How to Write Straight Text

Solid lettering is a useful skill if you want to write a handwritten letter, keep a diary, or write an invitation. Let’s start with improving handwriting with some tweaks. After that, you can practice writing all lowercase and uppercase letters solidly, gradually practicing writing all the letters of the alphabet. Remember to perfect the technique by practicing once a day and challenge yourself to write long sentences or paragraphs in solid text.

Table of Contents

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Sit on a chair at the desk. Sit in a comfortable chair behind a desk that is about a foot higher than your thighs. Both feet should be flat on the floor when sitting upright in a chair. Keep your back straight and relax your shoulders. ^{[1] X Research Source}

You should not sit at a desk that is too low or too high. Make sure not to stoop or strain to sit comfortably behind the table.

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Use a marker. You can also use a gel pen that flows evenly. Dark ink like blue or black will help you see better when writing on paper. ^{[2] X Research Source}

You can also use a pencil to write text seamlessly, especially if you want to erase the letters and rewrite them. Choose a triangle body pencil with a hardness of B because it is softer on paper and easier to write on.

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Choose lined paper to keep the font size and stroke uniform. Look for paper with dotted lines in between the lines. You can find lined paper at school supply stores or buy it online. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

If you like paper without lines to have a lot of space to write butterfly strokes, go for it. However, paper without lines will not help you write the letters evenly.

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Cross the paper. If you’re writing with your right hand, be sure to align the top right and bottom left corners of the paper with your nose. Hold the paper with your left hand. If you’re left-handed, keep the top left and bottom right corners of the paper in line with your nose, holding the paper with your right hand. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Crossing the paper is for writing italic strokes. When writing solid text, the letters should be tilted to the right at an angle of 35 degrees.

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Use your other hand to push the paper up as you write. That way you can write evenly and easily. Remember to adjust the paper to always write at a diagonal angle.

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Hold a pencil or pen gently at a 45-degree angle. Hold the pen on the middle finger, use the thumb and index finger to hold the pen. Hold the pen loosely and comfortably. Do not hold the pen so tightly that your fingernails turn white or cause your fingers to stiffen. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Write lowercase letters in a straight line

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Practice writing the letter “a.” Bring a curved line up from the bottom line to the dotted line, then circle back to form a slanted “o” of the letter “a.” Starting from the beginning of the letter “o” above the dotted line downward, ending the stroke below the dotted line ^{[6] X Source of Research}

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Write the letter “c.” Take a stroke up from the dotted line and circle to the right. The reverse circle forms a slanted “o”, but instead of writing a closed “o”, you end the stroke just below the dotted line.

Once you’ve mastered the letters “a” and “c,” try writing other letters with similar strokes like “d,” “q,” and “g.”

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Try writing the letter “i.” To make the letter “i” solid, you would take one stroke up the dotted line, then down to the bottom line, ending with a dot over the “i” line. right above the dotted line. ^{[7] X Research Source}

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Practice writing the letter “u.” Take one stroke up the dotted line, then drag down to the bottom line and curve up to the dotted line again, ending with a hook stroke below the dotted line.

You can also try writing other letters with similar strokes like “w” and “t.”

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Write the letter “e.” To write the letter “e,” you would start with a stroke that goes up from the bottom line, then circles down behind that stroke. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Try writing the letter “l.” Take a stroke up the top line, then circle down behind it, reaching the bottom line. Finish with an upward crochet stroke just above the bottom line.

You can try writing other letters with similar strokes like “h,” “k,” “b,” “f,” and “j.”

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Practice writing the letter “n.” Start with a stroke that goes up to the dotted line, then goes straight down to the bottom line. Next, take a stroke up to the dotted line and circle down. Finish with a crochet stroke. just above the bottom line ^{[9] X Research Source}

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Write the letter “m.” To write a solid “m” follow the same steps as for an “n” but add one more upward and downward stroke after the first downward stroke. Finish with a crochet stroke just above the bottom line.

Once you’ve mastered these letters, you can try writing other letters with similar strokes like “v” and “x.”

Write solid capital letters

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Try writing the letter “A.” Start with a downward stroke from the top line to the bottom line. Curve and circle back up to the top line to create an oval shape. Next, take a stroke down from the top of the oval and make a crochet upstroke just above the top line. ^{[10] X Research Source}

The solid capital “A” is similar to the lowercase “a”, except that it will touch the upper and lower lines.

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Try writing the letter “O.” Start with a small loop in the top line, pulling from right to left. At the end of the loop, you will loop a large curve to the right, forming an oval that reaches the top line. The tip of this curve will overlap the small hook loop at the top of the “o.” ^{[11] X Research Source}

The uppercase “O,” “M,” and “N” letters are also written with strokes similar to lowercase letters. The only difference is that it takes up more space.

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Practice writing the letter “B.” Start with a straight line down from the top line to the bottom line; followed by a circular curve next to it, from the top of the curve down to just above the dotted line. Round another circle from center to bottom to make a small loop and finish with a crochet up to right, just above the bottom line. ^{[12] X Research Source}

The uppercase “B” is very different from the lowercase “b”. You may have to practice a few times to get it right.

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Write the letter “E.” Start with a small vertical loop that pulls down from the top line, then loops to the left to make another larger vertical loop, pulling down to just above the dotted line. Make another small loop over the dotted line and loop it down to make a larger loop that touches the bottom line. Finish with a crochet up to just above the bottom line. ^{[13] X Research Source}

A solid capital “E” looks like the number “3” written backwards.

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Practice writing the letter “L.” Start with a loop to the right, just below the dotted line. Curl the loop up to the top line, then drag it down to the left until it hits the bottom line. Loop a small loop up to the right, then pull down just below the bottom line. ^{[14] X Research Source}

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Practice writing the letter “Y.” Start with a small circle that drags down to the right, loops down to the bottom line, and again up to just above the dotted line. Next, take a downward slant, cross the bottom line and circle up to the right. ^{[15] X Research Source}