The setup is simple. We have the QWERTY keyboard and a big screen in front of us. There is a mouse and a secondary screen on the right side of the body. If we are lucky there is a third pivoted screen on our left, and the notebook under it. Now what?
Why the obvious option sucks
Since I usually write with the right hand and hold the notebook with the left hand, I can still do that. This is mildly uncomfortable with A4 pages on a clipboard and very uncomfortable with A6 notepad.
A programmer’s desk often does not have space for an A4 clipboard. If there is space, it is usually to the left. On the left there are other hardware devices, like Nvidia Xavier, KVM switch, USB hub. Even further left we have a mobile phone or an ipad with a charger. And next, we have all kinds of cables and maybe another computer.
Placing the notepad to the right of the mouse is also not very good: this is the space of a cup for liquids. Based on the culture and the hour of the day, programmers drink water, tea, coffee, beer, or something strange like an energy drink. And beyond it is a place for incoming or outgoing stuff: the stuff others place on our table and we did not have time to review it, or the stuff we finished reviewing and need to take anywhere.
To use notepad we usually turn the entire body. We take the notepad with the left hand and move it closer, then with the right hand we start writing. The back of the pen is often used with a passive stylo end to press the mobile phone or the keyboard. To use the mouse or type something serious, both hands need to be taken from a notepad, and put back on the keyboard and mouse. And then they go back… Uncomfortable and slow!
The left hand is clumsy
As a child, I learned to write with my right hand. After decades of right-hand writing, I started to use the right hand to click the mouse. Today I definitely click more than I write. All that time I used my left hands only to hold things for my right hand.
The left hand is not necessarily naturally clumsy. I remember that when I was four years old, I was writing with my left hand better than with my right hand. Only my right hand got 40 years of practice, and my left hand got 40 years of servitude.
It takes several months to build up the dexterity and fine motor skills required for quality writing. Around 20 min of writing each day. Eventually, the left hand started to work as well as the right hand.
Writing with one hand only
The next issue was the stability of the pad. Usually, I used my right hand to write and my left hand to hold the pad. Now, if I want to use just one hand this is not an option. I had to stabilize the pad.
What I use is Rhodia paper A6 dot pad. It is ideally suited for fountain pens but can be used with any pen. The main issue is dual spiral binding. It simply does not hold the top page effectively. What I used was not very elegant, but it worked. I put a small ballpoint pen into the spiral to make it fit better. Then I used a small paper clip in the bottom right corner to hold the first page with the next ten. The special thing in the bottom right corner is simple: it almost never interferes with the writing left hand.
With this simple setup, the notepad became stable, and I could continue. I decided to use a fountain pen because it is more beautiful and can work with very little pressure. I tried several ergonomic pens that I can open with one hand with a stiff steel nib, like Lamy Safari.
Quad grip
A6 notepad size with dot grid is very small, and it is especially suited for small letters and fine nibs. This can be combined with a 2.6mm pilot parallel for the highlighter.
While with my right hand I usually use large letters and dynamic tripod grip, with my left hand I started to learn writing letter half that size with quad grip. I needed to get under the letters with my hand to avoid smudging and my regular grip does not allow this. Usually, my hand pretty much rests to the right of the page with a pinky in the air. Now I learned to put the other pinky on the page to hold the page more effectively.
Miniature calligraphy
It is very hard to write faithfully small letters. It is even harder to do that when looking at the page with peripheral vision. Why peripheral vision? Because the main focus is still on the main screen. I kind of note ideas or markers, I do not write huge stories with my ‘off’ hand.
The thing is, the left hand can be very useful for ambldexterous writing: adding small annotations, highlights and such. While in my new way I wanted to write very small texts with a fine nib, I also wanted to be able to highlight and write blackletter headlines with a wide italic nib using the same left hand.
Miniature calligraphy is often more challenging and requires very fine motor skills. The hardest part for me was getting the slant correctly and uniformly for all letters. I am still struggling.
Choosing the font
Printed fonts are easier to read in miniature text, even when the hand is not very stable. Cursive fonts are easier to write fast: the hand glides on the paper. Cursive fonts require more skill from both the reader and the writer.
Like most modern people I use an erratic combination of printed and cursive letters. For example, I find the printed letter “r” much more readable than its cursive alternative. I also prefer the letter “f” without descending part.
Since I use a very specific left-handed grip I want a small hardly noticeable slant. A larger slant is uncomfortable for that grip specifically. Here is a list of scripts I considered. I really enjoy “cookie” font, but it has some features that I cannot convey in small text. Eventually, I settled with something similar to the “serendipity” font.
It might not be as impressive as some fonts I can draw with my right hand, but it is highly readable when done correctly.
Training
Next comes training. One of the hardest things to write is “Lev Goldentouch”. Try it. Really challenging. Then there is the “A quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs” testing every letter.
One of the big issues is points above “i” and crosses in “t”. If the word is short, I add the details after the word is done. For longer words, I add the details per letter, even though it breaks the cursive. Some letters like “X” will break the cursive anyhow.
Then there are also geometric figures, like stars and quadrats which are fun to draw and use in flowcharts. And I also draw some small doodles: cats, hearts, butterflies- the things my girl loves.
One A6 page each time, 100% filled, using several different pens with different colors and grips.
No pain is the gain
The sign of bad ergonomy is the pain in the hand. I can write for hours on A4 pages using my right hand, due to better ergonomy. It is much harder for me to write with my left hand on A6 pages without small pain. Each time I feel pain, it is a sign to change something in the way I hold the pen. I am slowly improving, but not there yet.
I will understand that I gained the basic skill when I will be able to perform the entire writing sequence for about an hour, producing clean beautiful readable text with zero pain
To be honest, A6 is such a bad format of a page, that I cannot use it long even with my right hand.
I do not really believe in the “no pain no gain” idea. The issue here is getting perfect control, not developing strong bones and muscles. It is a different sort of training.
Blackletter
For headlines, I am learning a blackletter script. It is actually somewhat easier than small letters, as speed and size are not the issue. I needed to use a clean geometric modern font, not unlike “Ravenholm” and very smooth paper.
To train the blackletter, I obviously need something larger than A6: the lines are wider. So this particular training is exclusively on A4, with implementation on A6.
To be honest, all fonts are easier to train on A4, with scaling to A6 trained as an additional limitation.
Pencil vs fountain pen
Writing with a pencil on A4 paper is no doubt easier than using a fountain pen on an A6 page. So this adds another level of training. Master a wide Kaweco lead holder on A4 first, then master Lamy Safari on A6, and then try many different pens and master all of them.
So why not simply write with a pencil? Or with a gel pen on a copy paper?
Well, the fountain pen on heavy A6 paper is more beautiful and lasting. The graphite may smudge, but once the ink dries it will stay. I am more likely to enjoy the process and less willing to throw the result away. Also, if you can write with a fountain pen and calligraphic script, you can pretty much write with anything else. Not vice versa.
I am still training. Far from my goals. Wish me luck.