Its purpose, like other accepted conventions, is to facilitate understanding by providing a common basis for transcribing a message. Shaughnessy suggests that some capitalization errors have their origins in handwriting problems. Consequently, students must be aware of the importance of legibility to facilitate communication of the intended message. Elements of legible handwriting include letter formation, size and proportion of letters, spacing, slant, alignment of letters on the baseline, and uniform steadiness and thickness of line. Nevertheless, perfection and uniformity are not the primary goals.
Handwriting can be both personal and distinctive and still be readable.
Instruction should not place so much emphasis on handwriting that the student's struggle toward perfection inhibits the communication of ideas. Likewise, spelling is appropriately addressed as a function of editing. Invented spelling may include several stages beginning even before letter formation with scribbling. Much can be understood even at this stage about directionality and other print concepts. As children pass through the random letter stage, they know how letters are formed and, therefore, are making an important link between these letters and language.