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Write Now The Getty-Dubay Program for Handwriting Success

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3rd Revised Edition. Instructional manual. Even in this electronic era, handwriting remains an important form of communication -- and it's personal. Write Now provides a step-by-step program for developing handsome and legible italic handwriting. Writing practice in basic italic (printing) and cursive italic features lessons in the history of writing and numerals. Also included are options, pangrams, timed writing, and guidelines for shape, slope, size, spacing and speed. A reference section features detailed historical development of capital and lowercase letters. Also provided is an introduction to edged pen writing. This book is handwritten. Illustrated. 96 pages

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 1991

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About the author

Barbara Getty

18 books

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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Karen Witzler.
545 reviews209 followers
December 18, 2016
Based upon Wilfrid Jasper Blunt's version of the Chancery hand, this is having a popular revival among American homeschoolers as Getty-Dubay Italic or Italic Cursive handwriting.
Profile Image for Fernando Fernandes.
129 reviews8 followers
August 20, 2020
Nice one! The book is super easy to follow with some nice calligraphy history snippets here and there. But I'm not doing that Cursive Italic variation tho. 😅 That's just too much... #aintNobodyGotTimeForThat I'm definitely sticking to Basic Italic.

Anyway, there's this website that sells a Getty-Dubay font, which we can use to create or own practice sheets. Like these ones I made and you can download for free: PDF or JPG

Now practice, practice and practice...
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs! 🦊🐶


Profile Image for Alexander King.
16 reviews
February 19, 2020
Good book for people looking to improve their handwriting. The book teaches the italic handwriting script rather than modern American cursive. The cursive italic allows for speed like American cursive, but uses letter forms closer to block style printing that are easier to read for people not trained in American cursive.
Profile Image for GC.
204 reviews9 followers
December 29, 2023
'Write Now is designed as a self-instructional course in basic and cursive italic handwriting with an introduction to italic calligraphy'


Google 'cursive handwriting resources' and you will be overwhelmed. In something so niche, there are still hundreds of options. Look no further than Barbara Getty's work - a self-sufficient course. Following her exercises, and within a week, I had transformed my handwriting from print to cursive italic.

Expect it to be slow at first. However, with repetition, cursive italic will flow from your pen onto the page as easily as ice cream poured out of a Mr Whippy machine. What was once laboured is now instinctual. An unexpected bonus is being able to write not only more aesthetically, but also more quickly.

Highly recommended for any adult hoping to write in cursive italic!
Profile Image for Jenell.
52 reviews3 followers
May 13, 2010
I prefer the technique of looped cursive over that of italic cursive. So while that aspect of the book didn't appeal to me, I enjoyed the bits of history scattered throughout. I especially thought the last few pages were interesting. They showed the evolution of our current alphabet from the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans.
Profile Image for Nicky.
52 reviews
June 3, 2011
Not a book you read, so much as a set of exercises you work through to improve your handwriting. It's worked for me! My handwriting, which previously resembled ants crawling across the page, is now somewhat more legible and attractive.
Profile Image for Blair.
144 reviews
May 29, 2014
I read the first part, focussing on improving my print handwriting. As far as that is concerned, this book was helpful, and I have a noticeable improvement in my handwriting from before and after completing this book.
Profile Image for Andrew Watt.
28 reviews9 followers
February 3, 2015
An excellent guide to improving your handwriting by some masters of the art. I was working through this book for a good long while, but I definitely feel that I've improved my handwriting and made great gains in understanding how to help others improve theirs.
Profile Image for Diana.
73 reviews
September 5, 2008
I have horrid handwriting. This book did help me out a bit, now I just have to choose to write nicely!
Profile Image for reed.
357 reviews6 followers
October 17, 2009
If you want to improve your handwriting, this is the book to use.
Profile Image for Brice Lambson.
18 reviews
November 2, 2016
This book has changed my life. I will never look at letters the same way again. I never realized t's have tails. My handwriting also looks outstanding!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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