Overstrokes and understrokes and joins

All of these comments are focused on the lines that transition between the stem strokes.

A stem stroke is anything that is drawn right over the top of a slant line.

They are all written from top to bottom and we call them a stem

because the strokes that take you back up are called branch strokes.

So - your transition from a stem to a branch should be graceful. 

It can be a little pointed - but it should not be a big scoop.

The branch strokes will give you both letters and joins.

On an m and n, the branch stroke has a subtle (secret) curve that gives a tiny bit of volume to the letter.

On the u - after you come down on the first stem and you have to go back up for the second stem

you put in a secret curve - to form that under stroke - that gives the u some volume.

The exit stroke at the end of a word will usually have a bit of under curve, like a u.

The shape of all of the letters is a parallelogram.

It tilts to the right.

All the down strokes (stem strokes) are directly on top of the slant lines.

All of the joins, over strokes and under strokes should go

roughly

on a diagonal - across that parallelogram.

Not exactly straight.

But with that secret bit of curve - either over curve or under curve.

Compare 3A above and 3B below to see the difference in branching

Look below at the difference in the two humps on the m.

Look at other m's that I did not mark up.

Below - notice what happens when you do not keep the main strokes on top of the guide lines.

That second mint is so compressed. That poor little n is squished.

That word *unit towards the bottom had a lot of nice space between the letters.

On the baseline, the tight curves are a little pointy - but if you have a choice between too pointy and a big wide scoop - it is much better to go with the pointy transition.