I found this piece by designer Sean McCabe to be right on point, especially if you’re just now becoming interested in hand lettering.
It squares with everything any teacher has ever told me about hand lettering and/or calligraphy—which pretty much boils down to “practice, practice, practice…then practice some more”. In other words, if you live long enough you might get good at it.
In this tutorial, McCabe describes his process in detail, which is remarkable similar to mine although I tend to be less reliant on guidelines these days in my practice which seems to encourage more spontaneous acts of lettering and practice in front of the TV. But that’s just me. While lately I find myself drawn to letterers who work with less precision and more anarchy I still hold out great respect for disciplined artists like McCabe who really put in the time.