Consistency is important in a lettering project. That is, the lettering for that project should be angled sharply, or use sharp points, or be rounded in design, and so on, in a uniform way across the project (of course there are plenty of beautiful projects that deliberately mix styles). I like to slightly curve the tops of my a's while others may favor a straighter stroke. What matters most is keeping that design detail consistent. As usual, there are exceptions.

You'll notice in the videos that not every letter is perfect. For instance, a stroke doesn't quite reach the baseline (or goes beyond it), or my straight line has a slight jog in it. That's okay, because people will see the overall effect, not each letter on its own. Further mastery will iron out these kinks over time. I'm just not there yet, so have patience with me!

Also, the individual differences between the letters - no two being exactly alike - is what sets the personal, hand-written work apart from the artificial, machine-perfect output from your computer printer or local printer's.

When you're ready to practice putting letters and words together, you can start with sentences that contain all the letters of the alphabet, such as the ever-popular "a quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." When you're tired of that, you can choose phrases about subjects you are interested in. Choose snatches of songs and hymns, text from your holy book, wit and witticisms, poetry and parables.