How do college students practice calligraphy?

First choose your ideal copybook, and consider whether it is similar to the glyphs you write. After you have selected it, read it several times to analyze the key points and structure of the glyphs. This is called "the intention lies in the words first", and then use transparent white paper to trace first, then copy, and memorize the key parts of each word.

The specific steps are as follows:

(1) Sit upright, with shoulders flat and back straight. The body and head cannot be tilted, let alone lowered; the eyes should be distanced from the table About one foot, the front chest is about three inches from the edge of the table.

(2) Hold the pen straight, and the pen tip should be straight forward, avoid tilting inwards (as long as the palm is flat, the pen tip will naturally move forward); the tip of the index finger should be about one inch from the pen tip. If you hold the pen incorrectly or the tip of the pen is tilted inward, you will not be able to write well, cannot write horizontally, cannot write well, and will not be able to write smoothly. You may even have to move your right hand every time you write a stroke. At the same time, the written lines have no spine and no rhythm, and the glyphs cannot be said to be relaxed and generous.

(3) The inclination of the pen barrel. To write large characters, hold the pen upwards and the inclination of the pen barrel should be slightly larger. To write small characters, hold the pen downwards and the inclination of the pen barrel slightly smaller. The general slope should be at the index finger joint. If it exceeds this position, the strokes written will be either rigid or dull. If the inclination of the pen barrel is inappropriate, the pen speed will be limited, and it will be impossible to write elegant and charming glyphs, so the "tiger's mouth" should not be tilted.

(4) Hold the pen lightly so that you can move the pen freely; if you hold the pen too tightly, your writing will not be broad and generous. According to what I saw during lectures in middle schools, in a class of fifty students, forty-five people held their pens incorrectly or their pen tip was tilted inward. This is also the case in universities. It is for this reason that the characters written by these students are not hooked properly. It looks like a hook, but the 捺 does not look like a 捺. The strokes are all flat and piled up.

As mentioned before, the quality of writing is absolutely related to posture and writing. Just like a carpenter sawing wood, if your posture and holding the saw are not correct, no matter how straight the "line" is, you will saw it crookedly. This is the same as writing good calligraphy.