1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a multi-character handwritten input, the multi-character handwritten input comprising a plurality of strokes; applying a delayed stroke recognizer to the multi-character handwritten input to generate a first recognition; generating a delayed stroke recognition score for the first recognition; applying an overlapping recognizer to the multi-character handwritten input to generate a second recognition; generating an overlapping recognition score for the second recognition; comparing the delayed stroke recognition score to the overlapping recognition score; and selecting the first or second recognition based on the comparison as a recognition of the multi-character handwritten input.