Write Beautifully Workshop

When I was putting together this workshop and creating presentation slides (because I organize any lesson I teach into slides), I already felt stumped with the first slide. The. First. Slide.

Nothing like feeling those writer vibes and feeling writers block right on that first empty page.

It’s all in the title. It sets the tone.

I was set to teach beginner level people who expressed interest in wanting to learn about calligraphy. I cannot be too technical, I cannot be too casual either. How do I make calligraphy really and super beginner friendly? How can I start talking about this thing that I do that I love, but it takes a lot of practice, and the tools could be intimidating, but that it’s all gonna be all right because calligraphy is fun and so rewarding?

I did not want it to be as basic as “Introduction to Calligraphy."It’s too academic.

And then I got it: Write Beautifully.

Once upon a time, I was a beginner too, and what attracted me to calligraphy posts on social media was simply how beautiful the letters looked like. Calligraphy videos were so mesmerizing, it’s like I was hypnotized.

That’s the point of calligraphy, and something that beginners and experienced calligraphers can all agree on: beautiful letters on a page. That’s what all drew us in the beginning.

After figuring out the title of my workshop, everything just fell into place. All the steps into learning basic calligraphy with the most basic of tools just kicked in.

In this workshop, I taught the basics of calligraphy using Sharpie felt tip markers, pencils, and graph paper.

No calligraphy brush pens or pen holders yet. No ink. No calligraphy practice grids yet. No 55-degree slants yet. None of those yet.

I wanted to introduce calligraphy and fuel that starting interest and make the whole process less intimidating. I wanted these students to see that calligraphy can be done with the tools they already have in their backpack or drawers at home.

And, thankfully, this return to the most basics approach worked! The workshop was a success! This group of students learned, enjoyed, and asked to be shown more. My teacher heart was so happy!

I’ve been teaching Humanities and English courses for almost a decade now, and I’m thankful for the experiences I get to have as an academic educator. But teaching calligraphy? What a different feeling! Such a sense of satisfaction I got seeing the lightbulbs of students realizing what they can do with the simplest of tools, their hands, and that humble interest they have for this art form.

Not to mention, I had so much fun myself teaching and explaining the steps and showing the final product! For almost two hours, it felt like a different world for me. Teaching art.

Before the workshop, there were many moments of imposter syndrome. Am I good enough? Am I experienced enough to teach art? Am I an artist?

The monsters under my bed would say: Of course not, you’re not an artist.

At the end of that workshop though, the answers to those questions above did not matter.

Just dive in.

Art does that. It moves you to do, to dive in. Experience and see how it is. If you don’t know how to start, that’s OK, as long as you can see the end zone. The final product.

Like calligraphy, it takes hundreds of practice, but it all starts with that interest. Picking up that pen and paper, and knowing and imagining the end: beautiful letters written on the page.

Like teaching, it takes courage and heartbeats going a hundred miles per minute, but it all starts with that first slide. The first words your students see on screen. The first words you say out loud.

“Write Beautifully. This is our goal tonight. And this is the goal of every calligraphy artist. Welcome to this workshop.”