The Write Event

Britney Spears' Handwriting—Revisited.

Here is your challenge: What can you tell me about this person?

That's where I left you when I posted this sample.

Could you identify her from the picture? Maybe so.

If this looks to you like the writing of an immature young person you are correct. Notice that the writing is predominantly in the mundane area, which concerns the world of NOW. That is the focus and concern of her life. Look closely to see an irregular spacing pattern in this writing. Monitor the space between her letters and her words. Some letters are touching each other; others are spread out. Some words are close to the next; others show big spaces between. She hasn't made peace with the latitude she gives herself and she doesn't know if she wants to be close to people or pull away from them. It varies according to how she feels. That is confirmed in the erratic change in size of her middle-zone letters. Lots of variation. She doesn't understand herself but she can take direction.

As for her motivation forces: As you see, her aspiration level is low (shown by the height of her t bars.) Long-range planning is not strong. In fact, she underestimated herself greatly at the time of this writing. (Notice that many bars dip well into the middle zone.) I would be curious to know when she wrote this, and if it was long ago, I wonder if her handwriting has changed as she has become more successful in her career.

She shows little will power here (weak horizontal bars as they cross her t stems) so she is directed by outside forces, which she needs so let's hope she is not too trusting or naive. Without strong self-direction one may cave in to temptation and give in to weaknesses. Her handwriting suggests that propensity.

At this point she had not yet developed a philosophy of living (no abstract thinking, which would be found in upward extenders) so she relies on what is going on in the here and now and goes with the flow. She tries to have an independent mind but she needs to develop a stronger resolve so as to direct her thoughts and actions in purposeful pursuits. Then she needs to put forth more effort to finish strong. (Her lower extenders are short although they are not weak for as long as they go downward.)

There is potential for personal growth.

   

My comments on Condoleeza Rice

Condoleeza Rice (Scroll down to the previous post see her writing.)

Dr. Rice has wide spacing between her words, indicating her desire to maintaining some distance between herself and others. She will be the one to set the boundary of psychological and physical space.

She also likes space and time to think things through clearly and so does not allow mental confusion to fuzzy up her mind. (Very wide line spacing. As a review do you remember that the opposite of wide distance between lines is crowded spacing between lines when loops overlap? That indicates confusion of interests with too much going. In such a personality the writer feels stressed because of taking on too many activities at once. So there is a degree of muddled thinking.) Dr. Rice may indeed have a lot going at once but she is blessed with a clear mind. She also would not feel the need to assume all the responsibility and could delegate easily, perhaps having help to handle the day-to-day details—not necessarily what she is best at. Her mind tends to be moving forward to the next step. (Note flying i dots high and/or to the right.) She would appreciate and acknowledge the assistance.

I want to talk about her public persona since most of us have been able to observe her directly speaking and being interviewed. If you watch her carefully you will observe when Dr. Rice begins to speak she does not halt. She speaks rather relentlessly with few or no pauses until she is satisfied she made her point. She will not be interrupted. Here are some handwriting indicators showing traits she exhibits to confirm that tendency:

Concentration and ability to focus (fairly small writing along with her unique spacing pattern already mentioned) She won't be rushed when she wants to present her ideas or opinions.

Her logical clear thinking ability (connected writing pattern showing no breaks between middle zone letters) She relies on logical reasoning; she does not trust hunches to intuitively clue her in; she is looking for facts. She tends to be very discriminate about how much she is willing to take in from others (relatively narrow e loops) so someone who tries to convince her better go in prepared with solid evidence and data.

She is a predominantly methodical thinker. (Note the rounded tops on m and n letters.) While there are also other patterns she can draw on (giving her mental versatility) most of the time she uses a building-block style to work out problems or to learn.

Her directness in cutting through to the essence of issues speeds up her thinking process (very few lead-in strokes at the beginning of words) and that helps her comprehend matters quickly. She would not likely be terse in replying; she tempers her responses with natural diplomacy (tapering size of letters in the middle zone) while still making sure she speaks her mind clearly. She will not back down on that score. And she keeps her cool even when observers see she is angry.

Note her consistent retracing of d and t stems. It takes effort and mental discipline to be able to do that. (If that is not in your handwriting try to do it over and over and you will see what I mean.) It indicates the trait of dignity. A strong degree of the trait creates a formal air people pick up on quickly because there is a natural restraint in the demeanor. It may keep people at a distance. (Remember we have already seen other indicators of her being a private person needing to maintain distance.) She is ladylike at all times, even when she has to be tough. She is resilient.

