Sex, Lies, and Handwriting

A Top Expert Reveals the Secrets Hidden in Your Handwriting

Michelle Dresbold, James Kwalwasser

• Publisher: Free Press
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9780743288101
• eBook ISBN: 9781416553632
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Writing & Presentation Skills
• Index: Social Sciences

A handwriting expert reveals the secrets hidden in your penmanship—now featuring a new afterword analyzing the handwriting of President Donald Trump.Handwriting expert Michelle Dresbold—the only civilian to be invited to the United States Secret Service's Advanced Document Examination training program—draws on her extensive experience helping law enforcement agencies around the country on cases involving kidnapping, arson, forgery, murder, embezzlement, and stalking to take us inside the mysterious world of crossed t's and dotted i's. In Sex, Lies, and Handwriting, Dresbold explains how a single sentence can provide insight into a person's background, psychology, and behavior. Throughout the book, Dresbold explores the handwriting of sly politicians, convicted criminals, notorious killers, suspected cheats, and ordinary people who've written to Dresbold's "The Handwriting Doctor" column for help. She shows you how to identify the signs of a dirty rotten scoundrel and a lying, cheating, backstabbing lover. And she introduces you to some of the most dangerous traits in handwriting, including weapon-shaped letters, "shark's teeth, " "club strokes, " and "felon's claws." Dresbold also explains how criminals are tracked through handwritten clues and what spouses, friends, or employees might be hiding in their script. Sex, Lies, and Handwriting will have you paying a bit more attention to your—and everyone else's—penmanship.

PART I

Basic Concepts of Handwriting Profiling (a Fun Super-Condensed Mini Course)

1

Brainwriting 101

Handwriting can infallibly show whether it comes from a person who is noble-minded or from one who is vulgar.

Confucius

Have you ever looked at a person and thought:

He looks honest . . .

She seems friendly . . .

He doesn’t look like a serial killer . . .

* * *

Are you always right?

The truth is, appearances can be deceiving, but handwriting never lies.

Handwriting analysis is an amazingly accurate tool. It reveals how a writer thinks, feels, and acts. In fact, handwriting analysis is so accurate that the FBI, CIA, and Mossad (Israel’s intelligence agency) use it to build detailed psychological profiles of some of the world’s most dangerous individuals.

Now, you may be thinking, “How is it possible to tell so much from handwriting? After all, handwriting comes from the hand, not the brain. Right?”

Wrong!!!

Actually, your hand plays a very minor role in handwriting. If you injured your hand and had to learn to write with a pen in your mouth or between your toes, eventually you would produce almost the same handwriting that you produced before your injury. However, if your brain were injured, you would lose much of your writing ability. It is your brain—not your hand, foot, or mouth—that decides the size, shape, and slant of your handwriting. Handwriting is really “brainwriting,” and the marks you place on the paper are your “brain prints.”

Reading and interpreting brain prints requires logic and knowledge. It takes many years of study and practice to become a top-notch handwriting profiler. However, I bet you’ll be surprised to discover how much you already know about handwriting and personality.

To prove it, here’s a little quiz. Below, you’ll find six pairs of brain prints and questions about the writers. Answer the questions using your good old common sense.

Brain Print Quiz

Question 1. Look at the signatures of two men, both named Ted. Which Ted is the recluse, A or B?

Question 2. Here are handwriting samples of two famous artists. One is feeling upbeat, while the other is feeling down in the dumps. Which artist is feeling down, A or B?

Question 3. Which of these two politicians doesn’t want you to be able to “read” him, A or B?

Question 4. Which one of these writers is more nurturing, A or B?

Question 5. Which of these writers holds back when it comes to expressing emotions, A or B?

Question 6. Which of these writers is the transvestite?

Ready to see how you did?

Answers to Brain Print Quiz

Question 1. Look at the signatures of two men, both named Ted. Which Ted is the recluse, A or B?

If you guessed B, bravo!

Yes, size does matter—at least, when it comes to handwriting! Is a writer who signs his name in teeny-weeny letters someone who wants to be noticed? Or is he more likely to be the kind of guy who shrinks into the background? Very small handwriting, like that of B, means that the writer is an introvert.

