Whether a person writes in sloppy slants like their father or in script like their mother, the handwriting of a person, according to experts, is a mix of both nurture and nature.

When it comes to the hand writing style and determining it, a number of factors come into play. According to an expert handwriting examiner Richard Fraser, penmanship is not just what you want it to be because it is often affected by one’s own life experiences as well along with their character and how one is taught to write during their time of adolescence.

Fraser added that, “the traumatic events experienced by a person can change their handwriting style”. Moreover, “the handwriting of a person reflects their state of mind; for instance, an unorganized person will care less about how neatly every letter is written”.

However, you may not be the only one to blame for bad handwriting because genetics also play a role here as well. More specifically, how a person crosses their T’s and dots their i’s is because of their genes. The anatomy of a person also plays a role in their handwriting skills, for instance, bone structure of a person will determine how they hold the pen in their hands. Mental ability to copy proper penmanship, muscle memory, and hand-eye coordination also influences a person’s handwriting. The handwriting of a person changes over time as theses mental and physical characteristics change in a person, Fraser added.

However, the genetic influence on handwriting only goes so far because even though there are people whose handwriting is extremely similar to their parents is not because they inherited it from them, but because they copied it, subconsciously in most cases.

Often times the similarities that does exist in a family member often comes from the characters of another family member and /or a respected acquaintance of the family. The tendency of copying anyone’s handwriting is more and often occurs at the time of adolescence. Since the young writer is constantly experimenting with their handwriting skills, they can easily pickup and develop handwriting skills similar to a family member.

Although, most of these factors do have a genetic component, but one cannot say that those who have bad handwriting skills are stuck with it for the rest of their lives. One can easily change / improve their handwriting skills at any point in life if they are determined to do so. However, as a person grows older, it becomes more difficult for them to change their handwriting because ingrained habits and muscle memory plays a vital role in the style of writing of a person.

For instance, people who have had so much practice of scrawling their signature, often barely focus or look on it when they are signing a piece of paper. These type of traits are exactly what forensic handwriting experts look for when examining a forged signature because forged signatures are often written in a slow, careful and haltingly manner, which increases the time a pen spends on paper, causing more ink spill around it. However, such spills are only visible under the eye of an expert with a magnifying glass.

So the next time you worry about how bad is your writing, instead of blaming it on the world or your genes, try to improve it yourself with a little bit of determination. Because anything is possible as long as you are willing to do it!