Dignity also means she shows simple good taste with no fanfare in drawing attention to herself by how she acts and dresses.

Her vertical to slightly right slant shows her cool judgment tempered by some emotional responsiveness so she can feel for others. She may not always show how much but the feelings are there.

Dr. Rice is not seeking the limelight for herself. She has a job to do and is conscientiously trying to do it well. She is intensely loyal in her service.

Elaine Ness, CGA

Condoleeza Rice & President Bush—handwriting samples

I will later comment on Dr. Rice's handwriting but meanwhile check it against some of the points under the categories dealing with holistic overview and trait indicators. 

Note especially the spacing pattern, baseline, size and slant.

What is your impression of this writing?

The marginal comment was written by President Bush.

Signatures of Katharine Hepburn & James Dean

Here are two more intriguing people. Based on some of the principles listed under handwriting analysis categories what do you make of each of these people?

It is interesting to see the signature after observing a person, especially on the movie screen. Ms Hepburn played a variety of characters but it seemed to me that her personality, strong as it was, seemed to dominate whatever role she was given or chose. You have some clues here of strong will. Can you identify the possible indicators? How about the way she communicated?

James Dean was an enigmatic person and his signature suggests that. How much did he share about himself, based on just this much. Would you say that his writing here indicates a social person—extrovert? or more of an introvert?

I will be back later to add some comments but meanwhile, do a little research, make a few notes and see what you come up with.

Katharine Hepburn's signature indicates her strong-willed, no-nonsense character. Note her t bar of extreme length, showing her self-directed personality and the tenacity (the hook at the end) of her high goals( shown in the height of her t bars.) Her bar also takes on an optimistic upslant. She knew where she wanted to go and was confident and upbeat about heading there.

Her directness was legendary (note the lack of any approach strokes in her words.) She said exactly what she thought without a lot of concern for how she came across. I am quite sure she could intimidate many, in fact to win her respect, you had better be prepared and speak your mind quickly and with as much brevity as possible. She did not suffer fools gladly. She had no doubts about herself and who she was. Good self-esteem.

She had a quick mind and could cut through to the essentials very quickly. Note her interesting and efficient connection of crossbar stroke on her h to link to the following letter e. She made a "Greek" e, not an ordinary one, showing an appreciation of culture.

James Dean is hard to figure out. He doesn't reveal a lot about himself in this legible but at the same time slurred attempt to write his name. He seems self-contained and very private. I would want to see the rest of his writing to say more about him.  Maybe being such a mystery has been the secret of his posthumous success.

Cary Grant—Handwriting sample of a debonair man

Cary Grant has captivated movie goers for many decades. He usually was cast as a man-about-town— well-heeled and erudite, never losing his cool and somewhat quizzical demeanor. The dialogue he recited included easy banter and he seemed comfortable in any social situation.

Make a few notes of your impressions. Have a look at the the holistic category and the basic indicators category and see what you find.

Be alert to anything that jumps out at you. Study the letter, word and line spacing. How about his thinking pattern? The zone emphasis will tell you more.

I will return and add some thoughts about him later.

First some comments by Cary Grant himself from his autobiography, Archie Leach.

My family name is Leach. To which, at my christening, was added Archibald Alexander, with no opportunity for me to protest. For more than half my fifty-eight years I have cautiously peered from behind the facade of a man known as Cary Grant. The protection of that facade proved both an advantage and a disadvantage. If I couldn't clearly see out, how could anyone see in?

I was born in the provincial city of Bristol, England, but have avidly frequented the brightest capitals of the world ever since, and now keep a permanent residence in the so-called, through misnamed, glamour capital of Hollywood.

I had no sisters, was separated from my mother when I was nine years old, was stammeringly shy in the presence of girls; yet have married three times and found myself making love on the screen -- in public, mind you, in front of millions of people -- to such fascinating women as Ingrid Bergman, Doris Day, Mae West, Irene Dunne, Deborah Kerr, Eva Marie Saint, Sophia Loren, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly.

