LEGIBILITY.
Children, in learning to write, are apt to sacrifice all other good qualities of beauty, regularity and grace, for the quality of legibility, or plainness. With some older persons this legibility is considered of very little consequence, and is obscured by all manner of meaningless flourishes, in which the writer takes pride. In the estimation of the business man, writing is injured by shades and flourishes. The demand of this practical time is a plain, regular style that can be written rapidly, and read at a glance.
FINISH.
By a careless habit, which many persons allow themselves to fall into, they omit to attend to the little things in writing. Good penmanship consists in attention to small details, each letter and word correctly formed, makes the beautiful page. By inattention to the finish of one letter, or part of a letter of a word, oftentimes the word is mistaken for another, and the entire meaning changed. Particular attention should be devoted to the finish of some of the small letters, such as the dotting of the i, or crossing of the t. Blending the lines which form a loop, often causes the letter to become a stem, similar to the t or d, or an e to become an i. In many of the capital letters, the want of attention to the finish of the letter converts it into another or destroys its identity, such, for instance, as the small cross on the capital F, which, if left off, makes the letter a T. The W often becomes an M, or vice versa, and the I a J. Mistakes in this regard are more the result of carelessness and inattention than anything else. By careful practice a person will acquire a settled habit of giving a perfection to each letter and word, and then it is no longer a task, but is performed naturally and almost involuntarily, while the difference in the appearance of the written page, as well as the exactness and certainty of the meaning conveyed, may be incalculably great.
While practicing penmanship, or while endeavoring to correct a careless habit in writing, the mind must be upon the work in hand, and not be allowed to wander into fields of thought or imagination; by thus confining the attention, any defect or imperfection in the formation of letters may be soon mastered or corrected.
POSITION OF THE HAND AND PEN
The right arm should rest on the muscles just below the elbow, and wrist should be elevated so as to move free from paper and desk. Turn the hand so that the wrist will be level, or so that the back of the hand will face the ceiling. The third and fourth fingers turned slightly underneath the hand will form its support, and the pen, these fingers and the muscles of the arm near the elbow form the only points of rest or contact on desk or paper. The pen should point over the shoulder, and should be so held that it may pass the root of the nail on the second finger, and about opposite the knuckle of the hand. An unnatural or cramped position of the hand, like such a position of the body, is opposed to good writing, and after many years of observation and study, all teachers concur in the one position above described, as being the most natural, easy and graceful for the writer, and as affording the most freedom and strength of movement.
Avoid getting the hand in an awkward or tiresome position, rolling it over to one side, or drawing the fore finger up into a crooked shape. Hold the pen firmly but lightly, not with a grip as if it were about to escape from service. Do not say, "I can't" hold the pen correctly. Habits are strong, but will may be stronger, and if you hold the pen correctly in spite of old habits, for a few lessons, all will then be easy, and the pen will take its position at each writing exercise, with no effort whatever. Everything being in readiness, and the proper position assumed, the writer must now obtain complete control of hand and pen, by practice in movement.