Loosen Up Your Writing Grip To Banish Pain

The reason people grip too tightly onto pens is because writing with their particular pens requires a tight grip. This is the reason I can never use ball point pens for extended writing - the muscles start to cramp from pressing down on the paper. A gel pen is no good either, it smears too easily across the page. A fountain pen, on the other hand, glides smoothly across the paper and is effortless to write with - provided that you used to writing with it. But learning to write with a fountain pen is a worthy investment, I have yet to look back.

jeejum

My entire life I have gripped my pens and pencils too tightly. I remember in third grade when we were learning cursive, we were told to hold the pencil loosely, and that the teacher should be able to sneak up and easily pull the pencil from our grips if we were doing it properly. To demonstrate, she grabbed the pencil in my hand and nearly took my arm with it, so tightly was I clutching it.

I'm aware that I'm doing it, but I don't seem to be able to modify the behavior. I rarely write anything out longhand anymore, but the middle finger of my left hand still has a life-long callous alongside the top knuckle from a pen or pencil grinding into it.

stennieville

I learned with a pencil, graduated to a fountain pen, gripped in the plain ol' way. No pain. Neither looked like the fancy booger in the picture.

No pen/pencil I've ever used, even for prolonged writing stints, wrote at that angle. I'm a writer. Don't need it.

Fountain pens are very enjoyable. So are good rollerballs and felt-tips. I rarely touch ballpoints any more.

After college, and no longer having to take notes, or write anything physically, my penmanship is so shot. Its basically like chicken scratch now.

What the hell? Someone needs to teach the person in that picture that math problems are to be done in pencil.

But anyway, handwritten exams are probably the only reason why I didn't graduate summa cum laude =(

ku1185

Man, I had my first final yesterday and I started on the essay section because it was fresh in my mind. I hadn't written one word before I got a hand cramp. It was very weird, but I braved through it an hopefully got enough for a B in the class.

who still writes with a pen?

i barely sign my name with one anymore.

gmerin

If you want a *real* writing instrument, forget roller balls, gel ink or even fountain pens....

Get a dip pen. Even better, a nice glass J. Herbin. Pure scritchy-scratchy writing bliss.

[www.flickr.com]

[www.jherbin.com]

four12

@anamika: Same here except for the beautiful handwriting part, mine has always sucked. I go all the way back to the pre-interweb BBS days, I abandoned pen and paper a looong time ago. Consequently, block letters are all I can use anymore except for my signature.

I've been looking for an analog hobby of sorts, reading this thread has made me want to take a closer look at writing again. Now I just need something to write.

JayDeEm

@Arvedui: I do almost everything in pen. But it looks more like a collage (I don't know what else you'd call it). Arrows pointing in all directions, numbers and text going in all directions and some weird symbols even I can't recognize after I'm done. I get so lost I just write wherever I find space. And after I'm done I'm like, "what the hell? Did I just do this?"

ssj4Gogeta

I truly enjoy my Waterman fountain pen. Even though it needs to be cleaned and I haven't used it to long of a time. On the other hand, I have a Waterman roller ball that is a piece of junk. Never been able to get as good a stroke out of it as I have with most ball points.

For ball points, my favorites are made by Parker. My all time favorite was a Parker 45 (75?) Just the right width, stainless steel with gold accents. The entire top of the barrell pushed down to bring the point out. It was made in the UK, I got it from Levenger www.levenger.com Sadly, it is the only non cheap pen I have ever lost. And it isn't made anymore. :(

The Parker I have now is a little on the narrow side. I seem to be using a gel pen more lately.

Runnin-Ute

@LastAndLeast: Myth. The Fountain Pen Network has lots of lefties. My boyfriend is also a lefty overwriter and has recently switched to using fountain pens exclusively.

dumdummuoi

@MC Double Def DP: Yeah, same thing happened to me, I ended up throwing on paper some 2500-3000 words for a Lit final. My hand hurt for about an hour afterward!

rdw200169

Also, its good if you do not hold the pen near the bottom. If you hold it about 2 centimeters from the tip you will lose leverage and even if you press you will understand that its not doing any good thus reminding you to loosen up.

