This is probably simple, but for some reason when using the Letter Recognizer, I can't make question marks or quotation marks or exclamation points or cross my T's. Anything that requires lifting the stylus to make the character doesn't work.
I hate using my stylus to make letters. I found Tengo thumb and it makes text entry far easier. Check it out. There are some alternatives, some of which are free as well.
OK shields, what kind of pda do you have? Do you have a screen protector? I came from palm as well and I find that the Block Recognizer is more like Graffiti. Please try that and let me know how it goes. We'll get you up and running, I promise.