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graphology explanation

Graphology is the study of handwriting, which for hundreds of years has been recognized as being unique to each individual.
Through the centuries, starting with Suetonius, the Roman historian, scholars like Shakespeare and Walter Scott believed that personality is reflected in the style of writing. The scientific establishment began to compile evidence and theories proving this as early as the 17th century.

Early work in Italy and France was taken forward in Germany, and the basis of today’s methods were set down during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This makes graphology a relatively new science, which perhaps explains why many remain skeptical.
The term ’graphology’ was first used by the Frenchman Michon in 1875, from the Greek ‘grapho’ meaning I write, and ‘logos’ meaning theory. Graphology is now widely used in fields ranging from education, recruitment and human resources, to criminal psychology and illness diagnosis.

Further reading on the subject is available in many books including:
What your handwriting reveals M Gullan Whur Aquarian Press
Manual of Graphology E Singer Treasure Press Character indicated by handwriting R Baughan Upcott Gill The psychology of handwriting R Saudek Allen & Unwin P’s and Q’s J Meyer Geoffrey Bles Self-knowledge through handwriting H Jacoby Dent & Sons At its most complex, graphology is a large and dynamic subject. At its basic level however, it is relatively easy to understand and to begin to apply.

 Used as a simple guide, graphology can provide useful indicators to the writer’s personality, whether you are analyzing yourself or those around you. N.B. Experimenting with analysis is interesting, enjoyable and a good way to learn, but do not to attempt formal analysis of others, particularly staff reporting to you, until and unless you become expert in the use of graphology and preferably receive some certification or accreditation to that effect.

Free basic Graphology Course

Free Basic Handwriting Analysis Course  
  

Take this course and you will learn basic handwriting analysis principles and three writing traits: Size, Slant, and Baseline. 

Before you start the course, you should create a writing sample of your own handwriting. Get a piece of unlined paper and, using a black ink pen, write a few sentences, then sign and date it. 

INTRODUCTION
Handwriting is a form of expressive movement - it is our movement frozen on paper. 
There are lots of ways that we observe how people express themselves. When we talk with someone on the telephone we not only listen to what the person is saying, we listen to how they are saying it: their tone, speed, inflection, emphasis, hesitations, loudness, and many other things. Some studies have shown that over 80% of verbal communication is how something is said, and so we have learned to listen to these signals. When we are talking with someone in person, again we not only listen to what they are saying, but how they are saying it. Additionally, we look at their body language. We notice how close they stand, if their arms are crossed, if their eyes are wandering, and so on.

When we look at handwriting, there is the message conveyed by what was written, but there is also a message in how the writing was done: what is the size, slant, pressure, speed, etc. Once you know the basics of handwriting analysis, the writing will reveal to you aspects of the personality of the writer. A personality quiz asks you questions about yourself to determine who you are, but for the handwriting analyst, there are not questions that need to be asked - you just look at the writing!
Basic Concepts for Analyzing Handwriting
• In school, we are all taught to write the same way. How we choose to vary our writing is a result of our individual and unique personalities. If you are having doubts about this, just look at the signatures at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence here.
• Different writing characteristics are called handwriting indicators or writing traits. Examples include writing size, slant, and pressure. No single indicator totally defines a person. The interpretations of all indicators must be considered together. However, a strong personality trait will show up again and again in a person's handwriting. 
• The more indicators you look at, the clearer your understanding of the writer will be. In this very basic course we look at three major indicators, and there are 11 in the Handwriting Insights Kit. A professional graphologist looks at hundreds of indicators.
• An ideal writing sample is written spontaneously in ink on unlined paper written with a pen, and signed and dated by the writer. But a sentence or two with a signature, or a signature alone, is enough for the purposes of this basic analysis. 
• A lot of handwriting analysis is common sense and basic correlation. People who dot their "i's" and cross their "t's" precisely tend to be more meticulous than those who don't. Stylish people often have stylish writing, and so on. A lot of what you'll learn in handwriting analysis won't surprise you at all. 
• Whereas handwriting represents how a person feels privately (their true personality), the person'ssignature represents the public image that the writer wants to project. Therefore, a big difference between a person's writing and their signature indicates a big the difference between their private and public self. When the writing and the signature are identical, then "what you see is what you get" and the person presents themself identical to how they feel inside. 
• This course applies to the handwriting of people 12 years and older. 


 Size
The size of the writing indicates the writer's desire to be noticed. 
The information below is directly taken from Handwriting Insights - here are what the different writing sizes indicate. To print these two sheets click Size-Front, and Size-Back. 




