It took me about a year to work through this, but it forever changed my handwriting. I fell in love with journaling after getting to the point that I loved my writing.
Handwriting isn't magic. It's just a skill. Schools used to teach specific classes in handwriting, and people used to work to cultivate different styles using manuals to teach themselves. They still sell copybooks and stuff on Amazon. You can learn to do this too.
Spencerian Handwriting: the Complete Collection of Theory and Practical Workbooks For Perfect Cursive and Hand Lettering. It's on Amazon, and was written by Platts Roger Spencer, the guy who invented Spencerian. Has all the lessons and the copy books in one complete edition. Bought it myself to learn Spencerian, and am finding it really useful. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1612435289/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_7txAq2OXRbkQW
You've started off great believe it or not, now all you need is to identify the parts of your handwriting you don't like and begin altering the way you write/form your letters. Part of this is going through every letter and writing them over and over to correct how you write them. If that method doesn't seem overly helpful or not enough you can try practicing a new cursive style.
There are several styles you can try that suit your writing style and I'll point you towards some popular ones that can be a good reference.
The Palmer Method is most likely what you learned in grade school, you can find a host of examples and worksheets for free online with a little looking.
The French style is my favorite and has more flourishes and loops than most beginners prefer but you can find free practice sheets and charts with a little digging. upper case: http://ekladata.com/w3b1_NxgyjITiB8iUL1-uzh7oG4.pdf lower case: http://ekladata.com/_MppcNT9k1VQnPWsMfOnbg3gKbs.pdf
If the Palmer method doesn't quite fit and the French style is too florid you can try the Spencerian style. More specifically a Spencerian workbook, which goes through writing from a to z and gives you drills to create the correct shapes for the entire style. You can pick one up from amazon for about $12. https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Handwriting-Collection-Practical-Workbooks/dp/1612435289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476745386&sr=8-1&keywords=spencerian+handwriting
I hope this helps gives you some direction on improving your handwriting, working on it a little every day makes all the difference trust me.
Skillshare has some great handwriting courses. Pick a cursive script you like, and practice each letter. Necklacing is a great practice. Basically, you write, connecting the letters, the full alphabet, but inbetween every letter you write one letter. IE aabacadaea... And you do that for every letter.
Learning calligraphy massively helped me. Either calligraphy, or drawing or painting is a great help for handwriting as it massively improves your dexterity. Dexterity + understanding the basis of what makes writing pretty is integral. This:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612435289/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_JPPNJGJDKPYJT1AFJY5K
Great handwriting book for classical spencerian penmanship. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful handwriting styles, and has a surprisingly in depth amount of theory involved.
Get a good pen. Search up Lamy Safari on Amazon, it's one of the best fountain pens I've found for a low cost. Get an ink converter, and research some good fountain pen ink. Waterman is very good, in my experience. This really helps make writing fun, and make you want to write more. The tactility and smooth glide of the pen is so enjoyable. It's like ASMR for your hands. Though you'll want to do this after you've gotten used to using the flex nib for calligraphy, as writing with fountain pens are much different than with a ballpoint, and it takes a while to adjust.
Practice. I've massively improves my handwriting, but it took a little over a year to accomplish. Once you're comfortable with the cursive you've drilled, start using it as your everyday handwriting. It's gonna look sloppy at first but with enough passive practice it tightens up, and you begin to have an intuitive understanding of what looks pretty, how to flourish, etc.
If you don't write a lot in your daily life, change that! Start writing in a journal, if you can write out things for work instead of typing, choose to do it the old fashion way. Take notes on pen and paper rather than using a keyboard. The more you write the better you'll get and the faster you'll see improvement
No need to be jealous! Just as you aren't as good as basketball as a professional, nor as good at painting as a world class painter; these things take practice and time. That's it. As you can see, I was not born with good handwriting. I just drilled, learned, and practiced.
Skillshare has some great handwriting courses. Pick a cursive script you like, and practice each letter. Necklacing is a great practice. Basically, you write, connecting the letters, the full alphabet, but inbetween every letter you write one letter. IE aabacadaea... And you do that for every letter.
Learning calligraphy massively helped me. Either calligraphy, or drawing or painting is a great help for handwriting as it massively improves your dexterity. Dexterity + understanding the basis of what makes writing pretty is integral. This:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612435289/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_JPPNJGJDKPYJT1AFJY5K
Great handwriting book for classical spencerian penmanship. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful handwriting styles, and has a surprisingly in depth amount of theory involved.
Get a good pen. Search up Lamy Safari on Amazon, it's one of the best fountain pens I've found for a low cost. Get an ink converter, and research some good fountain pen ink. Waterman is very good, in my experience. This really helps make writing fun, and make you want to write more. The tactility and smooth glide of the pen is so enjoyable. It's like ASMR for your hands. Though you'll want to do this after you've gotten used to using the flex nib for calligraphy, as writing with fountain pens are much different than with a ballpoint, and it takes a while to adjust.
Practice. I've massively improves my handwriting, but it took a little over a year to accomplish. Once you're comfortable with the cursive you've drilled, start using it as your everyday handwriting. It's gonna look sloppy at first but with enough passive practice it tightens up, and you begin to have an intuitive understanding of what looks pretty, how to flourish, etc.
If you don't write a lot in your daily life, change that! Start writing in a journal, if you can write out things for work instead of typing, choose to do it the old fashion way. Take notes on pen and paper rather than using a keyboard. The more you write the better you'll get and the faster you'll see improvement.
This was exactly what my cursive looked like at first. It is due to you just not having enough practice with the letter forms. Skillshare has some great handwriting courses. Pick a cursive script you like, and practice each letter. Necklacing is a great practice. Basically, you write, connecting the letters, the full alphabet, but inbetween every letter you write one letter. IE aabacadaea... And you do that for every letter.
Learning calligraphy massively helped me. Either calligraphy, or drawing or painting is a great help for handwriting as it massively improves your dexterity. Dexterity + understanding the basis of what makes writing pretty is integral. This:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612435289/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_JPPNJGJDKPYJT1AFJY5K
Great handwriting book for classical spencerian penmanship. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful handwriting styles, and has a surprisingly in depth amount of theory involved.
Get a good pen. Search up Lamy Safari on Amazon, it's one of the best fountain pens I've found for a low cost. Get an ink converter, and research some good fountain pen ink. Waterman is very good, in my experience. This really helps make writing fun, and make you want to write more. The tactility and smooth glide of the pen is so enjoyable. It's like ASMR for your hands.
Practice. I've massively improves my handwriting, but it took a little over a year to accomplish. Once you're comfortable with the cursive you've drilled, start using it as your everyday handwriting. It's gonna look sloppy at first but with enough passive practice it tightens up, and you begin to have an intuitive understanding of what looks pretty, how to flourish, etc.
If you don't write a lot in your daily life, change that! Start writing in a journal, if you can write out things for work instead of typing, choose to do it the old fashion way. Take notes on pen and paper rather than using a keyboard. The more you write the better you'll get and the faster you'll see improvement.
Sure. Amazon has them here https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Handwriting-Collection-Practical-Workbooks/dp/1612435289 Or here as one single volume https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Handwriting-Collection-Practical-Workbooks/dp/1612435289
There is also a single book version you can get: Spencarian Handwriting: The Complete Collection of Theory and Practical Workbooks for Perfect Cursive and Hand Lettering