I like big butts" had me laughing 3 mins straight

[Vendavalez]

In the school I went to we were forced to use to write in cursive all the way to high school. The moment that I was allowed to use print, I started using that and I always felt that I was writing faster like that.

I did think that it must be because I was writing with either a pencil or a ball-point pen, which made me have to put a lot more force when writing if I wanted it to be an acceptable level of dark. Long flowing motions took longer than short strokes when putting a lot of pressure. I never really tested it though.

Many years later, I got into the fountain pen hobby and decided to start practicing cursive again. It was slow at first, but now I am writing much faster. I was wondering how much faster I would be writing in cursive compared to print, so I decided to put it to the test.


Turns out that I still type faster in print compared to cursive. I am not fully sure why. I have been putting a lot of thought into it. It is not because I care about how it looks more for one than the other. If I'm writing fast I don't care what it looks like. I guess that something about it is more natural for me?

For example, yes, I have to lift the pen and put it back down for every letter but, I guess because of the rhythm of how I think, that actually helps? Like, when I am writing in cursive I might start writing the next letter before I am ready for it and I hesitate and it slows me down. Yes, I have a lot more practice writing in print, but I remember that back then the difference in speed writing was similar to what it is now right away.

I started to think that maybe my assessment was wrong and maybe there was something about writing in print that should make it faster in general that I had not thought about and yet, when I start to look into it, I come up with claims, such as the one made in this video, that cursive should be faster. It's a good thing that I write in cursive for fun and relaxation because I might have been terribly upset if, after months of practice, I was still faster writing in print lol

[gamelygangsta]

This is really HELPFUL thanku👍🏻👍🏻☺👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[marctestarossa]

I handwrite a lot since about 2 years now and I developed different styles of writing for different purposes. For example when I need to write fast and it has to be legible for everybody I write everything in capital letters. This seems slow but I have a lot of practice with this. When I need to write very fast and only legible to me then I have a super minimalist style, many letters become just single lines and if I read it 5 years later and I don't remember what it was all about there are lots of words even I can't read any more. That's why I use this for note taking to remember things now, it's like short term storage. When I write to keep, like a journal, I tend to write in a standard cursive, because it's the least tiring (I have problems with some fingers falling asleep while writing).

[XxShade_FrostxX]

I need to learn to write quicker so I can better write notes. As most of my teachers only put important notes on the white bored for a short amount of time. I normally write with pencil (just a plane led pencil you normally get on your school supply list) cause I make alot of mistakes. But im pressing down quite hard and so my hand starts cramping slowing down my speed. So I starting writing in pen so im not putting as much pressure when I write which helps. I write natually small and in cursive. But NOT cursive joint. All my classmates write in print and most write quicker than me. Im falling behind alot when taking notes. But im not sure what to do to improve. I have written alot for the last 8 years of my life.

[marctestarossa]

But speed wise there is nothing that can beat keyboard typing. It's super fast, it's perfectly legible and it's not tiring at all, I can write for hours straight. But it also needs practice. I type about 100 words per minute and there is no way ever I can write this fast with a pen on paper, no matter how smooth the paper is. Or is there someone who can handwrite 100 words per minute?

[brentmccune]

There is a shorthand method that is significantly easier to learn while still increasing writing speed. it is called "Speed Writing Skills Training Course" by Heather Baker.

[octaviooyhanarte]

Pro tip From a student: write small, it's kinda obvious but if your strokes are shorter you spend less time and ink on each letter and as a side effect being consistently on it makes it look more homogeneous without trying to hard
I've also never got tendinitis which idk :tumbsup: I write in cursive btw
Trust me Large letters are for postals writing in fountain pen, not serious work

[letstrytogetbetterokay]

I do naturally write in slanting cursive. It's the ultra artistc cursive style - so it's slow to write and can be hard to read quickly... but that's my natural writting.

I have trained myself to write in straight print over the past 1 year. Its not pretty, but it is good to read quickly. It also helps bring me clarity.

I know cursive should in general be faster... but writting in print is faster for me.

[gamemount]

Pilot precise v5 is best pen for fast writing (it is the fastest rollerball, idk if there is any fountain that is faster than this)

[sara_x]

no one pointing anything what he actually wrote?

[ntumbachinoya]

I don't write Faster at School and I'm just Slow and I'm trying hard to make a good hand writing Is bad

[jesperkthomsen]

Did you know?
John le Carre has written all his books in longhand with fountain pens? I see comments hailing electronic typing for speed which is completely correct. You can produce a 1000 page brick of a book in a couple of weeks and, of course, edit, review eternally without filling up your wastebasket with paper.
However, when you write with your hand you need another level of concentration. An example could be writing in spanish or portuguese where the gender is important. Here you need to have the sentence complete in your head before writing it. It slows you down? Of course, but it gives your brains a kind of gimnastics that you don't get typing.
Maybe John le Carre is not the most productive writer of them all, but the quality of his sentences is superb.

[georgegonzalez-rivas]

WUT? Pencils aren't slow. Shorthand was always done with a pencil because it is fast. I think you're taking the idea that fountain pens are faster than ballpoints and making the mistake of extending that on to pencils.

It's not 'wetness' it's ink deposition volume over time. And graphite is very smooth because the graphite molecular structure os based on 8 molecule hexagons that slide over each other very quickly and easily. Graphite is often used as a lubricant just because it is smooth and fast.