There was a time when I told myself that I wouldn’t be satisfied with my penmanship until it looked as good as Palmer’s. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but I would have quit penmanship a long time ago if that was truly my goal.
After four years of dedicated study and practice, I can confidently say that I will never become a great penman, and that’s okay. The truth is that I never really wanted to become “great”, but I thought that is what I should want…so I told myself I wanted it.
Regardless, I always knew I could develop a quality Palmer Method hand. I also knew that I had a set of skills that could be leveraged to create things that no one else was creating.
Over the past year, I’ve slowly come to realize that my primary role in penmanship is not as an artist, but as a builder and organizer. As I came to terms with my new role, it opened me up to create things that I wouldn’t have dared to create when I was focused on perfecting my penmanship. One of the first things I dared to create was Consistent Cursive, a free video course on traditional American cursive.
As far as I know, Consistent Cursive is the only on-demand video course that teaches traditional American cursive. For some reason this course didn’t exist, but I wanted it to; so I made it. If you are new to traditional American script, it is the best place to start.
Am I the most knowledgeable, proficient, or qualified instructor of American cursive? No, but I launched the course and people are learning traditional American script on YouTube, for free.
After launching Consistent Cursive, I said to myself, “Why not create a Palmer Method course?” A few months later, I launched The Palmer Method Study Plan.
The Palmer Method Study Plan is the first and only course teaching the Palmer Method, or any type of business penmanship for that matter. I made the course because I knew people wanted to learn the Palmer Method, but were overwhelmed by the Palmer Method book.
If I was still focused on becoming a great penman, I never would have considered making the course. It would have been too much pressure to produce a course where every letter, word, and drill had to live up to those standards.
Fortunately, I wasn’t thinking that way when I made the course. I was thinking, “If I don’t make this course, who will?” Now the course exists and there is something to help beginners learn the Palmer Method.
Start learning the Palmer Method today with the Intro Series. When you’re ready, check out the Study Plan.