I think the essence of calligraphy skills is the basic norms expressed in works. There are standard requirements for strokes, structure, composition, etc. If a work meets the standard requirements in all aspects, we can say that the author is very skilled.
After deliberate design and thousands of practices, it is easier to write works that seem to be very skillful, and often win calligraphy awards. Some people call such people "calligraphers overnight." In fact, how can one become a calligrapher overnight? Therefore, when examining a person's calligraphy skills, we should not only look at his works, but also his improvised and propositional works.
As the saying goes, it takes a thousand days to raise an army and use it for a moment. Calligraphy skills are accumulated over time. There is no other way to improve your skills, just practice one word at a time. To put it bluntly, there is a trick: go deep into one subject. After practicing for two hours a day for five years, you should have basic skills. If you practice European Ti for a few months, then Yan Ti for a few months, then Liu Ti for a few months, then Zhao Ti for a few more months, and in the last few years, from the perspective of skill, I think it is not as good as always Only practice one font. For example, practicing boxing, to put it bluntly, is nothing more than a few countable elements such as speed, strength, and moves. Even if you can do Baijia Quan, it is nothing more than a variety of moves. Speed ??and strength are the basic skills. The same is true for calligraphy. The basic strokes and frames are the common and fundamental points of all calligraphers. The different styles of calligraphers are only branches and details. Excessive pursuit of style changes often ignores basic things.
Perhaps it should be clarified that when I talk about this topic, I only have regular script in mind. I also tend to think this is the case for other calligraphy styles. Even cursive scripts have inherent norms that cannot be ignored.