How To Hold Your Pen Properly for the Best Handwriting (and 4 Ninja Tips)

In this video we discuss how to hold your pen the right way, the most common ways people hold their pen, and 4 ninja tips to improve your pen grip.

Mission Ink is all about improving your handwriting. If you like this video, please consider subscribing!

[ihavesoulreal]

Hello from Southeast Virginia. I figure I'll just get to it. haha Well, I had a (benign) brain tumor successfully removed last August but not before it had pressed against the left side of my brain, causing issues with the motor skills on my right side (dominant side). I lost the ability to write with my right hand for about 5 mos. and here I am teaching myself to write. I had terrible mechanics before surgery so I am excited to rebuild the fundamentals. Yours was the first video I clicked and that was it! Thanks for your hard work.

[jessedavidschell]

Great video! I am working to rehabilitate my once beautiful penmanship which deteriorated because of too much typewriter and then keyboard work. I have been using the Dynamic Tripod grip but after watching this I switched to the Penman Stroke. Evaluating the difference: my writing looks pretty much the same in the two methods but I have much less hand fatigue with the Penman Stroke! It really is about the placement of the thumb which makes the difference. If it’s positioned a bit higher up the pen, it can’t get involved and the index and middle finger end up doing the work. This change has made a big difference in muscular strain and now I can write for longer periods of time. I want to add that when I first tried Penman Stroke, I was trying to consciously use the index finger for the downward stroke and the middle finger for the upward stroke. That was completely uncoordinated. When I just let it happen ‘naturally’ and didn’t try to do anything except to keep the thumb out of the way, it just happened automatically. Thank you for this great video.

[sarahchristensen]

I have been watching hundreds of these videos and yours is by far the best. I think it may be your voice, its very soothing and calming to me!

[SkaterStimm]

As an artist I find the Lateral Quadrupod to be my choice to get the pencil to be more up and down and to give it more direct force to make darker lines. I will switch to other grips when shading, but my go to is the lateral Quadrupod since I can get fine control. However if I have to write a lot it can cramp my hand, but that is normal for almost everyone (give me a laptop any day).

[sanjakosovic]

I had no idea I hold my pen incorrectly until I was 37. Now I'm in my 40s and still hold it the same way. My handwriting is great, but I do get pain and fatigue after prolonged writing. I tried to hold it in the dynamic tripod way, just out of curiosity, but it feels unnatural and I have no control over my handwriting whatsoever. So, I don't even bother trying to change my grip. Personally, I think the correct position is the one that works best for you.

[vincentchong]

12:00 your pen grip is an extension of your posture. Thanks for this idea!

[analoya]

I subscribed because I like that you didn't edit out your mistakes but instead improvised which makes you very relatable and likable.

[mahfuzalamoni]

Brother, Thanks for your content. I'm watching it from Rangpur, Bangladesh 🇧🇩.

[cozakokotano]

Also as a reminder, guys, put the paper beside you and write, DO not put it at the side that is in front of your chest! That'd lead you to great fatigue and low angle for you to write. Take care.

[TheWorshipguitar]

Really thanks for the video! This is the first video I learn about pen gripping and it helped and gave me some insight on how to adjust my own pen gripping. I didn't "forget" to like and subscribe. Keep up the good work! Support from Hong Kong!

[TroubleChute]

I have many issues with terrible handwriting and gripping too tight, had a middle finger callus through school, and now it still hurts to write. I've never had a pen that writes under its own weight, but I'm sure this would probably solve my issue

[erikaserika]

Thank you! I have a very strange pen posture that was never corrected when I was a child. The base of the pen rests on my ring finger, my middle finger is at the top center of the grip "controlling" the movements, and the index and thumb slightly higher up on the body of the pen with thumb crossing under the index. This means the outer edge of my palm rests on the paper. It doesn't impact my writing at all, and in fact people always say I have extremely beautiful handwriting, but people always freak out when they see me hold a pen.

[sharonfimpel]

Initially I thought your ideas were thought provoking. Something I took for granted. Now since I've been listening to your ideas, I'm captivated by your accent. For real.

[HenriqueCSJ]

Hi! Great content!
I am visually impaired (not blind). I must hunch over the paper to write. Anything I can do to heel less tension and improve my writing?

[johnlopez]

I prefer they dynamic tripod method. I am a primary school teacher and it was actually a state standard here in California to use this method. I just tell my students the following rhyme: Side, top, side: by this rule I must abide. They do get fountain pens if they can meet my cursive handwriting expectations. The four finger grips are more like lobster claw grips and do not help to find the sweet spot of a fountain pen nib. It is also about the proper angle when writing. Thank you for your video presentation.

[jammyy]

I noticed that I hold the pen a bit weirdly. I use 5 fingers to hold my pen. My pinky and ring finger at the point of the pen, my middle and thumb at the base, and my index finger further up hugging the top of the pen. I had some isues holding pencils since basic school and this is what I came up with. It allows me to write comfortably, but my pinky is a bit displaced. Only issue I have is that I smudge my paper if my hand is dirty lol

[AdrianPaneto]

Thanks for sharing. What is the fountain pen used in the video?

[harmonyln]

Interesting. When I was taught to handwrite everyone did this grip with the first 2 fingers round the front of the pen and the thumb at the back, yet someone else said that's only the case for ballpoint pens, but to hold a fountain pen they had the pen between the thumb and first finger.

[emacarvalho]

Your videos are very helpful. I used to write by hand but f replaced it for a while and I noticed what I thought what I thought was humanly impossible because I thought writing was a natural thing: the handwriting I had now looks like a morse Codie or something. I understand what I write but others don’t seem to understand it.

[otto]

Thank you so much! I just decided to change my grip as my last one runs my hand tired easily and it gets tense fast. I'll practice the tripod grip until my handwriting gets better again.