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Learn How to Write in Cursive Like a Pro

Bonnie Adair, writer at PapersOwl
Written by Bonnie Adair
Posted: November 3, 2025
Last update date: November 3, 2025
6 min read

Cursive writing is an essential skill that combines creativity with cognitive benefits. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your handwriting, mastering cursive can greatly improve your fine motor skills, memory, and even your speed in writing.

Below is a quick overview of what you’ll learn during the next 5 minutes:

  • Reading through our guide, you will learn how to enhance brain development.
  • Your language, memory, and fine motor skills will improve.
  • We provide you with basic and more advanced cursive writing training.
  • To learn to write in cursive takes you weeks, but mastering it usually takes much longer.
  • Regardless of age, our guide provides numerous solutions.

Read on to find out why writing in cursive is important and see the best ways to start your practice sessions right now!

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What Is Cursive & Why You Must Nail It Down

To keep it short, cursive handwriting is a style in which all of your letters in a word are connected. It is also known as script writing.

The main benefit is that you can write entire words without lifting a pencil from the paper. Even though it is no longer taught in some parts of the world, it is traditionally used to write down your signature or a name in documents.

Speaking of useful benefits of how to write in cursive, it improves coordination between hand and eye, enhances brain development, spelling, and fine motor skills, as well as boosts our cognitive functions.

Indeed, it is one of the best solutions to speed up your writing and make it look even more beautiful!

Setup That Makes Cursive Easier

Speaking of the necessary setup for cursive learning, starting with an accurate posture and using the most comfortable pen grip is important.

The position of the paper and its timing are also critical. Thus, consider placing the paper correctly to allow sufficient daylight or light from your desk lamp without shadows. As for the slant, allocate at least 90 seconds per block while learning such writing.

It also helps to start with the “Cursive Grid,” where you have all the lines already made for you with the x-height/ascending/descending positions.

7-Day Beginner Plan

Day 1: Basic strokes and “u/i/w/e” letters.

Day 2: Round family letters (a, c, d, g, o, q).

Day 3: Tall family letters (l, b, h, k, t).

Day 4: Loop or descenders (j, y, g, z, f).

Day 5: Tricky letters (r, s, x, v, p).

Day 6: Uppercase training (easy first): L, C, E, O, G. Continue with R, B, D, F, J, P, T (it must go from simplest to more difficult). The trick is improving what you can as you learn to write cursive.

Day 7: Connections and short sentences in cursive handwriting. Allocate about 12-15 minutes.

Lowercase Letters (by Families)

Line Family: l, i, t, j, u

Hopping Family: r, n, m, p, h, b

Curly Family: c, o, a, q, g, d, s, f, e

Zigzag Family: v, w, x, y, k, z

When learning how to write cursive words, start with basic shapes:

  • Basic entrance/exit stroke;
  • Basic upward stroke;
  • Basic cursive stroke.

Continue with the lowercase alphabet as you write cursive.

Upward stroke lowercase letters:

  • Your pen’s tip must be placed on the bottom line.
  • Continue with upward strokes towards the dashed line.
  • Do downward strokes, dipping towards the bottom and swinging up again.

Uppercase Letters (Go Easy!)

Start from simple to more difficult: L/C/E/O/G towards R. Once you master it (as it is one of the hardest to write), continue with B, D, F, I, J, P, T.

It is also helpful to use worksheet templates to improve precis writing skills. In these templates, you can practice writing a particular letter in a grid on paper.

Joins, Spacing & Word Flow Tricks

While there are different types of connecting letters in cursive writing, you may use intervals, pauses in your rhythm, and move through the grid on paper.

You may use the following interactive examples as you seek how to learn cursive writing faster:

  • Angular connection where you “connect straight to the point”
  • No covering stroke arcade connection, which is like secretive and protective writing.
  • The so-called Garland (curve) connection with a friendly link.
  • Just curves and no angles, a connection is called a “Wavy line”, also known as a diplomatic connection.
  • No downstroke connection with no angles, a thread link. It is the line of least resistance.

You may also use mixed forms of connection to relate to people in various ways! Give it a try!

🖊️ Exercise 1:

Words — sentences — a short passage (to go up scale by difficulty).