Another good thing is getting pens that are quite thick. It is more tiring to squeeze a thin pen then a thick one.

reg4c

@Dharma Bellamkonda: I prefer doing math in pen, because it stays nice and clear on the page for me to read. As for balancing chemical equations, I end up with a lot of writing because I refuse to use a pencil for anything but scantron tests. :p

@ku1185: Sometimes I do my math in pen, too. Actually, I don't erase any scratch work even when I'm in pencil because it takes too long.

Balancing chemical equations, on the other hand, is much easier with a pencil than with a pen, especially once they get too complex to do entirely mentally.

Dharma Bellamkonda

I stick with fountain or fiber-tip pens even though I'm a lefty.

Deprong Mori

"Vulcan death-grip"? I didn't think there was a Vulcan death-grip. I'm headed off to Google everything about Vulcans.

If someone give me a note with a beautiful handwriting it will impress me more than a PhD

dolphinik

Though I have always liked writing on the computer over handwriting, my hand nearly never actually gets tired when handwriting. I write so light anyways I don't guess it really matters. I also have started writing with fountain pens, and, although different, I like them a lot.

programmer780

@four12: Interesting! Thank you for showing that pic, I never would have thought to try another hand grip.

Archnemesis_Goldenhair

@stennieville: I'm much the same, no matter how I try to hold the pen lightly, I can't.

Archnemesis_Goldenhair

After jamming my index finger years ago, I had to hold the shaft of the pen/pencil between my index and middle fingers and grip the tip as I normally would; it it almost impossible to grip too tightly and I've found it makes my handwriting look much nicer, from the older days of *writing*, not scrawling.

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four12

If you notice, the hand in the picture is gripping the pen too tightly. I'm one of those you can easily pull the pen away from...so easily, in fact, that I sometimes drop it when writing.

I almost always use a Pilot Precise V7 fine point rolling ball pen. I bought a box of 15 five years ago, and I'm still using the same box. It's the best pen I've ever written with and requires only the weight of the pen for writing, which might explain why I often find ink marks on my hands.

@LastAndLeast: i agree totally. my favorite pen was a gift. take a look at ACME the concept is really interesting and you'll love the feel of the rollerball. also check out the Retro 1951 line. they've got some great products too. you get the feel of a full size pen without having a full size pen.
plus the feel of the pencils is great.

Another cause of writing pain is holding a pen incorrectly. I'm a lefty, and though I don't do the 'wrap around', my thumb sits between my index and middle fingers, so my index finger never touches the pen. It wasn't until college that I realized the way I hold a pen is different from 99% of people, and that I have a much tenser grip because of it. I was always having to do extra homework practice on penmanship in elementary school, but I guess my teachers only focused on the final product, not the way I was holding a pencil.

@gmerin: I'm a college student and use a pen, pencil, and paper more often than I type, I would say. So these tips are useful to me also.

I hope the first part of your comment was a joke.

BrianB

@LoganAdams: Fountain pens are the bane of lefties like myself. smudge smudge smudge

LastAndLeast

@ku1185: Pray tell, why are math problems to be done in pencil?

I used to have beautiful handwriting until I started using computers, it has considerably degraded since email and Internet usage in the past 15-years.

Now, when I write, I can barely recognize my own writing unless it's it BLOCK letters -- it's really sad :(

anamika

G2 Pens represent!

DanGarion

I have never come across somebody complaining of cramps from too much writing (and yes both me and the people I have come across have written extensively by hand).

I have to say though that I found pens that were more pleasing than others - however I stick with ballpoint as being left-handed I just smear anything else (I do not fancy any funny hand position for writing).

Still interesting to know that people have this problem

rmagere

I too, have known for some time that my death grip was at least partly to blame for the pain when writing, although I thought it was more a result of being left-handed, and having to write at an odd angle to avoid smearing my ink.

gerrrg

My writing skill has suffered from using a pc, chip and pin means I hardly sign my name...reading this article I may do something to change that

neergrm

doing graphic design, I have my hand wrapped around a Wacom pen for a lot of the day... the key to eliminating pain is to have a good posture, keep as LIGHT a grip on the pen as possible while maintaining control of the instrument, and having a writing instrument that feels comfortable when it is in your hand.

