Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Every wondered what you can read into a person’s handwriting? In today’s guestpost, Hana Rehman examines the loops and curves of graphology and shares her findings on assorted renowned artists. Can you use the insights to invent your own believably brilliant but flawed creative character?
The act of putting pen to paper is something special for most writers—we untangle thoughts, pour out memories, and make art out of words. But do these etchings on paper reveal more about ourselves than we might think?
It has been debated whether or not the analysis of handwriting, or graphology, can be considered an actual science. But there might be something to it if we can uncover unique and unexpected traits by examining the characteristics of our letters.
Below are some emotions and personality traits that graphology claims our handwriting can reveal about us. Whether or not it’s entirely true is for us to decide, but it can always make for a fun, and perhaps insightful, exercise, to analyse handwritten pages.
Confidence
Supposedly, we can gauge one’s level of confidence by the size of their letters. Large letters indicate an upbeat, larger-than-life personality. Medium-sized letters show modesty and a good self-image. Small letters display focus and introspection.
Generosity and Openness
In graphology, letter spacing indicates a person’s openness and level of generosity. For example, large spaces between letters supposedly mean one is happy and generous, and when there are no spaces between letters, it is indicative of intelligence. No spacing can also mean one is closed off from others.
Emotions
The angle of one’s handwriting is believed to show off their inner feelings. For example, straight letters apparently show feelings of stability, calm, and even pride. According to graphologists, right-slanting letters show affection and tendency to opposition, while left-slanting letters demonstrate frustration, and that someone may be having a hard time with decision-making.
Pen pressure is also thought to exhibit emotions. Heavy pen pressure, indicated by dark letters, shows determination and strong-mindedness. Mixed pressure, where the handwriting alternates between dark and light letters, shows the writer is sensitive, and may have trouble concentrating. Finally, very light letters show that the writer may be feeling ungrounded.
Graphology goes far deeper and gets very detailed, all the way down to the millimeter of letter width. However, using the general principles above, this method of analysis might be able to reveal something interesting about your mindset when you’re writing.
For more interesting handwriting analysis, take a look at this historical infographic created by the editors at 1stDibs. They analysed the signatures of twelve famous artists from history to see what they could uncover.
