Reddit reviews Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book)

The two main groups of penmanship styles are Palmer and Spencierian. You can buy workbooks for both off of Amazon. Personally Spencierian is easier for me, but realize both are technically "cursive." Which I rarely use.

The book that I instead learned from was Lettering for Architects & Desginers. I realized that I always wanted my print writing to look like my mother's. She learned how to write in a drafting class. I did some research and that was the book that I found.

The 3 tips that I took to heart from my time learning Spencierian script were:

1. Slow down.: Seriously. If you do nothing else just slowing down will help a lot.
   
2. Think through every stroke. You need to make sure you have enough room to complete every letter and that all of your letters are roughly the same scale.
   
3. Practice everyday. Instead of writing "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" over and over again I copied famous passages and poems. Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, the lyrics to Aerosmith songs. Pick something that interests you and use that.
   
   Hope this helps.

This. Actually you might find the pdf for free since it's quite old, this is from IAMPETH.

Back in September I decided two things I wanted to get into fountain pens and I wanted to improve my handwriting. Before September it had been 15-18 years since I had written anything but my signature in cursive. I think I'm doing pretty good but I'm still not happy with it.... but I think I'm at the point were I wont see any more rapid improvements and I just need to keep writing and it will come over time. But if anyone has any ideas on how to improve my handwriting I'm open ears. I'm thinking about ordering Spencerian Penmanship book and workbooks. Anyone have any thoughts on them or others I might try?

Good start! If you're serious about learning cursive though, get this book. Get it right the first time so your muscle memory remember the right stuff! I really wish I got the book in the beginning so I can stop finding out more fundamental things I do wrong as I get more and more into calligraphy..

It was a long road.

I'm on the same journey, friend. I started with ordering some nice gel pens, and that helped. But I moved on to an entry level fountain pen, the Pilot Metropolitan Fine, and it has really sparked my love for writing. I ordered some Spencerian Script workbooks here and the theory book here, and already started last night with taking it slow and working on my grip. I wish you luck!

I'm sorry. By spencerian books, are you referring to this ?

Do I need to use a flex nib or a calligraphy pen to get started, or can I start with just a regular FP?

Well that's a great reason to start learning! You would probably consider learning the Spencerian principles– it was the handwriting style taught in schools in the US from about 1850–1930 and was developed both for fast long-form copy and beauty of stroke. There's a great little theory book that you can buy on Amazon for $5 (slightly more expensive if you get the package with 5 copy-books included for practice). I highly suggest it– good on you for doing something nice for your mom.

Enjoy!

> Spencerian theory book

This thing?

Spencerian theory book

I also have the copy books

[Spencerian Theory](Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062082X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6hBlyb1BTWS0E), they also sell copy books for practice, if you want to pick those up also.

Theory book.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/088062082X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37M87UPGUSQTK&coliid=I1BBWS42WUN7GY

I have this book on my wishlist because I thought it was a cool little book. Perhaps your boyfriend would be into it too!