What can you learn about people from their handwriting? A lot! This is a wonderful tool for teachers, counselors, bosses, and anyone who works with people. Parents can watch their children’s handwriting for signs of drug or alcohol abuse or serious depression.
I have been doing analyses for 45 years. I’ll tell you the basics behind the science so you can start doing some analyses for yourself. I’ll disclose a couple true life stories where handwriting analyses, if they had been taken seriously, could have prevented heartbreak.
You can often pick up on sudden illness or chronic disease, signs of aging, and personality changes IF you see changes in patterns of handwriting over a period of time.
You can’t do something else while you’re writing and have it make sense. Try it. Handwriting requires the brain to transfer impulses to the writing hand. It’s very “individualized.”
It’s very hard to imitate someone else’s writing although, of course, forgers attempt to do it all the time. Courts count on forgery experts to tell if handwriting is copied or not. That’s its own specialty.
Let’s start with a good writing sample. This should be, preferably, several sentences written in pencil or fountain pen on unlined paper. Ball point pens and felt-tipped pens lose the “shadings” of writing, but they can still be analyzed.
The longer the sample, the better. Writers may start out consciously trying to “create” a “good” sample, which is a bit artificial. The more natural, the better.
Once you have a “real sample” of writing, you have an individualized “imprint” of a writer’s personality on paper about as unique as a fingerprint.
We Americans have learned to write a certain way, left to right on the page. People in some countries write “backwards,” and some are taught a much more angular style.
Personality traits are based on the variations from the norm. You cannot tell whether a person is male or female from handwriting.
People’s writings change from day to day, according to moods, but they should not change too much or something else may be going on, like drugs or depression. Handwriting reveals character traits, and those should not change dramatically, like Jekyl and Hyde, unless the person has multiple personalities.
You need to know what “normal” is before you can analyze abnormal. With everyone using computers today, I examine every handwritten envelope or grocery list I can get my hands on.
Extremes in writing denote exaggerations of the traits indicated. Let’s look at some basics. An untrained person can look at another person’s writing and often tell something about that person. This is no mystery.
The way you place your thoughts on paper is similar to how you think about Life in general.
Size: A shy person doesn’t write large letters. Large writers live large: they are outgoing, ongoing, bored with details, sometimes restless and impatient.
For people who are detail-oriented, look for the person who writes small letters in a controlled script. They are in concentration mode; they have patience, and they are observant.
Scientists, philosophers, psychologists, and, hopefully, students often write small script.
The medium-sized writer describes an average person who must be defined by other tell-tale traits.
Overly-large writing can denote arrogance and a wish to dominate others. In fact, excessively large writing can denote mental illness.
Very small: these people want to disappear into the shadows, and they can be stingy besides.
An exaggeration of any trait is often undesirable.
Baselines: We tend to write in straight lines across the page. A person who writes uphill is generally an optimist who sees the glass half full. They are hopeful, energetic people. Downhill is the pessimist. Way downhill can be suicidal.
Even lines are even-tempered, steady. Up and down (wavy baselines) can be quick-changing moods. Watch for exaggerations or changes from day to day.
Personalities should be stable. You are not an introvert one day and an extrovert the next; generous one day and stingy the next. Well, maybe, if a big bill is coming due, and you get your spending under control. See how moods and self-control change from day to day but, overall, one’s personality doesn’t?
Again, compare a sample to “normal,” and compare the same person’s writings over a period of time to look for pattern changes.
Please don’t think you can become a graphologist overnight or expect to become an armchair psychologist after reading this.
It takes a few weeks or months – of seriously studying differences in writing before you can pick up on individual traits. But handwriting can be a genuinely useful tool in understanding how others are thinking or feeling.
Okay. Let’s cover some territory quickly so you can do a basic analysis yourself on a sample of writing.
Slant = emotions: heart vs. head. Americans were taught to slightly lean their writing forward in school-book style. Right slant = heart-felt, sensitive, emotional natures.
Left-slant = repression; inhibition. Be aware that some left-handed writers learned to use a left slant to avoid smearing their writing. And note that some teen-agers think this style looks cool and do it on purpose.
Vertical writers = good reasoning powers, good judgment, self-reliance. Too vertical = cold; arrogant; insecure.
Connections between words = logical vs. intuitive. The more connected, the more reasoning power used, the more logical, but they are less creative and have fewer hunches. Separated = more intuitive; imaginative. Good for writers and artists.
People who print are often quite artistic; they need high quality form to show the degree of their artistry and whether they are expressing it. Sometimes mathematicians, engineers and people of certain other professions find this style the easiest to read, and they use it to get their points across c-l-e-a-r-l-y.
Spacing between words and lines shows the degree of organization of thoughts. Overlapping lines shows confusion or jumbled thoughts.
Margins show the ability to plan and follow through on thoughts. Wide left margins = generosity of spirit. No margins = stingy hoarders and sometimes overly busy. Writing all over the page and adding after-thoughts into all margins can show someone who is confused, over-extended, or at a breaking point.
Zones = height of tall letters like h’s and l’s = height of aspiration and goals or downward strokes (below lines) of y’s and g’s dip into materialism and sexuality. The middle zone represents everyday life and practicality. The 3 zones should be balanced. An imbalance shows a stronger emphasis is put on that area: (high) = spirituality, ideals, and dreams vs. (middle) = inhibitions and guilt vs. (low) = hearty appetites (eating, drinking, and sexual) and a desire for material security.