I was an only child, and first saw the light of day -- or rather the dark of night -- around 1:00 a.m. on a cold January morning, in a suburban stone house which, lacking modern heating conveniences, kept only one step ahead of freezing by means of small coal fires in small bedroom fireplaces; and ever since, I've persistently arranged to spend every possible moment where the sun shines warmest. My father made no more than a modest living and we had little money. Yet today I am considered, except among the wealthy, to be wealthy. I received only a sketchy education by most scholastic standards, lacked confidence and the courage to enjoy life, but on the screen seem to have successfully epitomized an informed, capable and happy man. A series of contradictions too evident to be coincidental. Perhaps the original circumstances caused, created and provoked all the others. Perhaps they can all be reconciled into one complete life, my own, as I recall each step that led to each next step and look back on the path of my life from this older and, I trust, more mature viewpoint.

I have spent the greater part of my life fluctuating between Archie Leach and Cary Grant; unsure of either, suspecting each. Only recently have I begun to unify them into one person: the man and boy in me, the hate and the love and all the degrees of each in me, and the power of God in me.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Elaine Ness, CGA

My comments:

Is this a bold extrovert? Not even close. Note the wide spacing between his words, which tells us he likes to keep his distance. Here is the proverbial, "private person." It would have taken a long time to get to know him.

Other clues about his reserve: his vertical slant, for one. He is not a touchy-feely sort of man, rather he holds back and does not reveal himself easily.  Another indicator is the single unlooped downstroke in "cordially"—sometimes referred to as the "loner stroke." (If we had a bigger sample I think we would find more of them.)

By the way, it is common to find such straight strokes interspersed with looped structures within a sample of writing. The meaning is that the writer is comfortable with being alone at least some of the time and may even savor and need to be. (Writers who show nothing but big loops in the lower zone often feel lonely when they are forced to spend long periods alone. They will call, e-mail or find a way to have personal contact when they feel restless.)

Back to Cary: his frequent dashes are unique. They may suggest caution in making the next move (caution usually shows in elongated endings on words) because such a filler slows down action, even in writing. Gives a momentary pause on paper, which stems from the mind's signal.)

His goals are strong and so he asks a lot of himself. Look at the height and strength of those t bars! He had good self-confidence, which was a spur to his ambition to succeed.

Did you spot the large buckle on the letter k? Another person here with defiance; something I often see in the handwriting of people who have had to fight hard for their rights. Note the one inflexible entrance stroke, "we" which suggests he was stewing on some unresolved issue.

A couple of t bars that are bent downward at the ends; one of them is a very strong stroke. That sort of t bar indicates self-control. It is literally a bending of the will. Was he always needing to watch his weight or his tongue or?? We can't tell what he was trying to control but there must have been something.

His curious habit of making a break in his lower loops is intriguing. Recall that loops indicate imagination so they must be completed and return to the baseline to be usuable in the real world. Not sure what it indicates in his case. He does show good follow-through, which is found in the lower descenders. (The longer they go and the stronger the stroke the firmer the determination to finish a project.) His are long when we consider that they go a respectable distance before the break shows up. (The length is measured in proportion to the height average of the middle zone letters.) He hung in there. He sure made a lot of movies.

Cary Grant's signature is hard to decipher. He either got tired of writing his name and/or he really didn't want to have people know him all that well. The rest of his writing is quite legible.

One more trait shows up that could cast some light on his reserved nature. See the two sets of the double l letters? the second l is higher in both instances, which indicates self-consciousness. Not extreme but enough to tell us in certain situations he was not all that comfortable. His natural reserve would emphasize that. Friendly, yes, but still holding back. (Wonder what his wives would have said.  He was married and divorced several times.)

He intimated he did not know himself well and his handwriting supports that conclusion, given the erratic size of his middle zone letters and thinking that was more curious than probing. He may have been somewhat introspective but he never quite figured out who he was. As he put it, he formed an image and fulfilled the prophecy.

This is a complex and fascinating man we could discuss for pages. He will entertain us for a long time to come.

Dolly Parton—sample and my comments

Dolly Parton packs a lot of personality into her handwriting. I think you will enjoy seeing what you can make of it. If you have been a regular reader of this blog you can find out a great deal.

Print the sample out if you wish so you can have it to study. Enlarge it if you have access to a machine to do so. Spend several minutes and make notes of your overall impression. Then take a look at the categories:

The Global Indicators, The Holistic Overview, Trait Indicators and Thinking Styles. Lots of clues in those places. Make more notes as you compare her writing.

Or, you can wait until I come back to comment on it later. Then I will add on to this post. However, you will learn far more if you do some work on it yourself.

Elaine Ness, Coach and Certified Handwriting Analyst.