By just knowing SIZE and knowing that a signature represents our "public image" and how we write represents how we feel privately, we can learn something about the writers of the examples below. 

a) Small writing with a Large signature 
This person is spending significant energy to overcome their private quiet nature and to be noticed. The gap in the size, from small writing to large signature, indicates a big difference between how this person feels inside (a more private personality) and how they present them self (a personality who gets attention).
b) Small writing with a small signature 
Often found in the writing of person with good concentration and possibly introverted. When I work with a person like this I make sure that I have all my facts in order to the last detail, because they pay attention to details.

c) Medium writing with Large Signature 
It is rather common for people to sign their name a little larger than they normally write, and this indicates putting a little effort out there to be noticed. 
A friend of mine was complaining that his girlfriend didn't like going out with groups of people as much as he did. He said that "she wasn't trying hard enough." We looked at his writing (very large, with a large middle zone which you will learn about later but indicates people interaction is a strength) and her writing (very small) and concluded that given her private more introverted nature it is a lot harder for her than for him to interact with groups of people.
Go look at some writing samples and see for yourself what you find out!!!

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Slant
The Slant of writing indicates the writer’s emotional interactions. The information below is directly taken from Handwriting Insights - here are what the different writing sizes indicate. To print these two sheets click Slant-Front, and Slant-Back. 

Here are what the different slants of writing mean.

  Now, so far considering Slant and knowing that a signature represents our "public image" and how we write represents how we feel privately, lets apply this to a few cases.
a) Left slant writing with a right slant signature 
This person is privately a more reserved person, but they are giving the appearance of being more socially outgoing. You can be sure that inside they are carefully not nearly as spontaneous and outgoing as they appear.

b) Strong right slant on writing with a vertical slant on the signature -
This person has an intense personality, but they give the appearance of being more analytical and reserved. They have learned to control their intense nature in the public eye. As you get to know the person better, you would get to see this other side of them.

c) Small vertical writing with large, right slant signature 
Here the writer has an analytical mind with attention to detail, and is presenting an image of a commanding presence and interpersonal skills. Although this person appears to be outgoing and socially very comfortable, inside they are feeling more reserved and private.

See how easy it is to combine the traits to understand people better. Remember, we are only looking at a few traits, and there may be other aspects of the writing that contradicts it. Each trait is a piece of the puzzle. 
Now let's think about what it means if your slant and the slant of a friend of yours differs. 
a) Your slant is strong right, and your friend is strong left
Be careful, as you plow ahead on things, that you take a little extra time to check in with your friend and see that they really agree. Understand that even though they may not react on the surface to something with the intensity that you do, it does not mean they do not feel it deeply inside.

b) Your slant is right, and your friend is vertical
If you are making a decision keep in mind that right slanted writers tend to me more impulsive, and that the vertical writer may need a little extra information to satisfy their analytical nature.

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Baseline
An important factor in judging the writer's emotional stability and disposition is the baseline of the writing. The baseline is the actual line upon which letters are written. On unlined paper, the baseline is assumed by the writer. However, even on lined paper the writer does not always adhere to the line provided. The baseline changes based on the immediate mood of the writer and can vary from day to day or moment to moment. Because of this, any interpretation derived from baseline should be prefaced by the phrase "at this time". In the Handwriting Insights slide deck there are 10 different variations covered. These are the four most common baselines.The information below is directly taken from Handwriting Insights - here are what the different writing sizes indicate. To print these two sheets click Baseline-Front, and Baseline-Back.


Here are what the different baselines indicate.


Remember, when the writing matches the signature (in slant, size, baseline, etc.) then "what you see is what you get." Now, considering that the writing represents how we feel privately, and our signature is our public image, let's look at some examples where the baseline of the writing does not match the baseline of the signature.
a) Descending baseline on writing, ascending baseline on signature
This is something that I bet you will see surprisingly often. It indicates that the writer is acting upbeat while inside they are feeling overwhelmed, tired, or pessimistic. Most of us want to put on a good face for the world to see. It is nice that the writer gives us this clue that they may need more support and encouragement.

b) Normally Straight baseline on writing, ascending baseline on signature
Again, you will see this fairly often. It indicates that the writer is fine, however they choose to act even more upbeat than they feel inside.

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With the Handwriting Insights Deck you can look at eight more handwriting indicators. 

Experience the thrill of analyzing handwriting! Entertain family and friends by showing them what their handwriting reveals. 
Handwriting Insights is a high quality deck of 64 connected, illustrated cards that teaches you handwriting analysis as you use it. Analyze handwriting in 5 minutes. Results are worded constructively so people feel good about what you have to say.

