Learn Handwriting in Cursive Quickly and Easily

Cursive writing is one of those skills that are not quite common today, as more and more papers and even draft notes go digital. Still, at one point or another, students may be expected to learn cursive writing — those, at least, who have forgotten or never acquired the skill. You may have to submit a draft or other written assignment in cursive writing — even though, to be completely frank, the latter is less likely. Still, it’s important to understand that many people use freewriting as a creative technique and dotting down the sentences with your own hand is often more productive than typing the same sentences in your text editor. So, if you’re not a calligraphy expert, let’s discuss why learning cursive writing is important and how you can do that without spending too much time and energy.

Why Should People Master Cursive Writing?

As already mentioned, more and more students these days do not understand why cursive writing is important and why they should consider improving their calligraphy skills. Still, it has been proven that manual cursive writing boosts one’s creative skills. On top of that, it helps to:

1. Increase one’s writing technique
2. Improve memory
3. Alleviate dyslexia
4. Get a strong focus on one’s writing

Cursive Writing Tricks

For centuries, children have been taught cursive writing since an early age, so if you skipped this part for whatever reason, no worries — it does not take any extraordinary effort. What it does require, however, is a bit of patience. Essentially, cursive is about linking letters together — as simple as that. Another trick is to keep every letter on the same line. Children often use specially lined paper for that, but as an adult, you will be expected to use a blank white sheet of paper, without assistive lines. Next thing to remember is to make your cursive writing not only understandable but also aesthetic. For this, you have to make sure that all letters are of the same size (unless you are capitalizing them on purpose, of course). When writing in cursive, your letters will be sloped to the side a bit. Most people would slope their letters to the right — because they use their right hand for writing. If you are left-handed, your letters will naturally slope to the left — and it is acceptable, even though less common. Another thing you will be expected to master is letter loops. Some of them will have top loops, the others — bottom ones. Just like the letters, these loops should be of the same size and should not interfere with what you’ve already written. So, you should either make your loops small or keep a steady distance between the lines. Actually, you are expected to do a little bit of both — with a fair, aesthetically looking balance.

How to learn cursive writing quickly

If you’ve never written in cursive before, you may need a bit of patience. To make sure you do not need too much of it, here is how you can master the skill quickly.

Study the alphabet first

No doubt, you know how typed letters look like, but cursive writing is often a bit different from that. In fact, some handwritten cursive letters (especially, capital ones) are barely recognizable. So, the first you will need to do is to find a table with cursive letters and try to memorize those you do not know. Of course, back in the day when computers were not so widespread, students learned these letters in primary schools. Today, however, it all starts with a digital table available for free online.

Start with lowercase letters

When your hands are not used to writing calligraphy cursive letters, it’s better to start with the most simple ones. As a rule, lower case letters are a bit easier than capital ones. Some of them are not at all difficult to write. U, for example, is the easiest one even a child can draw. All in all, most consonants are simple; so, you may want to start with those. Or, you could simply go with all the lowercase letters alphabetically — here, the call is totally yours.

Move on to uppercase letters

Once you have mastered the lowercase, it’s time to move on to the uppercase. Once again, some letters will be easier to start with, and some of them (like G) will be quite challenging to master. Once again, you can just start with uppercase in alphabetic order, or practice with the easiest letters first. Those are C, O, E, P, and T — in fact, they are not quite different from lowercase. As already mentioned, G is the most’ artsy’ one; so, you may want to put it aside for now, not to get frustrated or discouraged in the process. Another tip would be to find worksheets online and print them out. It’s going to be a lot easier, as you will have a clear example to follow. Besides, most of these sheets will be lined up, so you will also have a chance to practice keeping your writing in line.

Keep practicing until you nail it

Everything great comes with practice, and cursive writing is not an exception. Any skill can be only mastered if you are determined to do it and are ready to dedicate some time and effort to the task. In the case of handwriting, you do not need to spend a lot of effort learning (not truly), but you have to learn regularly. On the whole, twenty minutes a day should be more than enough. Remember that your first letters will most likely be uneven, and do not get discouraged. As already mentioned, children used to learn this skill in kindergartner, so there is definitely nothing you cannot cope with. Regular practice and dedicated worksheets will eventually do the trick — as long as you have the patience. If you know the basics of handwriting and do not have to learn the letters ‘from scratch,’ you may want to practice with taking notes or even drafting essays by hand. Do not rush — the quicker we write, the less impressive our letters are. Once again, find some time to practice your handwriting skills regularly. More than twenty minutes a day may bore you, but as we already mentioned — you do not need more than that to learn cursive writing.

More Tips on Mastering Cursive Writing

1. Do not rush to get things complicated and always start with lowercase letters — especially, if you’ve never written in cursive before.
2. Download or buy handwriting sheets. You can actually find them in a book store, but since handwriting gradually slips into oblivion, you may spend some time searching the local shops. So, if you value your time, downloading a digital version and printing it out is a better solution.
3. Do not proceed to capital letters until you master the lowercase ones. Do not start with the most complex letters you cannot recognize in cursive either.
4. Do not write too fast. If your goal is to learn cursive writing, you cannot hurry. Your hands may need some getting used to before you can write automatically.
5. Try not to press too much. People have different writing styles that usually reflect their personality. Quite often, confident people apply a lot of pressure as they write. If possible, try to avoid this habit. Keep your pen or your pencil a bit loose as you write.
6. Once you’ve mastered the worksheets, move on to simple paper. You do not necessarily have to use a blank sheet at once — for starters, the lined paper will do. Once you can keep the lines, you can give blank sheets a try.
7. Finally, keep it neat and organized. This tip is not directly related to handwriting, but if you keep practicing for at least twenty minutes a day and keep all of your sheets and stencils in the same folder, you will practice not only creative and handwriting skills, but organizational ones as well.