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Comment by qiller | Hacker News Reader

Always found that writing stuff down helps me to remember things better, whether studying something, prepping for an exam, or in general. Didn't even matter if I didn't look at those notes again, it just got "stored" better.

Didn't know he is a lefty too! Fountain pens + lefty is a tough combo; we had to use fountain pens in the 1st grade and my wrist was always stained on the side. Agree with the rollerball angle, Pilot V5 is my go to now...

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I noticed this as well and the question caused me to go pretty deep into writing in general.

Switched to a 36 key ergo split with a tweaked alpha-thumb layout (R is on my left thumb, Space is on the right, base layout is Hands Down Vibranium V). Started learning Pitman shorthand (again) then switched to Noory Simplex and stuck with it. Became fascinated with Zaner's Method of cursive where the writing is done entirely through arm movement and using the rhythm of the muscle movement instead of by conscious control over the pen position. At the moment I can write at about 100wpm on a keyboard, 70wpm in shorthand, and 26wpm longhand.

I believe that the improved ability to learn comes from the need to focus on a concept for longer while writing and not on the motion of the writing itself. My ability to retain is better in cursive than in shorthand and I don't notice a significant difference in retention between keyboard and shorthand.

There's absolutely something to this. Writing something down on your phone or computer does not commit it to memory at all.

I am left handed, and my wrist is not stained.

There are a lot of fountain pen inks that dry faster, like the Iroshizuku line. And some specifically built to be water resistant etc. It is a lot different from years ago.

I've thought about how hard it must be to be a lefty fountain pen user. What is one to do? Learn to write without resting your hand on the page?

If you read the linked post, he covers this

I'm glad he posted the video. One thing he didn't mention that is striking to me is how high his hand is on the page, essentially resting above the line he is writing, with his thumb parallel to the line. Whereas as a right-hander, my hand is essentially centered on the line, with my thumb at a 45 degree angle to the line.

Do most left-handers learn to hold their pen/pencil like that? If not I imagine it would be quite a transition to adapt to as all the motions are rotated - the portion of the stroke previously done by moving fingers in and out would instead be done by moving side to side, and vice-versa.

Edit: Or from trying it, I guess you could just write as normal and end up with everything italic/slanted.

From what I've read, lefties are typically classified into "over-writers", "side-writers", and "under-writers". That video caught my attention too, as it shows pretty clearly that he's an over-writer.

I myself am probably somewhere in between an over-writer and a side-writer lefty, edging slightly closer to an over-writer. Maybe a 20 degree angle to the line as my thumb wraps around my other fingers?

I've never found a fountain pen that I've liked because every time I've tried one, I ended up tearing the paper as I go as I'm essentially pushing the nib across the page and so the nib snags on the paper, digs in, and makes little holes. And I left pencils behind as soon as I could in school because every day I'd come home with the side of my left hand silvered with graphite.

These days, my preference is a Pentel EnerGel, a Uniball Signo, or a Pilot G-2 (i.e., gel pens like the article mentions). They can write easily without much force and dry quickly enough so that my hand doesn't smudge. For my daily pocket carry, I've also learned that I always want the capped variants rather the click kind, or else I'll end up with stained inner pockets and scribbles on my thigh. This makes the G-2s nice for home and desk use, but not for daily carry.

(And though the article suggests using cursive and not getting hung up on legibility, somewhere back in grade or middle school I switched to using either print style, or an engineering-hand-like small caps style, depending on mood. Both in the interest of legibility, despite my left-handedness.)

Actually, paper orientation was a big help too. Used to tilt the sheet so you write almost bottom-to-top, that way you at least don't smuge the writing right away, and hopefully the ink dries quick enough for the next line

I'm left-handed and always tilt paper at least 45° clockwise, effectively writing from below. Never had any smudging issues, even with fountain pens, as my hand simply never goes over any ink. Left-handed people who write from above by bending their wrist have always confused me, as it's both less comfortable and does not completely avoid smudges.

You meant counterclockwise, I guess? Because clockwise would mean to write from above, not below?

Interested because my son is learning to write and is the only leftie in the family, so I struggle to help him.

You had me triple check but it's definitely clockwise, i.e. the top of the sheet is actually facing top-right from my perspective:

           ______________
          /              /
         / Hello        /
        /     /|       /
       /    __/       /
      /    (  )      /
     /     / /      /
    /    /   /     /
   /    /   /     /
  /____/   /_____/
      /   /

The arrow below the o of hello being the pen, and the thing below being my left hand and arm (I actually have fingers IRL, ASCII art is difficult)

Counterclockwise, correct.

I think I would write mirrored. Especially in this day and age, there is no reason to write LTR over RTL by hand. You basically never have to write legibly for official reasons.

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