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5 Simple Steps on Creating Suspense in Fiction

 

To keep the readers’ attention through the long midsection of your book, you’ll need to continually develop the conflict and advance the plot in logical steps without making the story predictable. What keeps readers turning pages is suspense, which you can create using a variety of techniques, including tension, pacing and foreshadowing.
The suspense we’re discussing here doesn’t necessarily involve the characters being in peril; it’s created whenever there’s something the reader wants to know. Will Joe kiss Brenda? Will Sally give in to Brad’s demand that she work for him? Will Jared answer Katherine’s question or dodge it?
Whenever you cause readers to be curious about what comes next, you’re creating suspense in writing. Suspense arises naturally from good writing—it’s not a spice to be added separately.
In fiction, you create suspense by withholding information, and the best type of information to withhold is often the backstory. You, as the author, can create suspense in three main ways:
By withholding information from readers. As the author, you know the entire hidden story behind the plot and characters: the backstory and the plot twists that are yet to come. You might be tempted to spill out the backstory and hidden story right away, but most stories are improved when at least some of that information is held back—sometimes up to the very end.
By withholding information from the main characters. This is the Hitchcock effect—so called because Alfred Hitchcock was a master of it in his films. By reading between the lines and applying common sense and experience, the readers (like Hitchcock’s movie audience) can draw conclusions about what’s likely to be coming up. But, like the movie audience, the readers are powerless to prevent a character from stepping into a yawning trap that only readers can foresee.
By having the characters withhold information from the readers—and from one another. Just because a character knows something doesn’t mean he has to share it (even if he’s a POV character). And even hidden motives will affect how a character acts, cluing in alert readers to what’s really going on.
When you’re writing scenes in which suspense is crucial, you also need to know what to avoid. Keep in mind that putting too much backstory early in the book, or using too much introspection to divulge information about your characters, is a great way to bore the readers and destroy any suspense you may have established.
There are, however, five simple steps you can take to increase the level of suspense in your scenes.

Keep the action intense.

If significant amounts of time go by without suspenseful action—which is often most powerfully motivated by backstory—the story loses momentum and readers lose interest.

Make the danger feel real.

If the hero and heroine stop in the middle of a chase to share a passionate interlude while trusting dumb luck to keep them from being discovered, it’s going to be hard to convince readers that they have reason to be fearful. If readers are to believe the danger, then the characters must act as if they’re threatened. Even if the danger isn’t physical, keep pressure on the characters. Don’t stop for backstory; weave it in.

Keep the emotion high.

Even if the story doesn’t involve physical danger for the characters, their lifelong happiness is at stake. Keeping emotions at the core of the story reminds readers how important the situation is.

Repeat an action, phrase or event.

The first use of the action or line of dialogue may be almost casual, doing little more than getting the readers’ attention. The second use makes it clear that this bit of information is important (though readers may not quite see why) and foreshadows the important action to come. The third use is the most emphatic: The stakes have grown enormous since the backstory first laid the groundwork, and the readers, having been properly prepared, are on the edge of their seats waiting to see what will happen.

Hide what characters are thinking.

If the heroine assesses the hero’s clenched jaw and assumes he’s mad at her, and then you show him thinking about his aching molar, the heroine doesn’t know she’s wrong, but readers do—and all the suspense is gone from the scene. In this example from Claire Cross’ novel Double Trouble, we see the heroine drawing conclusions about the hero based on his backstory, but we have no idea whether or not she’s correct:

I never could figure out why he married my sister. Unless a wife and kids were necessary accessories for the lawyer-destined-for-Great-Things—and she was as good a choice as any. They never seemed to have much in common, but maybe it was something basic between them. Like lust. Marcia used to be quite a looker, and I say that with the undue modesty of an identical twin.
Tonight, James looked surprisingly haggard and annoyed for a man made of granite, and as I mentioned, that expression didn’t improve when he saw me.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Oooh, a vulgarity. Of course, the strumpet sister had invaded the last bastion of propriety in the Free World. That, at least, conformed to our usual script. His job was to make sure I didn’t feel welcome enough to hang around too long and taint the precious boys. I knew my lines by heart.
Too bad I hadn’t worn something really skimpy, just to tick him off. I slouched harder, knowing that perfect posture was a household holy grail. “You should be more gracious to the one doing your dirty work.”
The man glowered at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Your kids called me from the pool when no one picked them up.”
James flicked a glance up the stairs, some parental part of him clearly reassured by the ruckus coming from the bathroom. “Where’s Marcia?”
“Where were you? Takes two for the fun part. Why should one be left with all the work after that?”

What’s going on with James? We don’t know why he’s haggard and annoyed. We know what conclusions the heroine has drawn—but is she correct? Why does the heroine have a reputation as the strumpet sister? Why are these two in so much conflict that they have a “usual script” for their interactions?
We will have to turn the page and go on if we want to find out.

