Monday, December 17, 2007

Under the Microscope

Does your handwriting really tell on you? Ask my forensic handwriting expert protag Claudia Rose, and she'll tell you that your handwriting is a true mirror of your inner self. Remember Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Grey? Even while Grey remained young and beautiful on the outside, the painting changed and told the hideous truth about what was going on inside him. Handwriting is like that painting--it reveals the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly, too.

Thousands of elements make up a handwriting sample, so it does little good to wonder what it means that you cross your t this way, or dot your i that way. And Claudia gets really ticked when someone sticks their signature under her nose and says, "What can you tell me?" (A signature by itself is like the cover on a book--it only shows what the writer wants you to see.)

A professional handwriting analyst looks at the way the handwriting is arranged on the paper, the overall style of writing, and the way it all "moves" together before reaching any conclusions about the writer. That means time, measurements, and a good knowledge of psychology to put it all into a meangingful framework. To get the real skinny requires a sample of at least a few paragraphs, and preferably a whole page or more.

So, we get a good sample of writing and a signature, too. What's it say??? It reveals how you feel about yourself, your social style, thinking style; how well you organize your life and time. And it shows where your fears and defenses come from (we've all got 'em). Oh, and of course, there are those "biological urges"--the need for food, sex, money, physical comforts. And that's just scratching the surface.

No wonder some police departments, private investigators, and the CIA use the services of forensic handwriting experts--under the microscope, your handwriting spills the beans.
Learn more about handwriting analysis at www.sheilalowe.com
Read a sample chapter of Claudia Rose's first mystery, Poison Pen at www.claudiaroseseries.com