Write Now: The Complete Program For Better Handwriting Paperback – January 1, 2005

This book really turned my handwriting around.I've been plagued by poor handwriting all my life, and though I've practiced and drilled my cursive for years, nothing seemed to make it legible. I would *often* have to re-write short one-sentence notes on PostIts several times so that they could be read. Without word processing, I would be almost completely a verbal-communication-only person. But personally and professionally, my handwriting needs to be legible, so I went looking for a solution, and, in large part based on the reviews in Amazon, got this book.When I got the book, I worked on it for a couple of hours and saw improvement so rapid and noticeable, I charged on through most of the drills in the book in six days. The constant improvement was so noticeable, I was highly motivated to push through. I am still practicing on speed, and some of the more uncommon changes between letters, but I am more, far more, than satisfied with the result. And, yes, people can read my writing.Here are what I think are some of the key points I found helpful --1. The authors point out that the style of writing most of us learned in grade school (with lots of loops, with a capital "Q" that looks like a "2" etc.) was NOT designed for handwriting -- it was designed for engraving. The style of writing taught in this book removes the excess loops and squiggles and reduces the strokes to a near minimum. Note, however, that the style being taught is not new--it has been used for centuries (both my parents used it in their many handwritten letters).2. In some cases, where transitions between letters might be difficult (like following a "w" with an "e") the book often give different ways to do it. For me, the worst of the worst of my problems in writing was how to get from an "r" to another letter without making the "r" look like something else. Among the solutions the authors offer to this particular problem was this (which I chose): lift your pen off after the "r" and start the next letter. How simple! And it works! (with respect to my harried writing teachers of long ago, I don't recall that this was ever given as an option, or that there were options).3. The book is meant to be written in (the authors tell you so) and there are pages of drills, including many paragraphs of sample to practice mimicing as you practice. There are also specially lined pages for use in practice that the authors give permission to copy for your practicing, which helped, as the needs of my drilling went well beyond the available pages in the book.4. There was a paragraph written in the style at the beginning of the book, and I could see how simple, readable, and beautiful it was. I could see immediately that it was an attainable goal.Grand job, Ms. Getty and Ms. Dubay.

My handwriting was always messy but readable. Teachers never gave me trouble, but I didn't enjoy reading my own writing. I picked up Write Now and started working through the exercises.The exercises weren't hard and I enjoyed how the Getty-Dubay style re-uses the same few strokes over and over on different letters so handwriting looks uniform and neat. Cursive is just connected print, so there's no need to learn two ways to make a letter. (I personally hate how the traditional cursive "r" is completely different from a print "r".) Along the way, you get options on how to customize handwriting to your liking. I'm not a huge fan of the flourish-filled cursive capitals taught here, but the book tells you you don't have to use them. You can reduce the flourishes or just use regular print capitals. Getty and Dubay aren't dogmatic.After Write Now, my handwriting still isn't great, but it's a lot better and I'd say my handwriting went from ugly-but-usable to semi-attractive. I'm proud of how my writing looks. For me, that's a big change. I'll never write the same way again.

This book claims to improve your handwriting by providing excercises. This is actually the case. After going through a number of excercises (tracing and reproducing basic shapes and letters), my writing seemed to improve. However, from the 96 pages in the book, only pages 14-50 contain the actual excersises, the bulk of the book is formed by how our script developed, too many pages highlighting improvements of other book users, how to address an envelope etc.All in all I think the amount of actual info you need to improve handwriting is too small for the price of the book. For people interested in this subject, go to [...] and find lots of excercises to learn write in Italic. Definitely more than you will get via this book, and its free!

I just received my "Write Now" workbooks. I ordered two - one each for my twin 8 year old boys. Their handwriting is deplorable. The books are great but not for young children, IMO. However, I do intend to use one for myself. My handwriting is deplorable and I can certainly see it helping me. It's a great product but just not what I expected (buyer error).

I purchased this book for my HS age daughter to use, to help her develop her own easily written and read handwriting style. She of course learned both block printing and cursive in school; however, because so much work done now is via computer, she never practiced cursive enough to become really proficient and swift. It was easier and faster just to use block printing. However, I still believe that good penmanship is a valuable asset and skill.As other reviewers have noted, a significant amount of writing history is included. This is not irrelevant; it directly affects how handwriting is taught today and why the traditional methods are not the best. This writing method basically mirrors what I worked out on my own years ago - a blend of both manuscript and cursive for ease and speed in writing, combined with legibility.The specific handwriting strokes that I use may not be the best for someone else, and the exercises in this book help each writer to find the strokes that suit him or her personally.This book is great for older students; if I had known sooner I would have used this series in its entirety rather than as a finishing touch. I would unequivocally recommend the complete series from kindergarten onward.