10 “WRITE”-ful Tips to Improve Handwriting & Lettering

Are you looking to improve your handwriting or up your bullet journal font game? Then you’re in the “write” place because this post brings together the best tips to make your writing pop, from hand lettering 101 for beginners to creative ways to embellish your writing. Enjoy!

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via Kiley in Kentucky | Zen of Planning

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Start off with basic hand lettering techniques

Leave it to Buzzfeed to come up with some basic tips anyone of any artistic skill can follow. The 8 tutorial overviews cover these styles:

Serif font (basically adding ticks at the end of your letters)
Faux calligraphy
Stretched out
Filled in
Narrow
Block
Dot
Balloon

(via Buzzfeed)

Progress to other simple embellishments

It doesn’t take much to make your words stand out. This post will show you other easy ideas to try such as:

Adding hearts
Minimal circles
Outlined cursive
Drop shadow
Dot outline
Flags
Curly serif font
Floral details

(via Little Miss Rose)

Know these useful tips on lettering technique

This graphic covers more of the how-to behind better font generation. The tips include:

Hold brush pen at 45 degree angle to make easier to make thick and thin strokes
Create faux calligraphy by making thicker downstrokes
Match up curly lettering with clean block lettering
Make lettering uneven intentionally to hide little shaky mistakes
Define loopy letters distinctly, like “e” from “l” from “r” and so forth

(via Pin source)

Understand how to pair fonts

Combining multiple fonts opens up even more handwriting possibilities. Know what elements complement each other to give you lettering that stands out. (via Pin source)

Check Pinterest for font inspiration

Never run out of ideas from Pinterest! Save your favorites to a personal board to copy in your journal. Here’s one example I found that is a unique yet totally doable style. (via Pin source)

Follow lettering artists on Instagram

If you’re really serious about upping your lettering skills, then get motivated by talented artists on Instagram. Prepare to be wowed. (via Zen of Planning)

Try your hand at it

You can only get better at something if you actually do it. This site has worksheets that show you how to do each letter in 50 different ways. (via Kiley in Kentucky)

Practice, practice, practice!

Practice makes perfect, so utilize these 30 days of worksheets to take your writing to the next level. You’ll be surprised at how much more gorgeous your lettering becomes if you keep at it just for a month. Every little bit you devote to your handwriting each day only helps to improve it. (via Dawn Nicole Design)

Come up with your set of writing styles

Practice writing long enough and you’ll come up with your set of go-to styles. For example, this video shows 9 different font styles:

Everyday print, basic nothing fancy
In a hurry writing, combination of cursive and print, sometimes letters connected and not
Sans serif
Angled brush lettering
Upright brush lettering simplified
Romantic script
Bouncy lettering
Faux calligraphy
Monoline script

(via How to Hand Letter)

Get creative

Of course, you can always exercise the creative side of yours to come up with your own combinations of styles to make your words stand out. Here’s a video of 50 different hand lettering embellishments, which use a variation or combination of the following:

Dropshadow
Block lettering
Inline lettering
Dotted inline
Confetti lettering
Dot lettering
Patterned lettering
Ombre lettering
Serifs
And more

(via AmandaRachLee)

Bullet journal fonts can be as simple or elaborate as you make it. Just remember these two important things when you work on how to improve handwriting: