Handwriting: how Yours May Affect the Poetry You Write.

Best Book on Handwriting: Better Handwriting (Rosemary Sassoon - 2nd edition (2003))
And See other book that can help your Handwriting.

If you have difficulty writing poetry, contemplate the advice of the handwriting experts! Your problems may be due to your handwriting - which you can change!!!

Graphotherapy, promises, promises. What is a poet's handwriting like? Books on Handwriting. Glossary on Handwriting.

Graphology and Graphotherapy: the Hand-Brain Connection.

Handwriting displays something of how your brain thinks. If you think like a poet, you write like one.

And if you change your handwriting so that it looks like that of a poet, graphotherapists (like Vimala Rogers) expect the changes to appear in your personality.

Graphology, one of the softest of sciences, proposes that the analysis of handwriting reveals the depths of your personality, that personality affects handwriting.

Graphotherapy proposes a more radical idea: by changing your handwriting you change your personality.

Could it be, then, that one could start writing like Emily Dickinson or Billy Collins?! And might you even start living like them?

Graphotherapy, promises, promises.

Vimala Rogers offers you the opportunities to:

Be more creative. Work on the letter R, "the letter of innate creativity".
Complete your incomplete manuscript. Work on the letter Y, "the letter of self-acknowledgement".
Give more confident poetry readings: "Overcome shyness or stage fright by changing the letter A".
Be recognized for your talents: "Avoid being overlooked ... by changing the letter G".

And, as if that were not Paradise already, Rogers also promises:

"Stick to that diet by changing the letter T".

Jess E. Dines offers you 18 concise chapters with:

The chance of discovering "the 'hidden' personality and behavior of your mate, lover, friends, boss, coworkers, even strangers".
Details of Graphology, this inexact science of deducing personality from handwriting. Dines' details allow you to choose your own preferences (instead of being constrained to cloning the limited recommendations of Rogers).
Features in the writing of practitioners of almost 100 different professions.

What is a poet's handwriting like?

Dines claims that poets have (or can cultivate) most of these features, which he associates with the writing of poets.

A right slant. (Compassionate, sympathetic, communicative).
Large writing. (Bold, confident, strongly motivated, enthusiastic).
"Spacing between words and lines [the] same width as middle zone letters". [A middle zone letter is an "a" or an "o" for example.]
"Lines separated and evenly spaced".
"Tall upper zone [indicating] great imagination, intellectual, spiritual, philosophical".
"Medium to heavy pressure [indicating] high energy and intensity of thought".
"Large capitals [indicating] high confidence".
"Narrow left margin and wide right margin [indicating] avoids the future, is reserved".

Treat the above data with your usual caution. Scientists, skeptics, and visitors to manuscript libraries may find several exceptions to these "rules".

Books on How to Improve your Handwriting.

Better Handwriting (Teach Yourself Series) by Rosemary Sassoon (2nd edition). Acclaimed and delightful book; includes lots of interesting data and exercises. Plus, Sassoon's f's are like mine (which are a shape that Rogers rejects!). More notes on Sassoon's book.

Write Now by Barbara Getty. Another good book teaching you how to writing legibly. A self-instruction book in basic and cursive italic script, "an old yet innovative, simple yet elegant approach to handwriting. " Gives diections on how to position your body, the pen, and the paper. Rich with templates, shape and stroke guidance, and tips. The reader is taught how to write with an edged pen. Some good projects include Greeting Cards and Surprise Booklets. Self-evaluation questions along the way to help you improve your writing. Good reference sections on the history of the alphabet and other books on lettering and writing.

Books on Graphology and Graphotherapy: How Personality and Handwriting are Interwoven.

	Between the Lines: Understanding Yourself and Others Through Handwriting Analysis by Reed C. Hayes. The author, a Certified Master Graphologist reports that Aristotle acknowledged Graphology's validity, and 17th century scholars organized a system of analysis. He instruct how to analyze handwriting, using samples from the famous, the infamous, and the unknown. His "Dictionary of Personality Traits" links personal characteristics.
	Handwriting Analysis: Putting It to Work for You by Andrea McNichol, Jeffrey A. Nelson (Contributor).
	Handwriting Analysis by Karen Kristin Amend, et al. Includes lots of life-size handwriting samples of famous and infamous people. Suggests ways that handwriting reveals emotional disturbance and mental illness.
	Instant Handwriting Analysis: A Key to Personal Success by Ruth Gardner. A fascinating book, full of samples. An insightful and highly rated text, which can help you know yourself and others through handwriting analysis. Its detailed index makes it very easy for you to look up specifics. Contains interesting samples of signatures of the famous. Some research is mentioned, but no details nor citations are given.
	Handwriting Analysis Made Easy by Jess E. Dines. An older but still interesting book.
	The Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis by Sheila R. Lowe.
	Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life by Vimala Rodgers. A recipe book for Graphotherapy, advocating how to change yourself by changing your handwriting. Rodgers promotes: "a means of developing those traits necessary to build a successful and fulfilling life." She recommends people shape their letters as in her "Vimala Alphabet". This includes: "pointed v's [that] represent discernment, t's crossed on the top [to] reinforce healthy self-esteem and the willingness to excel, and uncluttered circle letters [to] support honesty." Her complete alphabet "reflects the most positive aspects of ALL the letters, for in writing them, the writer, on a subconscious level, reaffirms the aspects they represent."
	Change Your Handwriting Change Your Life by Vimala Rodgers. Separate chapters address the effects of handwriting on 15 different personality areas, including honesty, self-discipline, creativity, and gratitude. She says her "exercises will not only alter your style of handwriting but can enhance or shift aspects of yourself and your life with each stroke of the pen." An earlier book than Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life

Our highest recommendation continues to be for:

Best Book on Handwriting: Better Handwriting (Rosemary Sassoon - 2nd edition (2003)) Better Handwriting (Teach Yourself Series) by Rosemary Sassoon, et al. It includes chapters on:
Self-diagnosis (to help you recognize if your letters are well-formed, the writing consistent and clear, etc).
Practical matters. This gives advice that can change your life. For example, placing your paper to your right instead of your left may change a backward-sloping style to a forward-sloping style; altering the way you hold your pen may relieve you of hand cramps.
Specific help for left-handers.
Help for others with more serious problems.

Then Sassoon turns to how to correct your handwriting. Many find that they can start to benefit in only a few days from following her advice:
Regaining control.
Rhythm and texture.
A training model.
Joining up.
Personal modifications.
Capital letters.

Sassoon's "Finishing Touches":
Layout.
A more formal model.

Related pages:
Poetry index. Books on How to Read. Books on How to Write. How to Listen. How to Write - A Recipe.

How to write specific forms: Haibun. Haiku. Hay(na)ku. Rengay. Tanka.

Books of Poetry Form.

Copyright © 2002-2017 by J. Zimmerman.
Some say that a poet's work is to communicate, by finding words that express human emotions.
If a poet does want to communicate, it is likely that she will strive for legible writing.
She will not necessarily believe too strongly in Graphology and Graphotherapy, which are soft sciences and have some underwhelming scientific backing.
But she might use them as she uses forms in writing a poem - some people have found both types of tool to be helpful.

[Thanks for visiting.]