LeftHand Writers

[southpaw52]

I have a lifelong underhand writer. Until recently I thought that was the best way to write being left handed. Writing underhand was becoming more difficult to write that way. Then I found that writing with a modified hook it felt more natural. Easier to write. I was concerned with smudging, but that has not been an issue.

I was wondering if any other lefties have made the switch too and what their thoughts are.

[manoeuver]

I'm usually directly behind. I pop up once in a while.

I've learned to underwrite when I'm going flexy.

[An old bloke]

I grew up as an over-writer with the usual hooked wrist. Yes, it has advantages for us lefties, but it is not ergonomic. It puts the contractor muscles of the wrist in tension and keeps them tensed. I suspect over-writers are more likely to suffer from tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. I have had both, and that is why I've changed my pen hold, my hand and arm position, and - with practice - become an under-writer.

[Robert]

Life-long hook/overwriter lefty here. I've tried to change to an underwriter a couple of times, but the results were not good. I can't do flex, but I can get nice line variation with a stub . . . by rotating the nib from 12 to 6 o'clock (more or less). Suits me fine. My bottom line: do what's most comfortable for you

[southpaw52]

Flex nibs do not work for me either. A stub nib works great for me,

[rosmarinaus]

I am left handed and just got back into using fountain pens (I used them while I was in college). I've never had beautiful, or even necessarily legible handwriting.

I am a sidewriter, and want to improve my handwriting so it's more legible and attractive.

Should I just improve my handwriting without changing my hand position, or is it worth becoming an underwriter first? I notice that my Faber-Castell Loom is much more pleasant to use with an underwriting/low nib angle.

[Cyril]

I have learned something about left-handed writers and as a right handed person I understood the difficulty in calligraphy and holding the pen in both hands and there are limits.
I have something to share and hope you get some points from a master. For some people left or right handed is not a problem.
Hope this help you guys something to inspire and continuing witing on a different level. Hope you this helps you in some way to change your mind set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOjh0SkwyCM&t=50s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrCFFt9uac0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnyLuA1FLgU

[Cyril]

apologiy for double posting.:noidea:

[Mags]

I am an overwriter and found it was needed to gain some control over the slant and formation of my letters which it helped if I could see the nib on paper better. I also side write to respond to wrist fatigue and spin my notebook 45 up to 90 degrees to help me ease up on the hook of my wrist.

The position of the paper is a bit of advice for those of you with journals or notebooks, etc. It’s dang hard in every setting to be able to spin the documents so we all have to master/muddle through when the page or surface can not be spun,.

[shorthandtypist]

I seem to be completely lost here with this thread and not just about some of the terms which I suppose I should understand. I am basically left handed for most things and I write with my left hand but it wasn't always that way. At school when we were taught handwriting we were allowed to use whichever hand felt most comfortable. I could never make up my mind so I used either as it didn't seem to make any difference. Before these enlightened times everyone had to write with their right hand at school, my much elder brother and sister included. However, how we held the pen was carved in stone. There were two ways, the right way and the wrong way. So everyone wrote holding the pen exactly the same way. So I don't understand what is over or under writing. I did google it and I am still none the wiser. At secondary school I decided to just use my left hand and bought an Osmiroid fountain pen with a left handed nib which I still have but never use, its advantage is lost on me. We also had a handwriting manual which laid down how each letter was to be formed and they had to lean to the right although I think the tendency would for left handed writer to slope to the left. This should have meant in theory that everyone's handwriting would look the same I suppose though of course it didn't. It was all taken rather too seriously and we even had inter school writing competitions! I see some left handed writers seem to have problems with very fine flexible nibs. I used and still use an Esterbrook but only for Shorthand and find it's rubbish for writing longhand or maybe its just me. I use a Platignum shorthand nib pen which is very flexible and don't have a problem with that writing longhand. The only problem I encounter as a leftie is those dreadful wire bound notebooks where I can't use the left of the page as my hand is in the way. I am a bit fixed in the way I write as I have been doing it for well over half a century now. I know I have waffled on a bit but can anyone tell me what is over and under writing oh, and what then is side writing? We were taught how to hold the pen in a certain way so we didn't get writer's cramp and well, so far so good. How my children write can bring tears to the eyes but I know better than to say anything. It looks dreadful and they complain they have to do so much writing their hands ache, I'm not surprised really.