The Key to Thrilling Readers

 

In a scene from one of author Ted Dekker’s novels, a man gets a chicken out of the freezer—and then beats someone to death with it. It’s a wild image, and a strange, captivating scene.
But when it comes down to it, how do scenes like this actually thrill, and how do they keep readers hooked? Is it because it’s action? Is it because of the violence?
No. And this is something that kept coming up in various panels and sessions at ThrillerFest: When it boils down to it, it’s all about the character, and the emotion.
In the case of the chicken incident: Who is this guy? Why did he do it?
If characters aren’t brought to life through solid development and the other key ingredients that span all forms of writing, the action will mean nothing—even in thrillers, a genre that often features a surplus of action.
“Action bores me, so I search for the deeper meaning behind the action,” Dekker said in Jon Land’s panel “How Do You Amp Up the Action Without Losing All Credibility?” “I want to be moved.”
It’s key to consider the why. Why is someone running for their life? Why does this spy care so much about saving this one person? Dekker said the reader has to identify with a challenge they find in themselves.
Author Lisa Jackson said imbuing each character with a motivation for their actions is the most difficult part of her writing. After all, she said, anyone can write about someone doing something wild. It’s the emotional resonance that brings everything to life.

Create Powerful Imagery in Your Writing

 

We’ve heard the old montage “Show, don’t tell” so many times that it’s become stale–and what does it mean, anyway? It’s an easy phrase to utter, but how do you achieve resonant, meaningful description that will make your words come alive? This simple checklist, from The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr., is a concise list of best practices for creating rich imagery that will have your readers clamoring for more.

• Paint the image in small bites. Never stop your story to describe. Keep it going, incorporating vivid images, enlarging the action, and putting the dialogue in context.

A sponge carpet of pine needles covered the trail. It cushioned their soles and absorbed the sounds of their footsteps.
Rhonda stopped short and whispered, “Something’s coming. There. To the right. A bear?”

• Incorporate images into action. Suppose I had written:

A million years of discarded pine needles lay on the forest floor, carpeting the trail.
That’s description. Static. The author’s talking. Can you hear him reading from an encyclopedia? The difference in the first version is tying their walking to soundless footsteps. This clears the way for Rhonda to hear and see.
She pointed at a looming hulk, for all the good that pointing would do in the ink of night.
Bill grasped her arm. “No. It couldn’t be.”
But the crashing of brush told them it could.
“Yes. Get up a tree.”

• See through the character’s eyes. Hear through her ears. When you can, use the character’s senses instead of the author’s. It’s called character point of view.

She felt her pulse both in her throat and under the grip of that hand of his crushing her forearm. His breath. She heard it in short, chattering bursts. She smelled it, too. Fear stunk.

• Use the tiny but telling detail.

She tore free of his grip and leaped off the trail. A spider’s web tugged at her face. Any other time she would have screamed. She ran into a tree, a rough pine bough slapped her breasts, and needles stabbed at her eyes. Any other time she would have cursed.
The spider’s web. Ever ran into one?

• Choose action-bearing verbs. Cushioned, absorbed, stopped, whispered, pointed, grasped, tore, leaped, tugged, screamed, ran, slapped, stabbed, cursed. These words do so much more than say what is. They indicate first fear, then panic.
• Choose action-bearing non-verbs. Looming is a verb form used as an adjective. Crashing is used as a noun.
• Invent fresh viewpoints.

She climbed blindly. And so quickly. Like a ladder. That was scary. If she could scale this pine so easily, couldn’t the bear climb it, too?
She drove her head into a branch. But the sound of crying wasn’t hers.
“Help. It’s got me.”
Bill. Oh, God, Bill.
The bear had him. Still she climbed, seeing nothing but sparklers of pain in her head.
He shrieked at her from the dark below.
She did not—could not—respond.
This is the viewpoint of a woman in panic and pain. When she looks into the darkness, she sees only sparklers. Clearly, she’s so frightened, she’s only trying to save herself.

• Create an image without saying so.

The pine limbs now bent like those of a Christmas tree. A fresh breeze chilled her skin.
“Bill,” she whispered. “Speak to me, for God’s sake, speak to me, Bill.”
But he did not. All she could hear was snorting and thrashing. She put a hand to her mouth. She thought she might scream but nothing came out of her mouth. Fear of attracting the bear kept her quiet. The pitch on her hand glued her lips shut.
And, yes, the shame. That silenced her, too.
The thin limbs bending and the fresh breeze tells us Rhonda has climbed high into the tree. The chill tells us she’s been sweating. And the pitch, though she and we didn’t notice it in the climbing, is there on her hands and face.