Take stock of the way you currently approach writing. Notice your grip on the pen; the position of your arm, wrist and fingers; and your body's relationship to the paper.
Adjust your grip on the pencil. Because smearing is a real issue for left-handers, hold the writing utensil one inch or more away from the tip. This grip creates enough distance between your fingers and the paper to see what you are writing.
Position your wrist below the writing line. With the adjusted grip, this should come naturally. However, notice if there is a tendency to lift the end of the writing utensil directly over the tip; this lifts and tilts the wrist and fingers and can block letters. With your wrist straight and below the writing line, hold the pen or pencil at a comfortable angle to the writing surface.
Arrange your paper or notebook in relation to the left side of your body. M.K. Holder suggests moving the paper left of the body's midline and tilting the paper so the top right corner of the paper is closer to you than the top left corner. This positioning can transform your writing. Your arm will be more or less perpendicular to the bottom of the page.