A sample of handwriting in which all of the letters are the same size demonstrates that the writer has a balanced assessment of his interests. We have a person who hides nothing, whose subconscious is in harmony with his conscious mind, and who can communicate clearly when letters are completely clear and legible.
We see a tendency to blurt things out as the letters get larger toward the end of a word, impetuosity and impulsiveness triumphing over caution. This is most often written in a rightward-flowing hand, confirming the writer’s impulsiveness and spontaneity.
The tendency of letters to taper toward the end of words demonstrates discretion, tact, diplomacy, and finesse. The writer’s natural tendency is to close in, tone down, and become cautious, at which point the mind takes over and controls the emotions. The more diplomacy evidence there is near the end of a word, the smaller the letters become, but there is a difference between a diplomat’s tact and a regular person’s tact. Though the route may be subterranean, the diplomat’s handwriting will show keen intellect (or should), awareness through intuition, and the ability to communicate with others. It frequently turns into a game of wits. As a result, we look for similar combinations of signs in the handwriting of diplomats, statesmen, and strategists of all kinds.
In rounded formations, tactfulness is more visible in handwriting, which reveals consideration and kindness. It differs from diplomacy in that it is motivated by feelings of sympathy, often empathy, for people, whereas diplomacy is focused on problems.
Diplomacy will be evident in writing that shows mental formations, often in a vertical hand. The ends of words will occasionally taper to mere strokes, indicating evasiveness or dissimulation. Diplomacy implies courtesy, but it will be of a disinterested kind; and signs of intuition, when present, indicate that the diplomat in question sees right through the person he’s dealing with and bases his decisions accordingly.
When the writing flows to the right and is accompanied by tightly closed small a’s and o’s representing caution, secretiveness will show up in tapering formations. The capitals D and 0 will be tightly closed, with a loop frequently used. We have evidence of shrewdness, or what we have heard described as smoothness, when letter forms dwindle and become mere strokes rather than clear-looking letters. In the hands of an illiterate person, this would be considered dishonesty. (It’s important not to confuse the nervous hand with the shrewd one, though some shrewd people are afraid of being discovered.)
Legibility of Your Writing
In and of itself, legible or illegible writing reveals little or nothing about the writer’s mentality. Many professionals, including top executives, statesmen, authors, musicians, and doctors (as evidenced by their prescriptions), write illegibly.
Because their attention is focused on forming letters, young children attempt to write legibly. The desire of the detail worker is also to write clearly, as he believes that slurring letters or being sloppy with details results in a shoddy product. These people are often found among the ranks of clerical workers, bookkeepers, and kindergarten teachers. It is not in the nature of detail workers to write a script that differs from what they have been taught. Such people’s mechanical accuracy in handwriting demonstrates their ability to follow a set pattern of thinking and action, as well as an effort to improve their copybook script. These people are almost never leaders; their urge to follow someone else’s writing pattern is the same desire that makes them followers.
Legible writing, on the other hand, is not limited to detail workers. Others may be capable of executing different types of detail work. Simple tastes and a readable hand are common characteristics of the clear-thinking scientist who takes a direct approach to his studies. Professor Einstein is under this category, and an examination of his handwriting exposes the simplicity of his personality. Handwriting is, after all, a form of connecting with your fellow man, and if you want to be understood and cooperative, you will make an effort to write in a way that will make it simpler for others to understand you. It’s a sign to the illegible writer that something inside him doesn’t care if he’s understood or not. “This is how I am,” illegibly written text says; “try to understand my meanings if you can; if not, too bad.”
First and foremost, illegible writing belongs to the ignorant (illiterate). The forms may become more readable with training, but education does not always result in legible writing. In conversation or literature, one may be able to convey himself well, but unable to write legibly. On the other hand, while he may be awkward and even inarticulate in speech, his handwriting may be very legible.
Handwriting that displays tremendous disorder and is distracting to the eye can imply mental confusion, but this form of illegibility is in a class of its own, and we could be dealing with the mental and emotional problems of psychoneurotics or psychotics.
The illegibility of a dishonest person is frequently determined by very ordinary letter formations and awkward and ungainly capital letters, which are frequently accompanied by signs of a weak will and signs of rebellion (the downstroke of the t bar). The same variety of t bars that appear in the neurotic’s writing will also appear in the dishonest person’s hand, though this does not imply that neurotics are dishonest. (They are likely to be alone when they are.) Pen pressure is usually muddy or pasty in a dishonest person, indicating emotional instability. Letters will be smudged and difficult to decipher; there will be signs of manipulation in uneven letters, and the writing will often be cramped and poorly spaced, revealing a narrow vision and a person who lives in a world of private meanings. He is oblivious to the outside world and frequently considers others to be his enemies. His deception is his way of exacting vengeance on a world that he believes rejects him. His point of view is obviously skewed, and the skewedness is bound to show up in his writing.
Because his nervousness is transmitted to his hand, a nervous person may write illegibly. His restlessness and lack of control make it difficult for him to concentrate on one thing for long periods of time; his nerves keep him on edge. The nervous person’s handwriting will not be confused with that of the shrewd or dishonest person, according to the expert’s trained eye. Other factors, aside from letter formations, must be considered when estimating dishonesty in handwriting. The pressure on the pen is crucial (which is why a ball-point pen should not be used for a specimen for analysis). In such a diagnosis, both the strength of one’s willpower and the pattern of one’s mentality are equally important.
Young writers’ emotional disorders have long been linked to illegibility. Numerous specialists’ study has proven this beyond a reasonable doubt, however keep in mind that this interpretation only applies to very illegible writing, not to messy, poorly displayed, or moderately below average readability script.
