Slanted versus unslanted Gregg

One of the things I found difficult when I started learning Gregg a few months back was the italic slope of the characters. It felt very unnatural, and a bit “flowery”.

Then I came across a note in one of the books that said you should write at the same slope as your regular handwriting. Well, my handwriting doesn’t slope at all, so I started writing Gregg that way – that is, with Bs and Fs looking like parentheses and a J as a stroke going straight down. I found it much easier to write, and I could finally tell the difference between T and CH.

I wondered whether other people write their shorthand at a different angle from the “official” Gregg version. Does anyone write it with a backward slant? 

(by doonkhan for everyone)


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4 comments Add yours
  1. I am left handed and have decided to learn it the way it is comfortable to me. So, sh, ch, and j sound have become vertical…no slant. I figure no one else has to read my writing so it's not that critical. On the other hand, as a new learner not knowing what comes next, I'm trying not to deviate that much.

  2. This is an interesting new discussion!   Actually the slope of Gregg isn't italic (which tends to be about 5 degrees from vertical).  It's based on 19th century longhand slope (similar to the Palmer/Spencer/Zaner Blaser models) which can be up to 45 degrees.   The key thing to remember with shorthand is that it's a practical skill, and so determinations about what's OK are always based on "does it work?"  If your shorthand is legible to you in a more vertical style, I don't think that's a problem.  You'll just have to be careful to distinguish letters like t and d from ch and j, etc.    If you look at facsimiles of old reporters' notes, you'll see a huge range of style and penmanship.  Very few professional reporters wrote anything that looked like the textbook models, and often notes are not fully legible to anyone but the writer himself/herself.  Early issues of the Gregg Writer magazine published lots of these sample notes.    Alex

  3. Hi Alex,
    You wrote about "facsimiles of old reporters"…
    Can you name a site where I can find images about that?
    I love to watch written shorthand, for me, it's like to watch a picture.
    Saludos,

    Osvaldo

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