I know it's not really the point of your post, but I think you'd be a lot happier and more productive if you developed a decent cursive hand. I recommend Teach Yourself Better Handwriting by Rosemary Sassoon. It's aimed at adults, not kids, who want a faster, more readable, adult-looking (but not necessarily pretty) cursive handwriting style. I worked through the book in spare moments, filling up a notebook with practice exercises. In the end my handwriting got more legible and consistent (but otherwise didn't change much). There are fewer VOIDs in my check register now.