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The Best Pens to Improve Your Handwriting

Handwriting is a valuable skill and art to master, and it’s never too late to learn how to have neat handwriting. Anyone keen to write more legibly or easily needs to start with choosing the right handwriting pen. Producing legible words on paper requires attention to a combination of having the correct posture, pressure, angle and grip, and not all pens can deliver these things to all people. So, if you’re wondering how to improve your handwriting, it could be as simple as re-evaluating your choice of pen and learning the correct way to hold a pen.

What are some of the characteristics of good handwriting? Generally, it comes down to the consistency of the following factors:

  • Shaping of letters, such as rounding or sharpness
  • Spacing between letters
  • The pressure to paper for consistent thickness
  • Sizing

Finding the best handwriting pen for you is incredibly important – your pen has the ability to define your handwriting and forge your handwriting style. There are a number of different pen styles to help achieve this. Fountain pens work to slow down your writing, giving you more control over the style of your writing, whilst some prefer the rollerball style; which gives you the same control as a fountain pen but with less commitment. Whichever style pen you use, it is essential that you find the right one for you and spend time researching which pen you think would be best.

Once you think you’ve found the right pen for you, our handwriting guide can help you practice. You can also find your nearest Pen Shop store here if you would like to try a handwriting pen in person. If you don’t know how to hold a pen correctly, the best way is by gently gripping around 1/3 of the way from the tip of the pen between your thumb and index finger.

Best Fountain Pens for Handwriting

They may seem a little old-fashioned these days, but don’t be put off. Modern fountain pens can be used with either bottled ink or convenient cartridges, while ultra-stylish models are built to last and designed with an ergonomic grip.

If you’re not sure how to write with a fountain pen, you might be reassured to know that some people find fountain pens easier to write with than traditional ballpoint pens. If you buy a decent model, there won’t be any spilt ink or huge inkblots to deal with. They are comfortable to use because less pressure is needed to produce the ink, enabling a more relaxed hold on the pen’s body and consequently less tension in arms and hands. While regular pens need a certain amount of force to transfer the ink from pen to paper, often resulting in them being held in a kind of tight-fisted manner, a good fountain pen has enough weight to make this process occur more naturally by using gravity over muscles.

Plus, fountain pens are popular because they are more comfortable to hold for longer periods. They are designed with a balance point that discourages slippage, reducing or eliminating the need to grip harder, and a generally slightly wider body that enables fingers to grip without too much effort. Some of the best fountain pens for handwriting include:

Lamy All Star Fountain Pen

As mentioned, fountain pens work to slow down handwriting, giving you more control over your words and helping to improve handwriting. The Lamy All Star is made of feather-light aluminium, making it an easy instrument to use without weighing down your hands. With a smooth plastic grip, featuring finger grips to encourage correct placement, the Lamy Al Star is a pen popular with students and people looking to own the highest standard of writing equipment, at a reasonable price.

Lamy All Star Fountain Pen in Black
Lamy All Star Fountain Pen

Sheaffer 300 Matt Grey Fountain Pen

Continuing with fountain pens, this Sheaffer pen features a sleek cigar-shaped profile that is comfortable to hold, even for long periods. Because of this, the Sheaffer is a great pen designed to give you effortless and neat handwriting.

Sheaffer 300 Matt Grey Fountain Pen

Best Ballpoint Pens for Handwriting

Ballpoint pens offer many of the same benefits as fountain pens for handwriting practice, without the need for the ink. Ballpoints come in various widths and are well suited to those who prefer to write quite quickly. They are also fast to set up and easy to carry around. Two of our favourites include:

Cross Bailey Black Ball Pen

The Bailey’s tapered body makes it comfortable to hold and makes for a great everyday pen. The deep black lacquer and shiny polished chrome trim and clip make it a smart pen for meetings and notetaking as well as more casual use. The pen comes with a lifetime mechanical guarantee and takes Cross ball pen refills available in black, blue and red with fine, medium or broad points.

Cross Bailey Black Ball Pen
Cross Bailey Black Ball Pen

Caran d’Ache Chevron Ball Pen

This pen has a masterful shape with an elegant design, making it comfortable and easy to hold. The Caran d’Ache fits easily between fingers, encouraging neat and precise handwriting.

Caran d'Ache Ecridor Chevron Ball Pen in silver.

Fisher Space Ball Pen

The Fisher Space ball pen is an ideal pen. It’s comfortable and reliable, and has been designed to function in practically every type of environment. Plus, it’s pressurised with nitrogen, so can write on most surfaces at any angle. This makes it one of the best pens for handwriting.

Fisher Space Ball Chrome Pen

Best Rollerball Pens for Handwriting

Sitting somewhere between fountain and ballpoint pens are the rollerball pens. A rollerball is one of the best pens for improving your handwriting – it combines the convenience of the ballpoint with many of the advantages of traditional fountain pens.

Like fountain pens, rollerballs don’t need a lot of pressure to produce their liquid ink, which is automatically fed to the nib with a ball mechanism. This means less chance of hands and fingers getting stiff and tired, which inevitably has a negative impact on handwriting.

The ink in rollerball pens is thinner than you would find in a traditional ballpoint, which means there is a better connection between paper and pen. This is an important factor in creating consistent letter strokes. Slower writers can choose a rollerball pen with a smaller tip size, as this helps to produce fine lines. We recommend the following rollerball pens to get you started:

Cross Bailey Medalist Rollerball

This elegant writing instrument features a well-balanced and traditional profile, meaning it’s a fine pen for writers, resulting in smooth and neat handwriting. With a highly polished body and cap, this is a stylish pen for all writers.

Cross Bailey Medalist Rollerball Pen in lustrous chrome with a gold plated trim
Cross Bailey Medalist Rollerball Pen

Montblanc Meisterstuck Classique Rollerball

Montblanc pens are some of the most premium on the market, and the Meisterstuck Classique Rollerball is no exception. It’s extremely comfortable to hold, making it one of the best rollerballs for handwriting. Plus, it’s reliable and will last you a lifetime if properly cared for.

Montblanc Meisterstuck Classique Black Gold Trim Rollerball Pen

Which pen is good for handwriting?

To summarise, the best pens to improve your handwriting are:

  • LAMY All Star Fountain Pen
  • Sheaffer 300 Medalist Fountain Pen
  • Cross Bailey Ball Pen
  • Caran d’Ache Chevron Ball Pen
  • Fisher Space Ball Pen
  • Cross Bailey Medalist Rollerball
  • Montblanc Meisterstuck Classique Rollerball

There is no one pen that best suits everyone looking to improve their handwriting, but there are three definite types to choose from that suit all levels of experience and personal style. We hope this post has helped you learn about some of the best pens for handwriting and feel more confident about how to improve your handwriting. Please feel free to browse our broad collection of best handwriting pens and brands in our online store.

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