On the other hand, nine times out of ten, large writers are extroverts. They like being around people, they like to talk, and when they talk, they use expansive hand gestures and exaggerated expressions.

The reclusive writer B is a former math professor who sent mail bombs to “stinking technophiles” and “oversocialized leftists” (as he described his enemies in a rambling manifesto), wounding twenty-three people and killing three. When he was arrested in April 1996, authorities found him living as a hermit in a one-room shack outside Lincoln, Montana. Writer B is the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

EXPERIMENT

Try this experiment:

1. Get out a piece of paper and a pen.

2. Write your name very large.

3. Now, write it smaller.

4. Now, write it even smaller.

5. One last time, write it as teensy-weensy as you can.

Did you feel more restricted when you wrote your name large, or when you wrote it itsy-bitsy?

In the 1970s, writer A traveled across the country, posing as a graduate student. He often hung around college campuses, socializing, playing tennis, and murdering young women. Writer A was outgoing and liked to be around people. And he sure didn’t like to be confined, twice escaping from jail. The large signature belongs to Ted Bundy.

Question 2. Here are handwriting samples of two famous artists. One is feeling upbeat, while the other is feeling down in the dumps. Which artist is feeling down, A or B?

The answer is Artist A.

Reading people through their handwriting is a lot like reading body language. If you see a woman walking with her head down and her shoulders slouched, you can sense that she feels the weight of the world on her back. If you see a woman walking with her head held high, chin up, and a bounce in her step, you can sense that her mood is buoyant and bright.

Do you see how the handwriting of Artist A travels downhill? Downhill writing shows that the writer is feeling blue. His spirits are sinking. The uphill writing of Artist B indicates that he’s feeling upbeat and energetic. His spirits are soaring.

Artist A, the downhill writer, sold only one painting in his lifetime. Sadly, he took his own life at the age of thirty-seven. Now, more than a hundred years later, his works are considered priceless, and he is revered as one of the greatest painters of all time. This downhill writer signed his paintings: Vincent.

The uphill writer, Artist B, was one of the most prolific and financially successful artists who ever put paint to a canvas. Productive well into his nineties, this uphill writer signed his works: Picasso.

Question 3. Which of these two politicians doesn’t want you to be able to “read” him, A or B?

If you guessed A, the politician with the unreadable writing, you’re right again.

The reason you can’t read this politician’s signature is that he doesn’t want you to read his signature . . . or him! Illegible scribbles say “Try as you might, you won’t get a darn thing out of me!”

Who is this politico incognito? It’s Gary Condit, the former congressman from California, who stonewalled Washington, DC police and the American public for months about his relationship with a missing government intern named Chandra Levy.

BONUS QUESTION

Here’s a bonus question. For extra credit, let’s test your understanding of relationship dynamics. Sally’s handwriting slopes uphill. Sam’s handwriting slopes downhill. Sally and Sam begin working together on a project. Day after day, they work side-by-side in a small office. Six months pass. How is their handwriting likely to change?

A. No changes. Sam’s and Sally’s handwriting will stay the same.

B. Sam’s and Sally’s handwriting will both become level.

C. Sam’s handwriting will stay the same. Sally’s handwriting will start to fall.

D. Sally’s handwriting will stay the same and Sam’s handwriting will begin to rise.

If you guessed C, give yourself a star. It’s far easier to pull someone down than push someone up. Anyone who’s been married to a downhill writer for any length of time will know what I mean.

So if you happen to work or live with a downhill writer, watch out for changes in your own writing—and if you see a change for the worse, make a conscious effort to keep your writing and your mood up.

If you happen to be a downhill writer yourself, do yourself a favor: Force yourself to write uphill and think upbeat. If you can change your handwriting, you can change your life!

Legible writing, on the other hand, shows that the writer wants to be understood and ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Part I: Basic Concepts of Handwriting Profiling (a Fun Super-Condensed Mini Course)
• Part II: Stop Reading and Start Running!
• Part III: The Forensic Files
• Part IV: Whodunits
• Part V: Let’s Get Personal
• Afterword: Donald Trump, the Man Behind the Angles
• Resources
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright