The Trials and Tribulations of Writing about Genius

The trials and tribulations of writing about genius

It’s no secret that handwriting analysis is one of my “Creative Interests!” Writing is another.

Long ago I decided that writing and handwriting analysis went together like the proverbial horse and carriage.

In fact, because handwriting is so personal and so in touch with the human psyche, I thought it would be the ideal subject for my genius project.

Not only that- it’s the perfect medium for linking up with the minds of all kinds of people – even those who lived many centuries ago.

Great! I began by selecting 30 famous geniuses throughout the ages. That was the easy part.

Finding the Handwriting Samples

Finding the handwriting samples was another story. That was much more difficult and took a lot of sleuth work!

But even more difficult was getting permission to use the samples I did find.

I contacted libraries, universities and individuals all over the world. Most of them were charming and helpful – and even interested in my project.

But there was one irritable university librarian (who shall remain nameless) who wrote back laconically, “you may NOT use the handwriting” (of Niels Bohr I think it was). And with that another genius’s handwriting hit the dust in my rapidly filling trash basket!

But once I had my brilliant 30 neatly tucked into a genius folder, what a revelation it was! The handwritings were all so completely different and individualistic. How to find the mark of genius if indeed there was one?

I began to realize that the signs of genius were not so easy to isolate, after all. Besides, there are so many types of genius to consider.

Walt Disney

For example, Walt Disney was no intellectual from what I could see. To start with, he made atrocious spelling mistakes. And yet he had the most amazing imagination and talent.

His handwriting sample is the most challenging that I have ever come across. I mulled over it for days.

And then of course, Einstein wrote so simply and modestly. Where was the genius there?

Picasso’s Handwriting

Picasso’s handwriting was also a challenge. He formed his letters as he wielded his paintbrush – with a confident type of macho independence that seemed to reject every vestige of conventionality. Wild and angry it is filled with an aggressive, ground-breaking creativity.

I could go on and on about these geniuses and their handwritings – but of course, thereby hangs the tale. An exciting one I found, because it taught me so much.

But that, in short, is how “The Mark of Genius” came about.