Also, for me, I write with my entire index finger on the barrel of the instrument - no bending=no pain - I can write like that for hours and hours. The key is to have a pen/pencil with a think enough barrel that you can hold it in that position. I have draftsman-quality handprinting and people comment on it all the time - hand printing/writing is truly becoming a lost art.

SinisterFootwear

@gmerin: I still do at school, exams coming up soon with a lot of writing in, so these tips have been rather useful.

tylerf

I figured this out on my own years ago - but then, I was writing stories and novels before I got my first computer, and I found it much easier to write my drafts out by hand than endure the endless retyping... For those for whom this is a revelation, I'll give a few specific, important tips for learning to write painlessly. First, fountain pens require less pressure than any gel roller I've ever tried. However, the nibs are easy to ruin if you aren't used to writing with them. If you tend to exert a lot of pressure, start out with a Pelikano or a Lamy Safari. They have relatively stiff steel nibs, which are harder to "splay", and well-designed grips. Once you're used to writing more lightly, try a relatively inexpensive pen with a more flexible nib. If that works for you, and you have the cash, you can order pens with nibs customised for your writing style. I got one Pelikan from John Mottishaw, not even customised, just his normal check and set up for a new pen - and I consider it worth a hundred times what I paid for it. Even if you don't want to pay for a customised nib, a well-functioning nib is very important. A poorly adjusted nib can make your writing much more difficult - and many nibs are not well adjusted even on brand new pens. A careless owner can easily mess up the nib just by writing a few lines, or by dropping the pen or tapping the nib against something. Read the tips at Nibs.com to keep your nib working well. You can ruin your nib if you are not very, very careful, so if you aren't the handy type you may want to send it out to be fixed. Finally, the ink you use will make a huge difference in how the pen behaves. I put a lot of miles on my pens, and I've never found anything I liked half as well as Noodlers Ink. It is bottled ink, which is only truly convenient if you have a piston filler (thankfully, most of my favourite pens are piston fillers) - but it is such a great ink that I even go to the trouble of using it with converters in any of my pens that take cartridges. Some people tell you Noodlers will gum up your pen - but if you don't mix it, and clean your pen like you're supposed to you shouldn't have any trouble at all.

ZafinaDogg

@ku1185: I have to think this was just posed solely for purposes of the picture. However, it appears that the person is actually solving a physics problem, which, I admit, requires one to use math. However, in practice, lab work, including calculations, may be done in pen. Especially with longer, multiphase research. Doing so prevents erasures and provides a history of the work. The idea is that you do everything in ink and if a mistake is made, you do a cross-out (not a scribble or white-out). This way, the work will be viewed with greater integrity b/c if anything is fudged, it becomes very obvious that changes were made throughout.

jupiterthunder

Everyone in my classes uses mechanical pencils. I stick with good ol' wood.

@ZafinaDogg: The Lamy Safari line are very ergonomic. I have severe arthritis and they allow me to write far longer than I can with even a vastly superior nib on a round pen.

The Papermate PhD is a reasonably priced ballpoint with a very usable grip. The filler's aren't the greatest, though.

I once modified a G2-Pro to use the PhD grip. That got me the best commonly available gel filler and the nice ergo grip. Total cost under $12.00.

Elderbear

@anamika: This is EXACTLY my problem. I had a professor that wrote that way and his was the only handwriting that I could read. After I found I had issues reading my own writing (I am not a doctor, so it's not a professional "skill").

Now when I have to write, I go block caps (different sizes for capitalization), but most of my communications to other people are via email or telephone.

@gmerin: I rarely write anymore except on whiteboards for meetings.

I've always hated writing. Pencils sound gritty, like nails on chalkboards. I usually end up writing with felts because they dry quickly while ballpoints smudge too damn easily, leaving lefties like myself with blue/black hands. Maybe I should learn Arabic so I can write from right-to-left.

