In your own hand

Since I recently hurt my hand in a fall I've found handwriting quite difficult. But it awoke me to the fact that with so much of my communication now written (or should that be typed?) through the keyboard, my handwriting had begun to deteriorate anyway.

When I was at school we were given lessons in the favoured style of the day, (or perhaps it was of the teacher), and for a while, even though my style evolved, it did receive compliments.

I always assumed that to be a current view, but others now clearly share a different one. And some even go so far as to say that they cannot read what I've written. I've always countered this with the argument that you as a reader need to have a wide experience of different kinds of handwriting. And indeed, I rarely find it difficult to read others', however difficult it is.

But clearly, I'm in need of a bit of "retraining", and to that end, I shall be trying to write in my own hand every day, lest I lose the habit completely.

I like handwriting so much that one of the first things I started to collect from a young age were fountain pens and ballpoints, and these are a selection of some of those. Parker and Montblanc were the favoured brand, but Sheaffer, Cross and Dupont also feature.

These are incentive enough to get back into the swing, and enjoy them to their full.