Expert scribe Patricia Lovett, a Parker Pen Handwriting Competition judge, reveals the best way to go with the flow:

• Sitting at a comfortable height and the correct angle -- feet on floor, light coming from the left if you're right handed (vice versa if left), not hunched up -- helps the physical act of writing.
  
• A good quality pen helps, especially a fountain pen, as it's good at slowing you down (though left-handers beware of smudging). "Our minds go faster than our hands and speed is very bad for writing," says Lovett.
  
• Have the paper at an angle -- the top right-hand corner higher than the left for right-handers, vice versa for left-handers. This gives your elbow more room to manoeuvre.
  
• As an exercise, good letter combinations to write include: "lilt" (with the "l" the tallest), "nu" (joined up), "oce" (ditto) and "bp". Practicing these strokes will help pen movements.