Handwriting Analysis: What Spacing Says About You
- In This Quick Guide:
- Line Spacing
- Word Spacing
- Letter Spacing
Every aspect of our handwriting can tell us something about ourselves. One important aspect is spacing—between lines, letters, and words. Spacing reveals our perspective on life, how clearly we see the relationships between ourselves and others, and how we arrange our environment. In this guide, we will learn why interpreting the meaning of the empty spaces is just as important as understanding the writing movement itself.
Line Spacing
Line spacing is one indicator of self-control. The amount of space left between one line and the next establishes how well the writer recognizes the need for order in her environment and how well she organizes her life. Because writing is a form of communication, clarity should be a high priority. Someone who communicates clearly wants to make sure she is properly understood by leaving a reasonable distance between the lines of writing. Each line should be clear, with no loops hanging down to interfere with the next line. When the lines are too close together, it’s like being in a crowd with someone whispering in your ear.
At the end of each line of writing, you must decide where you will place your pen to begin the next line. If you are relaxed and know you have plenty of time, you may feel free to use up more space. The writer who feels pressured for time is more likely to start writing the new line closer to the previous one.
Clear Line Spacing
Clear line spacing indicates mental clarity and a sense of order. The person who leaves moderate distances between the lines is able to plan ahead and organize her life and time effectively. She knows the importance of contingency planning—that is, leaving enough time and space in which to handle the various emergencies of daily life without leaving herself in a pinch. When a writer feels free to leave ample white space between the lines, it shows that she’s not afraid to use her environment to her advantage and implies self-assurance.
Clear line spacing demonstrates an ability to assimilate the impressions and experiences one accumulates from day to day and to express them appropriately. The writer is objective when dealing with a situation or problem, and considers a variety of potential responses and how they might affect the outcome. She reasons well and uses good old-fashioned horse sense to help her make decisions.
Narrow Line Spacing
When the spacing between the lines of writing is narrow, the writer’s perspective becomes somewhat impaired. It indicates an impulsive person who goes with her gut reactions, rushing ahead too quickly without taking time to reason things out. A subjective viewpoint allows her to see things only in terms of how she feels about them and how they affect her, rather than keep the bigger picture in mind.
Narrow line spacing also tells us something about the writer’s spending habits. Jammed-together writing suggests compulsive caution in spending. That’s a nice way of saying “cheap.” Just how careful she is with her resources depends on how closely the writing is packed. When there is little or no white space to be seen, one of several options will be true:
- The writer has a “poverty consciousness,” which means she expects to be poor, so fears spending.
- The writer is a stingy cheapskate.
- The writer is genuinely conscious of the need to use her resources very carefully.
Narrow line spacing.
Crowded Line Spacing
The writer of extremely narrow, crowded line spacing is driven by impulse and lack of ability for abstract thinking and objectivity. She may be more imaginative than one who chooses wider line spacing. She’s certainly less interested in taking time to reason things out than going with her instincts. She tends to live in the moment. Even in speech, her words are more impulsive and less discreet, and she has plenty to say! The trouble is, she doesn’t think far enough ahead to measure her words. She gets so caught up in her own ideas that when the words come tumbling out, she isn’t always clear and the meaning is obscured.
Tangled Lines
When lines are written so close together that loops and/or parts of letters hang down and collide with writing on the next line (or several lines), the writer suffers from a loss of perspective. She’s too busy acting on her instincts and emotions to take the time to keep things in their proper place. Thoughts and ideas, feelings and actions are all jumbled together.
Life with this type of person can get pretty chaotic. Continually involving herself in situations that have nothing to do with her, she doesn’t always use the best judgment and may allow her prejudices to overrule her common sense. She may mean well, but you can’t always count on her to be where she said she would be, when she was supposed to be there. That’s because she’s rushing around, trying to fit in more activities than humanly possible! Her motto might be, “You only go around once.” Don’t expect the tangled writer to listen if you try to offer constructive advice on how to better organize her life, however. She simply doesn’t hear you. Oh, she may nod and say, “M’hm,” but her eyes will be all over the room instead of on you. As always, the whole picture will help you decide whether to interpret this characteristic positively or negatively.
