In the meantime, one or two facts may be helpful here. Firstly, connection is a feature of writing that is difficult to change at will, except by reverting to script writing or the use of Roman capital letters. Consequently, it is likely to be an indication of basic character and temperament, rather than an of temporary mood or disposition.
Secondly, most people (in the UK) are taught to connect their letters. Disconnection in a normally cursive ("cursive" simply means "joined" or "running") handwriting is therefore likely to indicate some degree of readiness to stand alone, or a certain lack of co-operation. Usually, therefore, connection may be taken as a good feature, though of course it can be exaggerated; and a very disconnected handwriting, unless the writer has learned to write that way, may lead one to look for other idiosyncracies; more than that cannot be said with certainty.
Also, most people have certain individual ways of producing some of the shorter words, or of cutting down delays in making 'i' dots and 't' crossings. These should be noted at the same time, and also any clever or original connections, especially those that make for simplicity or increased speed.
In wording the assessment, therefore, first say whether the writing as a whole is very connected, quite well connected, average, rather disconnected, very disconnected, or very inconsistent. Then mention any particularly unusual connections, and say if they make for speed, simplicity, complication, and so on, especially legibility, i.e. how easy is it to read it? Also, do you like the look of them?
Interpretation of Connection
Connected writing:
The guiding image is a chain and the basic meaning is smooth,
logical, catenated
thinking.
In exaggerated form, however, it may be a sign of laziness and of lazy
routine.
When extreme, connection implies the use of mental "blinkers", and the ignoring of distractions, however important they may be.
| Derived meanings: | |
|---|---|
| Concentration | Laziness |
| Logical deduction | Slave to routine |
| Reasoning powers | Fanaticsm |
| Good memory | False conclusions |
Disconnected writing
The guiding image is separation of the whole into integral parts and the basic meaning is a jumpy rather than a smooth way of thinking, i.e. intuitive thinking. Hence:
| Intuition | Jumping to conclusions |
| Many ideas | Bad memory |
| Imagination | Mental inflexibility |
| Sense of detail | Distraction |
| Realism | Changeability |
| Loss of memory | |
| Missing the wood for the trees |
There are one or two forms of disconnection that appear to have a specific
meaning that can be
accepted in most cases:-
The general meaning of this feature is similar to that of connection but it seems to have a particular bearing on the faculty of memory, which is difficult to assess with certainty in spite of its importance.
Although the degree of connection is one indication of a good or bad memory, continuity appears to be a more reliable and more valuable indication, as it can be assessed to some extent in a completely disconnected handwriting.
The presence or absence of what is known as invisible connection is found in writing where the movement of the pen is continuous towards the right, even though the letters themselves may appear to be disconnected, and the ink trail will sometimes appear to have breaks in it. Checking the ending position of one letter or word and the starting position of the next is a clue, revealing "invisible" connections between the characters, whereas genuinely 'disconnected' script will not have this continuous "pull" of the pen towards the right.
This is another of those areas of handwriting analysis where supervision is necessary; without being able to recognize "invisible connections", and to assess accurately, mistakes can easily be made.
When writing is "continued", i.e. the pen movement is continuous towards the right, even though the ink trail may appear to have breaks in it, and letters may sometimes be disconnected, this indicates an awareness of the coherence of life and that the writer puts an emphasis upon going ahead. It can also mean:
| Consistency | Serenity |
| Good memory | Continuity of experience |
Note that "mended writing", with hesitating or broken strokes, cannot be regarded as "continued", even though it may be clearly connected. Similarly, it is possible for an otherwise disconnected writing to be both direct and continued.
Discontinued writing shows a lack, or temporary loss of guiding image and the basic significance is a lack of continuity in thought and sometimes in action. Hence:-
| Temporary lapses of memory | Maladjustment |
| Inability to reason logically | Backwardness |
| Lack of intelligence | Disintegration of personality |
The writing of young children is frequently discontinued, until they have progressed through the successive stages of letter-consciousness, word-consciousness, to the final mature consciousness of phrases and sentences.
If you have enjoyed this brief introduction, and would like to take a serious course of instruction, details of tuition are available. The Institute offers a series of examinations leading to Diploma for those students who successfully complete all stages.
