I'm no handwriting expert so I'll pen down ( :P) what worked for me.The reason for your annoyance with your unsatisfactory handwriting may be one or a combination of the reasons mentioned below:1. Your handwriting depends on your mood.2. You need the right wrist height from the book and thus also the right arm- shoulder angle.3. Your handwriting is legible, but it's too slow.4. Your handwriting is illegible and very fast.For me, it was all four of them. (I know 3 & 4 are contradictory but there were times when it was 3 and there were times when it was 4) Sometimes, I'd write so bad, that to an unsuspecting observer, my notes looked like the readings of an echo-cardiogram. (This is true. I kid you not.)I remember there was this girl from my school who used to write on the board often, and her handwriting was simply superb. And she was one of those kids who finished writing their exams with enough time to spare on the clock. I used to wonder, why/how her handwriting was so neat and fast. I tried to mimic her handwriting (my effort was decent, but not good or fast enough). I kept that up for as long as I can remember until a few months ago when I had an idea.I realized, my problem was that I don't move my arms enough while writing- that all my words on paper came from moving only my wrist. But I had no idea how to counter that. I tried moving my arms while writing, keeping my wrist rigid. Also I started holding the pen a few millimeters away from the tip. The change/improvement in my handwriting was drastic. As I moved my grip a little behind than usual, very little movement was required to make the necessary strokes look natural and full. But since my wrist was rigid the whole time, the burden fell onto my arms and shoulders to move the pen- and it was exhaustive. My handwriting was more "beautiful" than before but it cost me too much energy and my progress was slow. It took me 15-20 minutes to fill an A4 sized sheet with my handwriting. I knew if I continued this way, I wouldn't be able to complete my exams in time. Then I decided to take a page from her book. (This girl from school I mentioned earlier)I bought a whiteboard (2 feet by 3 feet) and practised writing on it. The first few days were difficult- I now had to put in extra effort in holding my arms up, writing vertically. I focused on moving my shoulders to provide movement to my wrist to make the necessary strokes, holding the marker just like I the pen- a little behind than usual. There wasn't much improvement on the board but when I came back to writing on paper, I couldn't recognize my own handwriting! It had improved to at least 5 times it's legibility, prettiness and the speed was good too. (10-12 minutes per A4 sheet)What I suspect happened is that writing on the board helped improve the strength in my shoulders and my wrist. (Now I don't need to hold my wrist as rigidly as I used to and I can write 4 hours at a stretch without experiencing too much pain) Also, I'm not fussy anymore about inappropriate difference in heights of the chair and the desk or the incline angle of the desk. You can say that I'm capable of writing in any angle.Though my handwriting ma not have reached its peak in terms of beauty yet, but it definitely me improve my speed and legibility and that's all I was asking for in the first place.So, my suggestion is:1. Practise writing on a board. (blackboards and chalk-pieces will also do but I like whiteboards better- they're less messy)2. Move your grip on the pen behind by a few millimeters, that way you don't have to move your arm around too much to make bigger strokes.3. Keep practising even if you feel you've achieved sufficient legibility/speed.Cheers.Nice discussion guys.The most important thing is , each letter should be readable and clear whether you right cursive or you write non cursive. The best way to test is write on a blank page in your normal hand writing and then ask a kid of around 5 or 6 years to read it. If he has no trouble reading your handwriting, you r bingo, right on target , you don't need improvement but if he shows difficulty in reading or is not able to understand your writing at all. Dude you need improvement.Reason. the person who's gone check your answers ain't got all day to check your copy. he won't waste his time deciphering every letter of yours. So make your writing such that, even if you make tilted, slanted, flat, slipper, tiny, etc. he(Teacher) should be able to understand and decipher each of your letters.How to improve.Simple, look how you hold your pen. basic and most essential. if you hold your pen too tightly loosen a bit, if you hold it too lightly make it a bit tighter, while writing grip is the most important thing Both of make similar, cohesive letter and writing with speed.Many people hold there pen wrongly, some of them give too much pressure with thumbs, other with there index fingers(they bend and pressurize it), few other put too much pressure on the base finger(middle or third finger). It should be avoided. any of these would cause an inconsistency in handwriting. you would have one letter small another big then other tilted and other going turning directions extra. Best way is to have a grip in which, thumb, index finger and base finger has equal pressure on pen and pressure enough to hold the pen tightly without causing dent in your skin.Those who hold pen with equal pressure from all sides tent to have consistent handwriting.Don't move your fingers while writing , Instead move the wrist, moving fingers causes loosing the grip and thus loosing consistency. While those who move their wrist for curving, slanting and toppling produce better patterns of alphabets while writing,see how your hand is while writing, don't bend too much page not too much away. the page slightly at angle while writing.Make sure your wrist has not muscular pressure, write as if you are writing with a feather. or using a brush to draw, it will help you a lot while writing for a larger time even if you write for 3 to 4 hrs you won't have a bit of pain.don't put the weight of your arm on palm bones , lot of people do that. it causes fatigue and pain in hand and wrist avoid it.