Joined up writing
A troubled writer asks
Something came to my attention this morning that hitherto I had not noticed: a close acquaintance does not routinely use joined up writing, but merely writes the letters close together with very neat results. No speed penalty appears to be incurred. At school we were taught that ‘adults use joined up writing’, and told it was faster. I made some rudimentary experiments over my breakfast Fruit and Fibre and found my writing to be more legible with the letters separate. The current prominence of computers has led to a general decline in the aesthetic qualities of handwriting. Should we all revert to disconnected writing?
March 24th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
I think you will find that this falls into the “horses for courses” category. Someone who does writing all day will be quicker if they use joined up writing as the pen is lifted less often. As most folk now do not do very much writing they are not up to their full speed or neatness. Finally, the eye finds it easier to read joined up writing in the same way that fonts like Times New Roman is easier to read than Arial
March 24th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Consultant K, your arguments are theoretical rather than practical. I would argue that legibility in most cases is vastly improved where disjoined letters are used. That’s common sense (and why people use captials for clarity). I disagree with your assertion that the eye finds joined up writing easier to read: you have oversimplified the problem by analogising with printer fonts.
March 24th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Well, common sense simply suggests that the best option will be a trade off between a/ what is quickest and easiest and b/ what other people find easy to read. For instance, a fast, barely legible scrawl is fine for your own purposes, but may be unintelligable to others. By contrast, copper plate may be pretty and readable, but takes for ever.
March 24th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
on a reading basis it is far far easier to read writing where the words and spaces are clear and also the start of new sentences is also. This is best achieved through joined up lower case writing. On a speed basis, as G says it has to be a balance between legibility and speed. That is a personal thing and form personal experience I know I can write faster with joined up writing. On an aside I also know I can type faster than I can write now!