How to write in cursive

What is cursive writing?

Cursive writing features letters that are joined together. Essentially the idea is to write without lifting your pen or pencil. It is an alternative approach to block-letters, where you lift the pen between each letter.

Cursive writing was first developed in the 17th century and was mostly adopted by professionals when writing important documents. The origins of cursive writing are also linked with the quill. It allowed people to write for extended periods without having to lift their quill from the page.

Although technology has largely transformed the way we write today, cursive handwriting is still considered a helpful tool for a range of different scenarios.

What is cursive handwriting used for?

You’ll find cursive handwriting, or similar styles, appearing in a number of settings:

• Digital cursive writing. Cursive fonts are often used to add an authentic feel to digital text. For example, cursive can be used in online advertisements or certificates to evoke a more traditional appearance.
• Online signature tools. Cursive handwriting is often used to mimic a traditional handwritten signature. For example, when you fill and sign a PDF, you can transform your name into a written cursive signature.
• A useful tool for handwriting. Cursive writing used to be mandatory in schools but has since fallen out of use. However, it is still considered a helpful tool for promoting faster and neater handwriting.
• Personal communications. Cursive writing is still used in personal communications, such as handwritten birthday cards, official invitations and letters.

Why use cursive writing?

Cursive writing can offer several benefits. Here are just a few reasons why you might use cursive writing for your own documents:

• Improve writing speed. Cursive writing can help improve your writing speed. As the letters are connected, this reduces the need to lift your pen or pencil from the paper.
• Style and aesthetic. Cursive writing can look more elegant than simple block-style text, making it a great addition to formal texts such as wedding menus or invitations.
• Enhanced brain activation. Neuroscience research suggests cursive writing can help activate specific neural pathways that facilitate and optimise learning and language development.

How to write in cursive: Key steps

It’s easy to learn cursive writing. Whether you were taught cursive writing in school and haven’t picked it back up in a while, or you’re looking to learn from scratch, we’ve pulled together a handy guide below:

1. Start with basic shapes

When you first begin cursive writing, it can help to begin with some basic strokes. You’ll just need a pen or pencil and some practice sheets to hand. Then try the following:

• Basic entrance/exit stoke.
• Basic upward stroke.
• Basic curve stroke.

2. Begin with the lowercase alphabet

Writing lowercase letters in cursive is easy. You’ll just need a printed cursive calligraphy alphabet for reference. We’ll split the lowercase alphabet into two sections: upward stroke letters and curve stroke letters.

Upward stroke lowercase letters

Letters such as b, h, m and u all start with an upward stroke. The letter ‘u’ is often the easiest to grasp:

1. Place the tip of your pen on the bottom line.
2. Create an upward stroke towards the dashed line.
3. Create a downward stroke, dipping to the bottom line and swinging up again.
4. Crate one more downward stroke to end just below the dashed line.

Curved stroke lowercase letters

a, d, e and o are examples of letters that fall under this category. O is often the easiest to practice:

1. Place the tip of your pen above the bottom line.
2. Arc up below the dashed line and curve round anticlockwise to close the gap below the dashed line.
3. Move down slightly and flick out to end on the dashed line.

3. Move on to the uppercase alphabet

Next its time to move onto the uppercase alphabet. There are different rules here and the curved strokes are typically much bigger. The upward strokes also feature more curls and slants. But don’t worry as they’re just as easy to write as lowercase letters.

It can help to begin with the letter ‘L’:

1. Place the tip of your pen below the top line.
2. Arc down slightly above the dashed line and around anticlockwise, making your way up to the top line.
3. Arch over left and create a downward stroke to the bottom line.
4. Once you’re at the bottom line, curl up and around.
5. Then sweep your line out right to make a gentle curve.

Slowly make your way through the other letters using a calligraphy cursive alphabet as a guide.

4. Practice writing singular words

Once you’ve established the basics, try writing out some singular words. You may want to start out with all lowercase words before moving on to lowercase words with capitals. You may be able to find some practice worksheets online.

5. Put everything together!

Now that you’ve mastered the steps above, it’s time to pull everything together. Put your knowledge into action and start practicing cursive writing at any given chance. You could practice writing a short letter or a birthday card to a friend.

You could even scan your own cursive writing to create a bespoke font or signature for any digital documents.

Add cursive fonts to your documents with Acrobat.

Ready to use cursive writing in your own work? Experiment with different documents and file types using Adobe Acrobat’s online tools.

• Edit PDF
• Fill & Sign PDF
• Convert JPG to PDF
• Convert PDF to Word

Different cursive writing techniques to try.

There are different types of cursive handwriting techniques you can try, so you can find something that suits your style.

New American

This style of cursive writing features letters that slant slightly to the right. Complicated strokes are excluded from writing, which means it is often a simple style to learn.

D’Nealian

D’Nealian is a form of cursive writing where the hooks on the tails of each letter connect to the next tail or another letter. This style involves continuously writing without lifting your pen.

Spencerian script

Spencerian script is elegant and flowing. Popular examples of this include the original script designs for the Coca-Cola and Ford logos.