u/Active-Estate-9267

I feel like my use of shorthand is really limited by how fast I can decipher it again. It's fine when it's just a couple words, but longer than a few sentences and I'm internally going "urghhh should have taken the time to write it in longhand, now I'm repaying the time saved writing it twice over".

Obviously, you learn reading by reading more, but I find it much harder to work reading practice into my day-to-day life than writing. It's not like I can set my phone to display text in shorthand, or change all my media into shorthand, like you can when learning a language. My main writing tasks are a) short notes where I'll usually still have some memory of what's written, and in any case they're too short for meaningful practice, b) my dream journal, which I mostly write and only read very occasionally.

And when I sit down for deliberate practice, I get frustrated pretty quick when trying to practice reading. Writing fast is fun, reading at a snail's pace while my brain feels like it's overheating is not. So my practice sessions end up being mostly writing, and even when I do reading, it's usually just the textbook texts, which is a pretty different experience from reading my own shorthand, for a number of reasons.

So, any tips or suggestions on how to practive reading and improve reading speed?

I'm considering taking a deeper look at systems that use shading. I've been using a pencil, but I really prefer writing with a fountain pen. However I'm left-handed, and I'm not sure I can create thick strokes with a flex fountain pen the same way someone would with their right hand, since the nib is at a different angle. You also end up pushing rather than pulling the nib a lot more, which feels like it could damage the paper in combination with pressure.

Am I correct? Any suggestions?

I'm learning Stiefografie and I've made my way through most of the Aufbauschrift I. There's one specific aspect that I'm struggling with right now, and it's to switch between making a couple small movements for closely spaced letters and the bigger movements needed to make long connections.

I'm trying to use my fingers for the small precise movements and my lower arm for the bigger ones, but when I start to move my lower arm, my hand always sticks a little to the paper and that makes the line jittery or makes me miss my target point. (I could send a picture to demonstrate if needed.) I've tried holding my hand a little more off the paper, but that feels cramped and tires out my arm muscles pretty quick. If there's a happy medium, I haven't managed to find it.

Any advice? General material on penmanship as it pertains to stenography is also very welcome.