[manoeuver]

I seem to be completely lost here with this thread and not just about some of the terms which I suppose I should understand. I am basically left handed for most things and I write with my left hand but it wasn't always that way. At school when we were taught handwriting we were allowed to use whichever hand felt most comfortable......

did you happen to see this page over at nibs.com? scroll down for illuminating photos:
https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers

[Jon Szanto]

(I keep the following handy as I ended up writing the same thing many times over at Reddit and other pen places. As such, I'm just pasting it below, in hope it helps any of the left-handers)

My Guide for Left-Handers

I've written with fountain pens for almost 50 years (yeah, I'm old) and the entire time was with my left hand. I am an "under-writer", meaning that my hand is below the line I am writing, so I never have a problem smearing ink; if you "hook" (the hand above) it can be an issue. Note that this was one of the first and *only* changes I made to my writing habits, starting in junior high school. Training yourself to write underneath the line vastly improves your work and play with a fountain pen. Start now.

Some people suggest using a finer nib, which helps by placing less ink (finer line) but you must be careful to use little to no pressure (which is the entire point of an FP) - if you push down, your l-r upstrokes can dig into the paper with an F or XF nib. This is one of the true issues with writing from the left and also ties into flexible nibs.

I'm telling you, though: virtually any pen can be used by a left-handed writer. If you want to read up on other tips, here are some good resources:

* Left-Handed Writers (at nibs.com) (https://www.nibs.com/content/left-handed-writers)
* Reflections of a Left-Handed Writer (by Cheryl, at The Writer's Bloc) (http://reviews.shopwritersbloc.com/tag/left-handed)
* Fountain Pen Guide for the Left-Handed Writer (by Ana Reinert, at The Cramped) (http://www.thecramped.com/fountain-pen-guide-for-the-left-handed-writer/)
* Out in Left Field (by Richard Binder, at his site) (http://www.richardspens.com/ref/ttp/left.htm)

Finally, a good refernce and list of left-centric supplies:

* The Best Lefty-Friendly Pens and Writing Supplies (by Kristin, at jetpens.com) (https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-lefty-friendly-pens-and-writing-supplies/pt/891)

I mentioned above that flexible nibs and very fine nibs can cause a left-hander more problem, due to the fact that you are pushing the pen across the paper, point-first, rather than pulling it. At some point you may want to get away from a very standard medium nib that writes a uniform, consistent line and add more character to your handwriting. Instead of flex, try stubs and italics (the stub being easier for starters).

Some of my favorite nibs are stubs and italics. (Be aware that both are cut straight across the front of the nib to make wide verticals and thin horizontals). The biggest thing you need to keep in mind is that an italic (or cursive italic) ground nib will have a sharper edge, and the stub will have some of the sharpness rounded off. This yields a smoother experience with a bit of a loss of 'crispness' in the forming of your letters. For a good start, though, a stub is your friend. By using these nibs, which vary the width of the stroke depending on direction of writing, just putting one of those pens in your hands will lend an entirely new look to your penmanship with only a modest amount of practice to start seeing the difference. It also makes writing a heck of a lot of fun!

One last bit is that lefties often complain about smearing ink. I've already mentioned working to be an underwriter, and in the articles I linked you'll see at least one example of how to rotate the page to help that as well. Avoid inks that are heavily saturated - these will usually be the inks that have very deep colors and especially some of the trendy "sheen" inks. There is so much particulate component in the inks that it is almost like paint and takes a long time to dry on the surface. I suggest ordering ink samples to see what works best for you before buying entire bottles. Waterman and Parker and Sheaffer inks, while very standard, also are some of your best behaving inks. Lastly, if you tend to have sweaty hands, you might consider a "writing guard", which is simply a piece of paper (or plastic) that you set below the writing area to rest your palm on; this way your hand doesn't lay down any oils on the paper which you would later be trying to write through.

I hope this gives you a few things to think about and a positive boost. I really believe anyone can enjoy the use of fountain pens with only a small amount of adjustment if you are left-handed. Don't give up, you can do it!!!

[aquafox]

I'm usually directly behind. I pop up once in a while.

I've learned to underwrite when I'm going flexy.

Teach me, oh great wise, for I am unable to go underwriter!

[manoeuver]

I'm usually directly behind. I pop up once in a while.

I've learned to underwrite when I'm going flexy.

Teach me, oh great wise, for I am unable to go underwriter!

do a little bit at a time.

Think about your letter shapes. you'll make them all differently coming fromunda.
Think about a calligrapher learning another hand.
It's not that hard, you just have to be able to switch alphabets in your mind depending on how you want to write.

I also got a lot better at underwriting when I started practicing some Spencerian stuff with an offset dip pen. When the pen is bent that way you're not going to be able to write from above (barring some notepad acrobatics, I've seen lefty calligraphers do some bizarre upside down sh!t.) Starting that way would force you to develop your underwriter letter shapes, it could be a boost for ya.

it might take you a month of daily practice to swing under comfortably. That's when the whole world of flex opens up and there's quite a lot to explore in here.
good luck!

[aquafox]

Did you follow a guide of sorts? I tried to look for practical examples, but alas I found videos of... dubious utility.