P_Smith

@MuglyTheWorm: Uniform lettering is more mechanical than human

orlo

sometimes i get so into sketches i never pay attention to my grip on my pencils. then i notice my thumb is purple and elbow hurts

@dolphinik: exactly, i have to read other people's writing all day. you'd think they had a new coded language. but then you get that one you can read and think, now there's a real human

During my exams last year (nearly 20 hours in a week) I gave in and went and bought tubular bandage from the chemist and fashioned a wrist support, it got me a few funny looks but I got through the exams and it really did seem to help, although it does squeeze your palm and give you a rather unpleasant redness between your thumb and first finger, but I'll be using it again this year, although I'm swapping my biro for a gel pen.

If I don't grip my pencil tightly, I can't do dark lines. If I can't do dark lines, it is harder to see. I have to have dark lines. Ergo, I have to grip my pencil tightly.

Pens I can grip loosely.

Ive always hated writing with a passion. Probably since the first or second grade. I write so slow, I think it really screwed me up in grade school. I was slower than everyone else because I don't really "write" words, I "draw" them, because that's what I'm used to, drawing.

People assume because I can draw above average that my handwriting must be good also, but that is so not the case for me. I do tend to press too hard and get cramps easily. When I write too lightly I get too sloppy, making my handwriting even worse than it already is. Also, I hate using pens. I refused to use them when teachers wanted me to. I'll take a grade lower if it means I can use a pencil. When I use a pen the paper just turns into a messy glob of white out.

School would have went so much smoother for me had I been able to type everything.

Didn't mean to rant. heh

People my age (baby boomers) can often be recognized by the lump on the side of one middle finger. It's a deformity caused by gripping pencils and pens for decades and it never goes away. Although mine is smaller than it once was.

We were not allowed to use pens in school unless we got an A in penmanship. Needless to say, I never got to use a pen. Although my handwriting is nice looking and perfectly legible, it did NOT follow the standard Zaner-Bloser letterforms and thus always got marked down. Fie on conformity, even in the third grade!

And I bless the person who invented the gel pen.

Hand grip is not the only source, but a tight arm and wrist make writing a pain. More force does not equal more comfort, or better writing for that matter. I went through school doing a lot or writing so now it is natural even though nobody writes much anymore.

KarstenGrimlock

My touch is very light. The bulk of my writing is done on my Tablet PC which requires very little pressure. And when I was tutoring math, I favored dry erase markers. The two have lightened my once heavy-handed style tremendously.

sumocat

The last thing I need is to write with a lighter touch... last time I filled out a form I had to write it out twice because the carbon copy didn't show up at all.

Natnie

20 years after getting my bachelor's and after 20 years of using computers, I went back to get a master's degree. I sat two 3-hour written exams, ending up physically exhausted and in excruciating pain. I had barely written three consecutive paragraphs by hand in those years, and here I was filling multiple blue books. Two days after the exams I ended up at the therapist, barely being able to move my right hand.

Of course, I'll probably regret the speed and comfort of my keyboard in another 10 years when repetitive stress leaves me with numb hands...

imajoebob

@LoganAdams: Not to nitpick - well, actually just to nitpick, a "rollerball" is a ballpoint.

imajoebob

I still like to write longhand sometimes. Mostly when I am out for coffee and just sitting with pen and paper to see what ideas I get when I'm not pushing for ideas. I also draw/ doodle. I do find my hand gets sore when I write long hand and I had realized it was my death grip on the pen. I'm working on not carving my words. Made me laugh when I read that as I had thought the same thing.

LabanRaphman

http://www.handedness.org/action/leftwrite.html If you look here you will find a better way for lefty's to write. Ever since I retrained myself to write this way, no more pain and no more smudging either.

TheodoraLavitz

This got me motivated to get the ink flowing through my fountain pen again. (Waterman (Phileas I think)) So over the weekend I cleaned it up, got the converter out and got it working again.

Couple of things I forgot about fountains:

A) How much ink you can get on your hands when you are learning/re-learning how to properly use.

B) How smooth even a gold plated steel nib can be. :)

I also went out and bought me a new Parker ballpoint. (latitude) perfect heft. Not to fat, not to skinny. Notice my touch is much lighter with a slightly larger barrell....

Runnin-Ute