Shape = angular writers (like pointy m’s) are aggressive, independent, strong-willed; rounded letter forms show writers who are passive, dependent, gentle, peace-loving.
Pressure on paper enough to leave indentations on back side of paper = intensity of emotion. Heavy = self-confident, forceful, emotionally intense vs. lightweights = more spiritual-minded, gentle, sensitive natures.
Speed = how quickly one thinks and acts. Can be tied to a level of intelligence. Slow shows self-control, methodical. Too slow can be lazy or dull witted. Fast = spontaneous, hasty, maybe rash. When letters are drawn too fast, with poorly formed letters, speed denotes anxiety. If script contains a lot of errors and corrections, it can mean mental instability.
Loops = height shows how high we reach; depth shows physical activity and the material nature. Width of loops shows a degree of “how much” is involved. Wide, high tops shows imagination, sensitivity, a spiritual nature, musical ability. Long and low = strong sexual nature, materialistic nature, great physical energy. If long and low and wide, that trait is exaggerated.
Capitals show how we feel about authority, personal pride, and tastes. Large = great pride and elaborate tastes. Small = modest, cooperative, simple tastes.
The capital “I” can tell a lot about a person. This represents the self and may be used in different forms throughout one sample. “I’s” can show simple tastes, conceit, caution, loyalty, one who demands attention, rebelliousness, modesty, and connectedness to the male and female parent (among other things).
T-bars show temper, spirit, drive, will power, and how one deals with situations. How it is balanced on the t-base and whether it is pointed or blunted shows if one is well-balanced, quick-tempered, sensitive, obstinate, has guilt feelings, is sharp-tongued, snobbish, has high ambitions, is a daydreamer, or has brutal tendencies.
Small letters, t-strokes, i-dots, and letter endings should reinforce the overall personality traits you find in other parts of an analysis. These are often written unconsciously. Even if someone is trying to “fool you” on an analysis – if these signs are consistent with other traits in the writing – you are probably fairly accurate about the person.
The signature shows what a person wants you to see; how that person wants to be seen by the world. If it is at odds with what the writing reveals about the true nature of that person, you may know them better than they do themselves.
Negative signs: dishonesty. This requires a combination of negative traits seen in writing. If at least 4 of the following signs are present, the person is probably untrustworthy. If letters are opened at the base (try this yourself; this is hard to do); the letters differ in size and thickness; the pressure is noticeably uneven; letter endings (or tails) look snake-like and fat on a wavy baseline of writing; vertical strokes overlap; there are little curls in the beginning and ending strokes; the writing is exaggerated or artificial looking; first strokes are repeated; left slant in capitals and finals; omitted letters in common words; writing with many corrections; and/or knots in the small letters.
Mental illness is shown by overlapping letter forms, uneven writing, changes in size and shape of letter forms, changes in pressure throughout the same sample, variations in the same letter throughout the sample, disconnected letter forms, muddied pressure. Obviously, signs of confusion, secretiveness, arrogance, hypocrisy, etc. add up to problems.
Handwriting analysis is a great tool to get to know the “real person” behind the face presented to the world. Here are a couple of real life examples.
I took a class in handwriting analysis with a friend, “Ann.” She was getting married, and I hadn’t yet met the man. But we were all encouraged to bring handwriting samples to class, which the instructor projected on a wall and analyzed in front of the group.
The teacher, “Sue,” put Ann’s sample up. She said the person was untrustworthy, unreliable, dishonest, and quite capable of being a thief. How did she ever meet such a person? Ann said that was her ex-husband who was in jail for theft, and he was a huge liar.
Sue put up the next writing sample. Again, the analysis was quite negative. The writer was very impulsive, needy, self-centered, controlling, and was probably verbally abusive. Who is this?
Ann said, “That’s my fiance.” Sue said, “I want to talk to you after class.” Of course, I stayed, also, and overheard the conversation.
The teacher warned Ann that this man was no good; he was a liar and not emotionally stable. I said I saw potential physical abuse in the writing. Sue said she didn’t think he’d go that far, but he could surely throw a temper tantrum and be verbally abusive.
Ann married the man. He was physically abusive to her and her teen-age son. In fact, he attacked the boy and pulled out a handful of hair. The boy planned ahead, after a couple fights, and hid a knife on himself and stabbed the man in the back during a confrontation.
The man’s lung collapsed and he was Medi-vacced to a hospital. He survived. The boy went to juvenile detention for 9 months. The parents divorced.
This last story involves a 65-year-old pastor of a Mennonite church I belonged to. He knew I did handwriting analysis and told me that it was the work of Satan, and the church didn’t believe in it.
I free-lanced the church newsletter, so I had several samples of his handwriting. The appearance of his writing looked ominous.
I saw uneven pressure, snaky writing, overlapping strokes, strange curlicues, inky blotches (often negatively associated with sexuality), and ugly knots within letter forms. I really thought this man had a sexual problem, and he counseled people every day. Actually, the writing made me queasy.
After I dropped out of the church, I heard the pastor had impregnated a 15-year old girl and was forced to retire.
If anyone would have taken me seriously, that man would not have been allowed to counsel children or vulnerable women.
Handwriting analysis is a genuine tool for knowing the real people behind the “masks” you meet.
Pick up a simple “Dell” purse-sized booklet on “Handwriting Analysis” (at the checkout counters of many stores) for less than $2, and start studying every sample of writing you can get your hands on. You can “graduate” into volumes of works as you get intrigued by the possibilities.
Handwriting analysis is fun, and studying it can be very beneficial.
