One of the most common misconceptions about handwriting is the belief that it remains constant throughout life.
It does not.
Although every individual develops a unique and remarkably stable writing style, handwriting is produced by a living person whose physical, neurological and emotional functioning continually changes.
For that reason, handwriting itself may also change.
The important question is not whether handwriting changes, but why it changes and whether those changes are temporary, permanent, natural or deliberate.
Handwriting Is a Diagnosis, Not a Test
Handwriting analysis should never be regarded as a test in which characteristics are classified simply as "correct" or "incorrect."
It is far closer to a diagnosis.
A test measures performance against a fixed answer.
A diagnosis attempts to understand why a particular pattern exists.
Every one of us learned to write according to broadly similar teaching methods.
Yet no two people write exactly alike.
The individuality of handwriting lies not in following the standard, but in the personal way each writer gradually departs from it.
Those individual departures become habitual and eventually form the writer's unique handwriting.
The Three Fundamental Components of Handwriting
For practical purposes, handwriting can be viewed as consisting of three principal components:
Shape – the visible formation of letters, numbers, symbols and signatures.
Movement – the rhythm, fluency, speed, coordination and other dynamic characteristics that produce the writing.
Layout – the organisation of the writing on the page, including margins, spacing, proportions and the overall visual arrangement.
Although these three components constantly interact, they do not necessarily change for the same reasons.
For example, a writer may consciously alter the appearance of the letters while the underlying movement remains largely unchanged.
Conversely, illness or medication may influence the movement while leaving the basic letter forms relatively intact.
Understanding which component has changed, and why, is often more important than simply observing that the handwriting is different.
Why Handwriting May Change
Handwriting may change for many different reasons.
Some changes are entirely deliberate.
Others occur naturally and often without the writer even being aware of them.
Among the more common causes are:
- the writer simply dislikes his or her handwriting and consciously adopts a different style;
- admiration for another person's handwriting, leading to the gradual imitation of certain letter forms or writing habits;
- changes in emotional state, so that writing produced under anger, affection, excitement or sadness differs naturally in appearance;
- fatigue or physical exhaustion;
- ageing;
- medication;
- alcohol or illicit drugs;
- severe emotional stress;
- neurological or medical conditions;
- traumatic life events, such as bereavement, divorce or serious illness;
- immigration and gradual adaptation to a different language, educational system or cultural environment.
Some of these changes disappear when the underlying condition passes.
Others gradually become assimilated into the writer's habitual writing style and eventually form part of a new pattern of handwriting.
Conscious and Unconscious Change
Interestingly, people generally find it difficult to change the most important characteristics of their handwriting deliberately.
A writer may consciously alter the shape of certain letters because those features are easily noticed.
However, characteristics such as rhythm, pace, spacing, movement, coordination and many habitual writing patterns usually remain outside conscious awareness.
Precisely because they are unconscious, they are also far more difficult to change intentionally.
This distinction has considerable importance in both forensic document examination and handwriting analysis.
The Importance of Understanding Change
When handwriting changes, the examiner should not immediately conclude that a different person produced the writing.
Nor should every difference automatically be dismissed as Natural Variation.
The first responsibility is to determine why the handwriting changed.
Only then can the significance of those changes be properly evaluated.
Understanding the reasons behind changing handwriting is often as important as understanding the handwriting itself.
Beyond the Obvious
The obvious observation is:
"The handwriting has changed."
The professional questions are:
"Why has it changed?"
"Which characteristics have changed?"
"Which characteristics have remained stable?"
Professional handwriting examination is not simply the observation of change.
It is the interpretation of the reasons for that change and the determination of its evidential significance.
Looking Beyond the Obvious begins when the examiner understands not only the handwriting, but also the person who produced it.