Write Now The Complete Program for Better Handwriting

by Barbara Getty, Inga Dubay

Write Now is a comprehensive one-volume program that teaches you to develop clean, elegant, legible handwriting, even for those who have always had difficulty with their penmanship. Write Now is being used nationally by the authors to teach seminars to physicians and medical professionals on how to write legibly. It incorporates the italic style which was developed in Europe about five hundred years ago as a practical and efficient style for everyday use, and is once again gaining popularity in schools worldwide.

The italic style in Write Now uses simple, aesthetic forms that are natural and rhythmic, and satisfy the need for both legibility and speed. It contains clear instruction with numerous examples and requires no special equipment - a regular pen or pencil will do. The book is designed to lie flat when open to make writing in it easier, and includes blank, ruled pages in the back that can be reproduced for extra practice.

Most of the styles taught in schools were developed in the 19th century and were designed using the ornamental copperplate engraving of that era as their basis. They abound with loops and flourishes and an extreme letter slope. Because of the rigors involved in mastering these shapes, it is often difficult to read. Italic avoids many of the pitfalls that cause illegibility, even when written in a hurry. There are no loops - only the basic letterform is used, with a slight, unexaggerated slope, making it extremely easy to learn and read. Italic handwriting encourages personal style without compromising legibility.

Achieving a distinctive, readable hand is surprisingly easy and can be mastered in as little as fifteen minutes a day. You'll find Write Now easy to follow and full of step-by-step guidance and tips.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 1991

Reviews

[Karen Witzler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based upon Wilfrid Jasper Blunt's version of the Chancery hand, this is having a popular revival among American homeschoolers as Getty-Dubay Italic or Italic Cursive handwriting.

[Fernando Fernandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice one! The book is super easy to follow with some nice calligraphy history snippets here and there. But I'm not doing that Cursive Italic variation tho. 😅 That's just too much... #aintNobodyGotTimeForThat I'm definitely sticking to Basic Italic.

Anyway, there's this website that sells a Getty-Dubay font, which we can use to create or own practice sheets. Like these ones I made and you can download for free: PDF or JPG

Now practice, practice and practice...
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs! 🦊🐶

[Alexander King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book for people looking to improve their handwriting. The book teaches the italic handwriting script rather than modern American cursive. The cursive italic allows for speed like American cursive, but uses letter forms closer to block style printing that are easier to read for people not trained in American cursive.

[GC · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Write Now is designed as a self-instructional course in basic and cursive italic handwriting with an introduction to italic calligraphy'


Google 'cursive handwriting resources' and you will be overwhelmed. In something so niche, there are still hundreds of options. Look no further than Barbara Getty's work - a self-sufficient course. Following her exercises, and within a week, I had transformed my handwriting from print to cursive italic.

Expect it to be slow at first. However, with repetition, cursive italic will flow from your pen onto the page as easily as ice cream poured out of a Mr Whippy machine. What was once laboured is now instinctual. An unexpected bonus is being able to write not only more aesthetically, but also more quickly.

Highly recommended for any adult hoping to write in cursive italic!

[Jenell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I prefer the technique of looped cursive over that of italic cursive. So while that aspect of the book didn't appeal to me, I enjoyed the bits of history scattered throughout. I especially thought the last few pages were interesting. They showed the evolution of our current alphabet from the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans.

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a book you read, so much as a set of exercises you work through to improve your handwriting. It's worked for me! My handwriting, which previously resembled ants crawling across the page, is now somewhat more legible and attractive.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first part, focussing on improving my print handwriting. As far as that is concerned, this book was helpful, and I have a noticeable improvement in my handwriting from before and after completing this book.

[Andrew Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to improving your handwriting by some masters of the art. I was working through this book for a good long while, but I definitely feel that I've improved my handwriting and made great gains in understanding how to help others improve theirs.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have horrid handwriting. This book did help me out a bit, now I just have to choose to write nicely!

[reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to improve your handwriting, this is the book to use.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

didn't end up usiing it, found a better book:

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-...

[Brice Lambson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has changed my life. I will never look at letters the same way again. I never realized t's have tails. My handwriting also looks outstanding!