Slants in Handwriting
“Slant” to handwriting experts indicates the degree to which a handwritten sample leans one way or the other, or both, or not at all.
When we think of the right-hand side of the page as progressing and left side as regressing, we find handwriting to be incredibly telling.
Slant direction tells us how a person reacts emotionally to internal and external events. There are different degrees of slant, and each degree can add or subtract a nuance of responsiveness.
In general, however, you don’t have to use a protractor to measure the exact degree of every letter and word of a sample to get a basic idea of how a writer will react to things.
Note that it’s a myth to think lefties will slant their writing to the left, and vice versa. In reality, both lefties and righties can go either way to any degree, or write vertically. You’re probably more likely to be accurate if you think “this person is very outgoing and friendly, so they will slant to the right.”
Right-hand slant
This writing leans right
Right-slanted writing indicates a person who can express themselves fairly easily. They are also empathetic and like being around people. The further their writing leans right, the more expressive and potentially needy they become.
People who write with this slant are good at jobs that require an above-average level of caring for others and ability to get along, like teachers, hospitality staff, and administrative workers.
No slant
This writing doesn’t lean
People with vertical writing like to keep their emotions under control, even under duress, and they are fairly good at staying objective. Only if they have been pushed to the limit will they finally respond angrily or be overjoyed. No-slanters are good at occupations that require steady nerves, like trial attorney or surgeon.
Left-hand slant
Left-slanted writing indicates a desire to keep the feelings reined in. Think of the right side of the page as representing other people, the future, and progressing. See how this writing looks like it’s leaning backward. This writing is introspective and more withdrawn than the vertical and right-lean writers. You won’t find them talking about their emotions much. Sometimes far-left slanters even seem deadpan.
Varying slant
Someone who writes their letters leaning in different directions can be expressive one moment and uncaring the next. They generally are confused about who they are “supposed” to be. “Should I care or should I be stoic” and “just exactly who am I”, are questions that will consciously or even unconsciously haunt them. It’s quite possible that someone with letter slants that vary within words are bipolar.
Have you seen the writing of a person who hasn’t been taking their mood-improving medication? Most times it varies drastically from the script they produce when correctly medicated. When the brain isn’t functioning properly, it produces a scrawled mess of slants and sizes on paper. Medication, for those who truly need it, can smooth out brain glitches and not only help the person feel more balanced, it will also normalize their writing.
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