Tangled lines.
Moderately Wide Line Spacing
The writer who leaves wide spaces between the lines of writing has a logical, orderly mind and a preference for keeping things clear. She is good at analyzing situations and concepts, and always plans ahead. This is not someone who acts spontaneously or on impulse. Her thinking is measured and orderly, and she considers the consequences before acting.
Her tastes tend to be elegant and refined, with a strong sense of aesthetics, a love of beauty. She might be more at home at the Met than the local wrestling arena.
Whether or not they actually have money, some people who leave wide spaces between their lines tend to be extravagant. They may feel less constrained to hold on to their resources, so they spend more freely.
Moderately wide line spacing.
Extremely Wide Line Spacing
Line spacing that is far too wide suggests someone who has lost the capacity to act spontaneously. This person isn’t an active joiner. She stands back and observes rather than participates. Permanently anxious, she feels isolated, separated from her fellow human beings and the world at large.
Don’t expect her to do anything on the spur of the moment, because she quickly puts the kibosh on any spontaneous act. She wants time to consider how any future action might affect her before making a move.
This might be the absent-minded professor who goes around with her head in the clouds, forgetting to take a lunch break because she is too busy working out a formula in her head. She tends to see things more in discrete pieces than as whole concepts or, to put it another way, she sees only individual trees rather than the whole forest. She’s not particularly considerate of other people, because she’s more concerned with maintaining her own space.
Extremely wide line spacing.
Irregular Line Spacing
The writer who writes sometimes with wide line spacing and sometimes narrow, who sometimes lets her loops get tangled and at others keeps them separate, is inconsistent in how she uses her time, money, or other resources. Her reactions depend on the circumstances and how she feels at the moment.
She may start out with the best of intentions (clear line spacing), but soon gets carried away with what she’s talking about or the project she’s involved in (her writing gets more crowded). If the line spacing is wide at the top of the page and narrow at the bottom, the more she gets swept up in her daily activities, the more difficult it is for her to maintain a clear perspective. She wavers between organized, abstract thinking and the need to go with her gut.
She wants to be generous, but that conflicts with a resolve to be conservative and thrifty. In any case, the writer lacks good self-discipline and is unsure of herself. She engages in a continuing struggle between the limitations of time and resources and what she wants to accomplish.
Extremely Regular Line Spacing
Extremely regular line spacing is made by the inflexible, obsessive person who feels compelled to follow a strict routine. She finds it impossible to vary from the daily rituals she has established to help her get through life. If you come across someone who writes this way, refer her to a counseling professional. You’ll know this type of writing by its machinelike look.
Word Spacing
We speak and we pause to breathe at the end of a thought. Some people speak quickly wih less breathing space between their words than others do. Some people speak so fast that their words run into one another. The spaces between words have been compared to taking a breath in speech and reveal one’s need for social distance. How much space do you need in order to feel comfortable around other people?
The amount of space a writer leaves between words is a good indication of how much personal space she demands from others and the degree of self-restraint she uses in social situations. What is a “normal” amount of space between words? A good rule of thumb is to use the width of a letter m in the writing you are analyzing.
Letter Spacing
Spaces between the letters give us clues about the degree of freedom the writer allows herself internally and her receptiveness to others. They show her gut reactions to emotional situations and her ability to act on them appropriately.
The ideal amount of space between the letters (intraletter spacing) should be about the width of the letter n. In “ideal” writing, this amount of space would indicate adaptability, a capacity for give-and-take relationships. The writer is spontaneous and friendly, with the appropriate amount of warmth in relationships. She has the capacity to learn new ideas and is open to changing her mind when she finds a better way of doing things.
For more information on handwriting analysis, check out our Quick Guide Handwriting Analysis: What Margins Say About You. Have fun!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, Second Edition, by Sheila Lowe
