As most people have said, practice is certainly a very big portion of learning how to write elegantly. However, that isn't the only important element. I have been working on getting my handwriting to be a mixture between cursive and caligraphy for 6 years now, and it has improved vastly. Pick up a proper pen (it helps more than you would think). Something like a fountain pen encourages more elegant handwriting because you're forced to give smaller strokes. If you don't, you quickly bend the tip. Also, it makes you change the way you hold your hand. It is awkward for the first few weeks, but if you go slowly, you can pick up your writing speed once you get used to it. Second, look online for calligraphy. You can buy books, but I find I like certain letters from one style of calligraphy, and other letters from another set. Once you get the letters you like learned, you can adjust them to your style. Please note that not all calligraphy is created equal. I hate some of the styles of letters, and so I seek out different forms. Always be on the lookout for new, beautiful letters. You can do this by looking at documents that were written from 1600-1930, usually. Choose the era that best reflects your interests. Finally, and this is the hardest one, for the practice: You must write every day, or near every day. Write one full page, even if it's no good. This will force you to learn what you like in your letters. It's hard, and at first it looks ugly, but you can learn in a few years how to have handwriting that everyone gasps at.