--------------------------About cursive and non cursive.It depends on the person and how they write, some people write cursive better as they have been doing it for a lot of time, and some people can't control their cursive writing, they go haywire. totally uncontrolled, dissimilar, and mixed groped letters.for those who have a bad cursive Try writing every letter different , non cursive is better. You would definately find it better. As your writing will become more legible , make sure you make every letter as if its a different letter, as if you r writing letters not words. that will boost legibility of your handwriting.even if you letters making doesn't improve your words will be recognizable and the teacher their would be able to read it. Remember guys, we need to have legible handwriting its not a calligraphy competition, make sure your writing becomes readable. either switch to non cursive, separate letters.Problem with cursive switch to non cursive. better readable then not.For those who intend to remain with cursive. Make sure that the line joining each letter is invisible in your cursive. that is either touch the bottom line or so thin that its barely visible. that way it would be better looking and legible.THE person having bad non Cursive practice writing cursive letter make it as a habit to make cursive letter. But he should continue with non cursive, making cursive letters without joining them would make handwriting quit attractive.IT depends person to person each prefers its own. and there is not much difference IN speeds. though cursive produces faster, steadier writings, but it also makes it unclear for the checker to read it, specially if he is not used to joined letters. Non cursive is slightly slow, but tend to have clear , properly decipherable letters..you know the test. make a child read it. as children usually are not acquainted with reading fancy, cursive and unfamiliar writings. East beasy test.ABOUT speeds. i have seen even non cursive users writing at 30 to 35 words a minute, and cursive users not even achieving 27 odd words.so don't thing like cursive is fast and non cursive is slow. it depends on the person writing.but yes. cursive give slight advantage. as there is no lifting the pen again and again as in non cursive and you can go in rhythme, thats is the reason most people prefer cursive faster more steadier joined letter can be written faster than, unjoined, different/separately written letters. But believe me it won't make more difference then 2 to 4 words of writing speed per min.If you have bad cursive use non cursive better slow and clear then fast and illegible.----------------------The best way to practice.3 ways.1. get four line copy, practice make separate cursive letters in it. make sure all your letters are similar, be slow first, it takes time,2. print sheets of small stories used by children with a dotted font. search on net, u'll get it. practice writing with them, u'll see lot of improvement. as you will write on printed fonts your hand writing will surely improve.3. use copies used by children for doing maths. the ones while have squared blocks for writing numbers. the ones which have checked, tabular pages.for writing each number differently. Use them write each letter in a different block, try experimenting with cursive, stylish letters.MOST important practice dude, "practice makes a man perfect".----------------------------------PEN, yes pen too. use rollers, smoother better or use INK pen(fountains would do). reason is they require less pressure while writing, give more flow while writing and better contrast on the page. and they are easier to handle.Most of teachers suggest using ink pens, i would do the same.Don't use ball pens, they require lot of pressure while writing, not advisable.LOOK for pens with grips, rubber, or something. Never take a pen that is too thick or too thin , both is a problem. find a pen that feels comfortable while holding and writing. with which writing feels like painting. same goes for the tip of the PEN. it should be around .5 to .7mm , and 1 mm for roller pens.IF you can. use PENCIL, why? dude try using it u'll know. its far better then pens, usually have hexagonal grips or works smooth on paper.----------------------------------Last thing is get used to writing for 3 to 4 hrs continuously , with speed above 27 words , 30 if you can. otherwise you'll be ending up with questions left in upsc mains.LET ME KNOW if i missed something. around 1 to 1.75 cm between this.but it depends how you hold your pen and how your palm position is. if you keep your palm parallel to the desk while writing, hold closer around 1 cm away. and if you palm is tilted on its side, 1.6 to 1.8 cm is suggested. also see which side is nearer to the back side of pen while writing (i mean when you hold your pen which side you bend the pen ) if its goes toward back of thumb more, then hold the pen a little back, it will give you more flexibility and agility while writing. and if your pen moves more toward the index or the motion/direction finger try holding slightly closer, around .8 cm (but not less than that) . that will give you more steadiness.AVOID holding pens from shiny, slippery , conical parts, as they tend to slip in between fingers causing wobbling, inconsistency and uneasiness while writing , handwriting gets bad. HOLD the pen with the grip(rubber or shaped ones). There are few pens available in market that have rubber grips, plastic shapes to hold the pen. some pens even have whole rubber body for better grip. look for them.In my experience i have seen that people who hold pen closer to nip/writing head/point they have tiny , scrawling handwriting, some of the letter even become unrecognizable, some letters look similar. It happens, see As a person holds pen closer to tip, they have less space to maneuver the pen, the strokes get limited space and thus constricted handwriting. so avoid it.On the other hand people who hold pen a bit back have enough space for stroke making and maneuvering the pen. they tend to write bigger, larger letters which are visible easily and recognizable even if looking similar some times.Take it like this, if you hold pen closer to tip, you can make a smaller circle without moving your wrist. while you get much larger circle if you hold your pen at a distance. Holding pen closer requires larger movement on the part of wrist and hand and thus waste of both time and consistency as letters go out of rhythme.