but I still feel like my handwriting isn’t very neat, I don’t need to have that ‘ultra satisfying caligraphy’ level of neatness, but does anyone know any resources for improving handwriting beyond ‘here is the order you write kana in’
I think there was a helpful user on here that posted these sheets with squares for kanji writing. I wished I remembered who or what thread. Maybe you can search the forums for an easy way to print these things.
I tend to practice all of my Japanese writing in maths exercise books, the ones with the little squares! They’re cheap to pick up in stationary shops or online, and you can use the squares to keep all the kanji consistent sizes and fit the elements of the kanji neatly together. That should help improve your spacing, balance etc and then when you freehand it it’s easier to keep neat.
Another thing I find helps, is using something like a fineliner/ink pen to write rather than biro. They just tend to flow nicer for me.
Start out big. Like ridiculously, comically big so you feel more like you’re drawing a drawing than writing. One-inch squares. Draw slowly, making each stroke correctly. It’s then easier to scale down to normal writing size once the big size seems too easy. Good habits degrade gracefully when you’re in a hurry or intentionally being sloppy, but bad handwriting does not magically get better when you want it to. Your teacher is already doing the thing that will work, making you practice.
Budget (or more readily handy without going to the store) alternative to the grid paper: Take a sheet of normal lined writing paper, turn it 90° so the lines are vertical, put it underneath the top sheet so the lines faintly show through.