Dolly revisited—some brief comments on her sample:

You can observe that Dolly lives a busy life crowded with activity (Note the closely spaced lines and overlapping letters.) She loves people and socializing although it may cost her precious energy to sustain such a fast pace. She likes to have people  close to her most of the time. (Close word spacing)  She is friendly and interested in the lives of others, not just her own. (Right-slanted writing) Expressing her feelings is natural for her and she is eager to do so. She can be quite intense. She cannot always analyze how she feels or why; she just feels the feelings.

Even though she is inwardly stable (flexible but consistent baseline) I don't believe her mood level is always consistent (erratic size of her middle zone letters.) She has many popup letters, indicating retreat and assertion, interspersed within words. Note the very prominent small K letters. These show a propensity to defy when she feels someone might be taking advantage of her. She is on guard to make sure that does not happen. I would not be surprised to learn that she wants to be part of any and all negotiations involving her financial interest and she is quick to object if her rights are not honored. She well may be willing to go to bat for anyone else whose cause touches her heart. She is loyal to anything and anyone she believes in.

One trait shows here that is surprising to me, considering how at ease she appears in public. There is at least one circumstance or situation that triggers her to become very self-consciousness. (Note the raised third hump on many of her small and capital M letters.) There is no way to guess where or when this occurs for her but it is a fairly strong indicator.

She needs a lot of variety and excitement so the world of entertainment is a natural environment for her. She responds quickly like an emotional sponge and she is generous in spirit. She communicates clearly and is quite forthright from what this sample shows. "What you see is what you get." No illusions or pretentions.

She is goal-oriented and persistent. She also has good ideas. When you hear her speak you also see she is gifted with words, both spoken and written. Notice the rhythm pattern in her script. Not hard to see why she is a prolific song-writer and so skilled on the guitar.

She can laugh at herself, which is endearing. One of her best lines is, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap!" Don't you believe it—she isn't cheap in any sense of the word.

A little more on remarkable Helen Keller-Part 2

I had located a wonderful long sample of Helen Keller's handwriting to show you, but, lost it. Within the expansive cyberspace world I have been unable to find it again. Grrr. If I do I will post it in the future.

Meanwhile, here is the signature of this remarkable woman. Simple, deliberate and careful writing, which shows her uncluttered mind. Imagine producing such script although she had never been able to see or hear!

She authored many books on several subjects, which you can learn more about on a search project. She also took on many social issues during her lifetime so she was no shrinking violet. She was not content to let life pass her by while she sat on the sidelines. (Note the size of her writing.) She often spoke and wrote about her gratitude for life.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller

Enthusiasm—if it is within reason, it is a delightful trait to possess

If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, then you will be fired with enthusiasm.

--- Vince Lombardi

I mentioned this trait on the previous post where I illustrated t bars. That was way back in April. The chief way to identify enthusiasm is to find elongated t bars where the stroke from left to right retains consistent depth on the page. In other words the energy level of the horizontal stroke remains constant. (If it "runs out of steam" and ends up looking wispy the wannabe enthusiasm is not sustained. Then it means something entirely different. Do you remember what that is?" Pop quiz question. :) )

Why can we say that is the trait of enthusiasm? Because if we consider copybook (there is a category for it so you can look at it) according to that model the t bar is carefully placed right over the stem and does not hover over the letter(s) that follow. It looks and is just adequate and gives no more, no less than is necessary. It is controlled and does not suggest any special energy expenditure.

Many good consistent workers have healthy t bars but not necessarily long ones. They may be dutiful and deligent but may not invest any special or extra energy of their own willingness in the project at hand.

Enthusiastic people extend themselves beyond what is just necessary when they think about doing something and then do it. They are fired up and usually optimistic about achievement so they go for it or at least want to do that. (There may be other restraining characteristics that hold them back, such as, self-consciousness.) And because they are interested and excited they can carry others along with them too. With a fair amount of emotional responsiveness (right-slanted writing) they are already prone to move forward; enthusiasm helps things along even more.

Can you overdo a good thing? Yes. If every single t bar in a sample of writing is very long and also heavy then too much is too much. Such folks can exhaust others who just wish they would ease up.
But that is not all that common to find.

