The Palmer Method of Business Writing

[GaryTha]

Here is a link for the Palmer method of business writing. According to the book, there are three goals: Legibility, SPEED AND ENDURANCE. The first is a given. Speed and endurance, especially endurance, come from using the shoulder muscles. It takes a long time to learn, but it's just practice.

I increased my speed from 7 wpm to 17.5 wpm in a couple of weeks with only a little loss in clarity. It's a long story, but I get paid well for each page I write in funds I can donate to the charities of my choice. I'm now to the point where I can write almost 5,000 words a day.

Here is a sample at approximately 17.5 wpm. Until today, the best I did was 14 wpm.

Oh, I put the India ink back in the pen. I'll just be careful not to let it dry out.

The lines are 1/2" tall.

 

[GaryTha]

I thought some might find this page from my mother's diary interesting. Note the date.

At the end, she mentioned they hadn't heard from Chink. He was in the navy, and they never heard from him during the war. He never said where he went.

 

[Tomo]

I’ve read this book and followed the drills from start to finish. I’ve been practicing daily for about five years. It’s gotten to the point that I find it uncomfortable to write any other way. I wish that I had started earlier but it’s never too late to learn. It’s an excellent book. Once you get the hang of it, you can see that the Palmer Method is vastly superior to printing for speed and comfort. It’s highly legible and if you’re used to reading cursive.

 

[Chandu]

I thought some might find this page from my mother's diary interesting. Note the date.

At the end, she mentioned they hadn't heard from Chink. He was in the navy, and they never heard from him during the war. He never said where he went.

View attachment 1527326

That’s really cool. I recently came into possession of my grandmother’s diary.

It’s important and interesting because of the relationship but it’s from 1967 to 1971 and written entirely in ballpoint. It’s interesting to see how the ink has aged over time. The short answer is the mostly blue some green and a little black ink she used held up very well.

As long as I can remember she used primarily Bic Crystal pens or vendor freebies.

Rather interesting that she happily left the nib behind. She was born in 1910 so obviously used her share of fountain, or quills.

 

[Chandu]

Here is a picture of the diary. The date is not correct as they didn't have a lot of money this was a repurposed journal this was actually March of 1969. She speaks of a blizzard knocking out electricity for 29 hours and keeping the house warm by using the burners on the gas range. Electricity is not the answer to all of life's problems.

Beautiful handwriting.

 

[GaryTha]

I'm still writing a bunch. I copied the entire Old Testament in nine months. Now, I'm back to Exodus chapter 12 along with commentaries. I average eight of these "sheets" of four pages a day.

My writing keeps getting smaller and faster. These are 1/4-inch lines. It's hard to find a fountain pen with a fine enough point. I use the backs of the points.

 

[Atarian]

For anyone interested in handwriting, I humbly suggest taking a look at the Italic script and "A handwriting manual" by Fairbank.

I've had nothing but compliments on my handwriting since I've used the technique. Nowhere near as flowery or pretty as Palmer Business, but very legible and vaguely mediaeval.

 

[Chandu]

I'm still writing a bunch. I copied the entire Old Testament in nine months. Now, I'm back to Exodus chapter 12 along with commentaries. I average eight of these "sheets" of four pages a day.

My writing keeps getting smaller and faster. These are 1/4-inch lines. It's hard to find a fountain pen with a fine enough point. I use the backs of the points.

View attachment 1702995

Gary, I like your date stamp. That's a great idea. What is the other number? Is your date stamp one of the old ones that uses the ink pad?

 

[GaryTha]

Gary, I like your date stamp. That's a great idea. What is the other number? Is your date stamp one of the old ones that uses the ink pad?

The other number is the number of sheets I've written since Sept 2021. Multiply by four to get the total pages, so it's about 14,000. I write just over 100 words/page.

The date stamp uses the ink pad. The number stamp is self-inking.

By the way, I write better after shaving with ARKO.

 

[Chandu]

By the way, I write better after shaving with ARKO.

That's to be expected!

That's a small composition notebook. It's like you're turning out the Gideon pocket size Bible.

 

[GaryTha]

That's to be expected!

That's a small composition notebook. It's like you're turning out the Gideon pocket size Bible.

The small notebook makes it easier to maintain a good writing position.

 

[KW Driver]

I'm still writing a bunch. I copied the entire Old Testament in nine months. Now, I'm back to Exodus chapter 12 along with commentaries. I average eight of these "sheets" of four pages a day.

My writing keeps getting smaller and faster. These are 1/4-inch lines. It's hard to find a fountain pen with a fine enough point. I use the backs of the points.

View attachment 1702995

Have you tried an XF, Japanese F nib? Some can be a bit scritchy until smoothed.

Lamy, Kaweco, and TWSBI (German) XF nibs write like F nibs. Or a dryer ink can look smaller too. I’ve alway written small, and write on a 5mm grid. Nib size/ink flow dictates speed for me, but a F nib with flow still fits legibly in 5mm if I slow down some.

I like A5 notebooks personally, and carry a pocket notebook for out and about.

TWSBI XF with Noddler’s 5 O’clock shadow

 

[GaryTha]

Thanks for the information.

Typically, when I find something that works, I buy a lifetime supply.
I just ordered two more of these pensin different colors:

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I have about 12 90 ml. bottles of Monteverde Ink in different colors.

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I have about 50 3-packs of these notebooks. I need to get some more.

Robot or human?

www.walmart.com