# What I did
I spent an afternoon reading through the first couple chapters and doing the exercise and was surprised not only at the advertised benefits (ease in writing, faster writing, prettier and more uniform writing), but also at how much I learned about the mechanics of writing by doing the exercises.
As I was doing the exercises, as I positioned my elbows and paper and paid attention to the position and easy grip of the pen, the mechanics of writing, I thought about the mechanics of Star Craft. How the use of keyboard shortcuts, control groups, and double tapping numbers to jump to pre-set buildings or units drastically increases your actions per minute. I tried to take that same idea to writing and it worked.
There are two basic movements, up-down and circles. Each letter is a variant of the two. Even a circle is basically an up down motion with a more pronounced finger movement. Drill those like you'd drill 5-s-z to make zerglings, or whatever you use for larva inject.
# What I learned
I eventually figured out that the up-down motion is coming from your arm, not your finger. The fingers are used for fine motion differentiating each letter. The more regular the up-down motion, the more consistent your letters.
The big realization was that I could drastically increase my writing speed by drilling the up-down motion. You should be able to do at least 3 up-down or circles a second. Just do the drill to practice how it feels first, then the writing will take less effort to do quickly and regularly. That is what the drills are for.
# Why I think it was worth doing
I generally like the idea of doing things well. I used to be embarrassed about my writing. Now it is rare that someone sees my writing without complementing it. Writing has become a meditation for me. It helps me focus and slow down my thoughts. When I'm writing on a keyboard I can write a lot faster, which helps when I code, but I find the artificial constrain of writing on pen and paper help me write better, shorter first drafts.