[Scriptoris] Ending the "Death Grip"

[Elaine Crittenden]

I have recently heard of a method to keep from bearing down on the paper: 
practice writing on top of a sandwich of practice paper, carbon, practice
paper. Try to get your touch so light that you do well on the top sheet, but
so lightly that the carbon doesn't transfer onto the bottom sheet. I think
it might be fun to try when I get this latest wedding thingy off the board.

One thing that forced me, personally, to have a lighter touch was to study a
pointed pen style of lettering. (Pointed pen stuff began with Cresci in the
1500's, evolving into the 1700-1800 Copperplate and the 1800 Spencerian
hands.) If you don't have a light touch on the up strokes, the tines will
catch in the paper, flick the ink, and it will look like you sneezed ink all
over the piece! ;-)

Personally, when I am in a mood that makes me grip (right hand) the pen, I
hold a white-erasered ball point upside down in the left hand and bear down
with all my frustrations on the paper with the eraser. Somehow, "somewhy",
my right hand lifts up and becomes a rather light touch.

Moods affect my writing, I find. My brain controls my muscles and my muscles
control my hand and my hand controls my writing. I do a little mental yoga
when I notice what's going on. I stop, close my eyes, block out the outside
noises, and picture a scene from my childhood that was "warm fuzzie"
pleasant, all the while saying a phrase designed to relax me, one that would
only be heard in this context and known only to me, so as to maintain its
full effect and not be muddied from hearing the phrase in the "outside"
world.

I have also noticed when I am getting tired, my own rhythm, qpparently quite
different from yours, Serena, suffers, and I start getting sloppy in my
strokes. The first thing that goes is the curves stuck to the straight
strokes. They take on what mundane calligrapher Sheila Waters calls "wiggle,
flop, wiggle" instead of the "curve, straight, curve" I want.

I also put a nice, relaxing audio tape in the player across the room. I
write until the tape runs out, then get up to go and turn it over, forcing
me to take a break if I want the music to continue.

If I need a longer break, I make some soothing herbal or decaf (can't
medically have the other kind) tea, holding the cup in the hand that doesn't
hold the pen, to give the minimuscles a break.

Being a hypoglycemic, I also must have some kind of food to keep the hand
from shaking in the delicate lines--orange juice for a quick fix, a bite or
two of protein for a longer "fix."

Everyone has their own work methods and, as time progresses, methods
sometimes have to change. I turned 64 on Sunday, and I can't work the same
way I did when I was younger. Recently, with a new massuse, I was asked if I
drove a truck for a living, due to the development of and knottiness in my
shoulders' trapezoidal muscles. :-D

There are several quotes out there from Period scribes about their aches and
pains due to scribal requirements. At least, I don't have the additional
worry of one Irish scribe (document is in Dublin). A cold, blustery storm
was going on and his scribing fingers were nearly frozen, but he thanked God
for his condition, because, in times like that, he was safe from Viking
raiders! They only attacked when the weather was better. ;-)

Lete