Not yet, but I'm reading a book set in Tekton, which is based on the author's handwriting, and it's got me thinking about trying to improve my handwriting a little bit. Though my handwriting is a horrible.

Calluna inspired me to try to add more directional flow into my handwriting. It was never really too messy, but it certainly was not a pleasant read. I think it's much more smooth now.

I try to write as quickly as possible, time's running out. This means my handwriting is a matter of getting something on paper at high-speed, not necessarily conducive to thinking "what shall I make a particular character look like?"

Maybe this is one of the reasons I can't understand why anyone wants a font to resemble handwriting. Since one of the basic premises of handwriting is speed, why would I then wan't anything to look like a handwritten form when, in type design, I have got time to make a character look exactly like I want it to without the limitations of a hand on a pen governing how it should look. That would be illogical. Call me a Philistine if you like.

As a kid, I stopped doing the single-storey "a" that we were taught to write, and started doing double-storey ones; this was clearly influenced by type in general, though not by any particular face...

Good for you James... that you are that aware and adapting elements that "strike your fancy." Handwriting is individualistic and you SHOULD keep doing what you are doing. I am sure that others will ultimately comment on your handwriting as it will look "considered/thoughtful" in the long run.

To me writing is enjoyable and gratifying... time well spent.

Michael, sorry I hope it didn't sound like I was taking a pop at handwriting as an art-form. I know we have had our exchanges before about whether type should look like handwriting (or would benefit from being based on handwriting in its basic forms) but I would never suggest that anyone who loves it shouldn't take their time and consider it time well-spent.

I am writing less and less these days. I haven't written anything today, but may do the concise crossword in The Times later (upper case only, but that's a different thread).

I overhauled my signature in high school, and my redesign was heavily influenced by Tolkien's Fëanorian Tengwar, with a lot of sharp descenders and a couple swashes.

Likewise, I redesigned my messy handwriting in high school, shifting to a printed Roman drawn with different strokes many of which simulate serifs (on the B, D, I, J, P, R, and S), which greatly improved the legibility and readability of my printing. I didn't have a specific serif face in mind when I did the redesign, so it was probably Times New Roman that influenced it the most; still, clarity is one of TNR's virtues, so I could have chosen a worse model.

Nick... no big deal. I was not upset and did not take your comments in a negative way. I know it is old fashioned to think the way I do, and I know time is precious and "writing" is not a priority. I hope you did not think I was taking a dig at you as that was not the case.

When I was younger I remember myself looking at Marydale for hours, trying to get my handwriting like it.

A few weeks ago I bought the Doyald Young books and now I'm trying my hand at every stlye.

When I was a kid about seven eight years old all the interesting books I could get (adventures, westerns, funnies etc.) were printed in twenties and thirties so they were set in blackletter. I even started to imitate it in my handwriting because I thought the text would become more interesting.

No. I used the cursive style I had learned at school by age 10. It became slicker by the time I was an adult, but had the same basic construction. Then around age 30 I studied calligraphy, and subsequently adapted my casual handwriting to use the proper joining rules of the chancery script.

The only typeface I've made from my handwriting is Panoptica Script, but it's not my everyday writing. Handsome, a script face, was "written" in Fontographer with a Wacom stylus, but the effect is too stiff and formal to bear much relationship to my "real" handwriting. One of these days I might make a typeface based on my writing.

I love the idea of incorporating some elements of the author's handwriting in his/hers book, as long as it doesn't distract too much.