What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Write your name on lined paper. How big are the letters next to the line?

1. 1Tall enough to bump the line above
2. 2Small and tidy, well inside the lines
3. 3Small and squeezed close together
4. 4Average, but no two letters match
5. 5Round and bubbly, almost like hand lettering
6. 6Firm and even, every stroke pressed in

Which way does your handwriting lean?

1. 1Forward, like it's racing to the next word
2. 2Straight up and down
3. 3Slightly backward, to the left
4. 4It changes, sometimes within one sentence
5. 5Upright and round, nothing really leans

Run a finger over the back of the page you just wrote on. What do you feel?

1. 1Deep grooves. You could read it from this side
2. 2Nothing at all. Your pen barely touches the paper
3. 3Bumps wherever you got excited
4. 4Smooth and even, same pressure throughout
5. 5Light, except for the loops and flourishes

How do you dot a lowercase i?

1. 1A small dot, directly above
2. 2A circle, or a heart on a good day
3. 3A quick dash that flies off to the right
4. 4A big, bold dot you can't miss
5. 5Wherever the pen happens to land
6. 6Half the time you forget it

Where does the bar on your lowercase t usually go?

1. 1Right at the top, or even above it
2. 2Exactly in the middle, every time
3. 3Low and short, close to the bottom
4. 4One long stroke across the whole word
5. 5A little swoop with a curl at the end
6. 6Sometimes it isn't even attached

Look at the gaps between your words. How much space is there?

1. 1Wide gaps. Every word gets room to breathe
2. 2Almost none. The words bump into each other
3. 3Even and consistent, like typed text
4. 4Tight, and the letters inside each word are cramped too
5. 5Normal, but the lines drift upward as they go
6. 6Clean breaks. Each word stands on its own

Compared with the rest of your writing, your signature is...

1. 1Bigger, faster, and a little dramatic
2. 2Just like your normal writing, and fully readable
3. 3An unreadable squiggle only you could forge
4. 4Different every time you sign
5. 5Underlined with one hard, decisive stroke
6. 6Decorated with a loop, a star, or a smiley

Print, cursive, or something else?

1. 1Neat print, every letter separate
2. 2Cursive, joined up and flowing
3. 3A mix, depending on mood and speed
4. 4All capitals, all the time
5. 5Rounded print with a few fancy letters
6. 6Tiny joined-up writing nobody else can read

Do you put a line through your sevens or your zeros?

1. 1Always. It stops mix-ups
2. 2Only the seven, because it looks cooler
3. 3No, and I didn't know people did that
4. 4Yes, and I press hard doing it
5. 5Only on forms I don't trust
6. 6Never. My numbers are big and plain

What usually ends up in the margins of your notebook?

1. 1Stars, little faces, and arrows that turn into vines
2. 2Nothing. Margins are meant to stay empty
3. 3My writing, because it runs right to the edge
4. 4Notes to myself in very small writing
5. 5Half a plan for the weekend and three unrelated ideas
6. 6Boxes and underlines around what matters

In a quick note to yourself, how do you write the word "and"?

1. 1A neat, loopy ampersand, drawn properly
2. 2Whatever is fastest, usually a plus sign
3. 3I write the whole word out
4. 4A squiggle only I can decode
5. 5It depends. My notes use all of them
6. 6A giant swirl of an ampersand

A friend reads a birthday card you wrote. What do they say?

1. 1"Did you print this? It looks like a font."
2. 2"This is so cute. Can you address my invitations?"
3. 3"I can feel the enthusiasm from here."
4. 4"What does this word say? And this one?"
5. 5"You pressed so hard the table has a copy."
6. 6"Every line is going a different direction."