🖊️ Exercise 2:

Signature placement by writing down your name (Capital letter and lowercase practice).

🖊️ Exercise 3:

Write down all the uppercase names of famous brands by choosing different connection styles.

Speed vs Keeping Things Neat

Speed is what you will eventually gain as you practice your cursive writing skills.

You can get both fast and accurate by going from slow to fast. The secret trick is making mini pauses to help you train your hand’s muscle memory.

Set your daily practice timer for 5-10 minutes, and you will get there!

Left-Handed People? This fixes it!

There are no restrictions if you want to learn cursive writing as a left-hander, as most people can handle it with the right focus.

You only have to place your paper correctly to maintain the right angle. Most students also learn bit by bit as they practice handwriting and automatically choose what works for them.

Teaching cursive letters, most specialists recommend playing with the pencil’s angle as you write.

Cursive for Kids Recommendations

The trick to success with kids is using large templates, gamification, cursive writing sessions that take no longer than 5 minutes, and the great system of stickers. It helps to keep things interesting and interactive for most younger students.

Just imagine teaching kids a cursive signature that looks amazing in a cursive font!

Cursive Worksheets

You can also enjoy these free cursive writing worksheets in PDF format, available without an email gate!

We can offer the following solutions:

As you print out each drawing, you can start with any course mentioned above. Most schools and libraries can also provide letterforms emphasizing cursive, with examples.

An example is a cursive shadowing free PDF that you can try! 

Best Apps & Tools to Practice Cursive Writing

App Platform Stylus Support Tracing Custom Words Price
Cursive App Android Yes Yes Yes Free
Cursive Letters Writing Wizard Multiplatform Yes Yes On-Demand Free
Writey Cursive Apple Yes Yes Yes Free

It is recommended that a fountain pen be used for cursive. According to students and educators, Pilot Kanuho and Platinum Pretty are also good options. Pilot V5 is believed to be one of the best options for cursive.

Adults may also try using a Gel pen, especially if they already have good handwriting skills. Besides, ball pens like Butterflow solutions will do well if you are just starting.

Fixing the 5 Most Common Writing Issues

  1. Different letter size and poor spacing. It happens when you have different-sized letters. Most children have this problem. The solution is to spend 60 seconds practicing 2-3 letters of the same size on a grid.
  2. Letter formation mistake. It happens because you don’t use the correct stroke. Practice different connections again to remember the curves and correct strokes.
  3. Letter slant problem. Keeping a consistent slant is not easy! Practice angles to the letters here.
  4. Staying on the grid lines. It happens because of poor coordination and motor control. It takes training and improves with age.
  5. Inconsistent sizing. It is because of poor spacing. Practice correct spacing by starting with the simple letters.

Mini-Assessment & Certificate

Just when you master the cursive alphabet or sign a bank file, create something for college professors who still use cursive writing nowadays. It’s a lot of fun!

In a sense, you can get a certificate as you master the cursive writing process. Here is the self-checklist that you must pass:

Checklist
0
/
Correct posture.
Accurate hand position.
Same-size letter formation.
Correct letter spacing.
Work with the slant.
Practice of different joins.
Slant rules.
Writing within the grind.
Practice of lowercase and uppercase letters.
Signature practice.
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Once you’ve completed this checklist and feel confident in your skills, you’ll be well on your way to mastering cursive writing and achieving a level of proficiency you can be proud of!

Summing Up

Cursive writing is attempting something new and taking your creativity to another level. When you complete a page in cursive, you will learn to write faster and differentiate many old letters.

It is also a chance to understand what seemed like nonsense or redundant phrases before. All the rest aside, you will be able to learn how to write in cursive and feel really classy!

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Bonnie Adair, writer at PapersOwl

Bonnie Adair is a skilled writer with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. She specializes in simplifying complex academic topics and has been recognized in literary magazines. Outside of writing, Bonnie enjoys nature, hiking, kayaking, and photography, always seeking inspiration for her work.

Bonnie Adair is a skilled writer with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. She specializes in simplifying complex academic topics and has been recognized in literary magazines. Outside of writing, Bonnie enjoys nature, hiking, kayaking, and photography, always seeking inspiration for her work.

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