What are the Characteristics of Good Hand Writing

1. Easy to Read: Hand writing should be “Illegible hand writing in a young man or woman is a sign of an untidy and careless mind”, says Bell. The significance of a legible hand writing much more than a reflection of a clear mind.

2. Distinctiveness: “Each letter should have a characteristic form of its own” It means ‘a’ should resemble ‘a’ and not ‘e’ and ‘n’ should resemble “n’ and not ‘u’ etc.

3. Simplicity: The writing should be simple. The letters should have no unnecessary parts, curls tails or strokes. “C’ must be written “c’ only but not with a curl like ‘S’ must be written simply as ‘S’ not likes etc.,

4. Spacing ::  Spacing is a features essential for a beautifully written piece. The letters in a word should be properly spaced. The words in a line should be placed at an appropriate distance from each other. Similarly, the lines on a page should not be crowded too closely together. A harmonious spacing of letters, words and lines is very necessary.

5. Uniformity: It refers to the style. Whatever style the individual writer adopt, it should be uniform in size, spacing and alignments and particularly in the direction of the straight strokes. A less uniform writing looks to be shabby and unpleasant.

6. Size and shape  ::  The size of the letters should be moderate and even.. The note books for writing English should be so designed that the pupils learn to write with difference giving due proportion to each other. The shape of the letter should be correct.

7. Attractive ::  Hand writing should be attractive. A beautiful hand writing is one in which the letters are well-formed, even in size, and suitably spaced and written in straight lines.

8. Speed: Good hand writing also requires a reasonable speed. It is not labored in any way. A w Frisby says, the writing should not be labored but done at a reasonable speed. To begin with, the pupils may write slowly but they should cultivate the habit of writing beautifully at a reasonable speed. Speed combined with legibility comes with practice.