I once did an analysis of an entire family. The mother's writing, which was written with a fountain pen sometime in the 1920s, caught my eye when I first glanced at it. The t bars were all well over one inch long and most pointed downward. Every bar was heavier at the end so that they resembled clubs. The rest of the writing confirmed that she was a strong-willed matriarch not to be trifled with. Most people were afraid of her. The enthusiasm that was present fueled her purpose to control everybody she could.
There was no evidence of altruistic intent; she ruled with an iron hand and she was devious to boot.

The assessment of personality through handwriting analysis is not influenced by the analyst's subjective opinion. It is based on measurement and evaluation of the indicators in a sample of writing.

Elaine Ness, Certified Grapho Analyst

Frank Sinatra revisted

The sample of Frank Sinatra is very hard to see and I apologize for that. (See the previous post.) I don't know the size of his writing but I am sure it is not that small. We are always handicapped when considering a sample that is not an original. I resist doing a serious analysis from a copy of the handwriting sample.

Overall it is easy to see his emotional nature (rightward slant) and his strong feelings (the depth factor) so we could characterize him as a warm person or at least a "wannabe" as that was his natural bent. He had conflicting emotions about people and dealing with them. He was not a gregarious "love everybody" sort of guy. He picked whom he chose to associate with and when. I can see why the "rat pack" came to be. It fit perfectly with his sense of loyalty to those he loved. Really his natural bent was to love. Did he get hurt early on and thus, put a lid on it? He also guarded his time alone, which he needed. (Notice the word spacing distance.) Did you catch the personal pronoun I letters that slanted backward so often? A decidedly regressive formation that tells us he personally pulled backward and couldn't share himself intimately with many.

He also carried resentment and had an ornery quality, which could set him off and put him into control mode. He could be bossy. (Note those very heavy t bars that slant downward) He had a strong will to start with. (Generally heavy straight t bars) He also did not dodge arguments. He probably enjoyed taking people on. Some defiance here. His mind worked fast and he could verbalize his thoughts.

In this letter he sounds like he knows himself well but his handwriting does not support that he did. He had too many inconsistencies in form and size. His pent-up emotions sought expression but they were not predictable. Curiously, his writing does not appear tense. It is spread out but a lot of the letters themselves are pinched. Some of his upper loops are restricted; others are open. Most of his small e letters are pinched too. He didn't take in a lot from other people, if we use this sample as a measure of that. (Again, seeing the original would be the only way to be sure.)

He was of independent mind. (Some t and d stems are very short.) People who have that trait give themselves a personal standard to uphold and they tend to grade themselves on their work. They can be hard on themselves if they don't feel it measures up to what they expect of themselves. They know when they do well or not. So, I imagine he would not stop until his recording sessions met his expectation for himself even if someone else said it was fine as is. He had amazing determination (Long lower extentions is one way to evaluate that. He also had a degree of restlessness and a need for change—evident also in those long strokes that descend a long way from the baseline. For more info on that check the "baseline" category ) to see things through to the end and great resilience.

He also showed a sense of pride so he cared what people said about him. He needed and appreciated approval. (It is not unusual for one handwriting to show both pride and independent thinking) He was touchy and he probably deflected negative remarks with sarcasm. He could spot a phony because he was not one himself. I would think he helped people without needing to advertise it. He was a modest person.

His intuitive sense was very acute. And doesn't that make sense considering his unique gift of phrasing when it came to his singing? If you listen to the same song he sang on different recordings over the years you can sense how he was feeling about singing the song each time. He interpreted the lyrics and the music for that matter in different ways according to his mood at the time. That intuitive interpretation was a unique gift of his. One reason why I love his singing and his acting too.

I have never read up on Frank Sinatra but I am sure there have been many books about him. From his handwriting here we can see he is a fascinating personality and a gifted and complicated man! He did indeed do it his way.

Frank Sinatra—"I did it my way." He sure did!

Here is your introduction to the handwriting of Frank Sinatra. It is fascinating writing, both in content and in the formations themselves. He wrote this letter to his daughter.

I will give you a little time to look at it before I comment more in a few days. If you have been reading along here for any period of time you have learned some points to help you do a mini-analysis. Make a few notes as you go along and trust your eye and common-sense impressions.

Take note of the placement and degree of organization on the page, the slant as best you are able to measure it with your eye, the pressure on the page and the size of the letters compared to each other, as well as the spacing pattern. Check the baseline. Is this consistent writing?

You can refer to some of the categories listed to check these features one by one in a systematic way. Note personal pronoun I letters. You will find a curious thing about many of them when you compare the slant with most of the other letters he wrote. What could that mean?