Calligraphy and hand lettering are often used interchangeably but involve genuinely different skills and tools — worth distinguishing before buying supplies for one assuming they cover the other.
Calligraphy and hand lettering are different skills
Calligraphy is the practice of writing letters in one continuous, flowing stroke using a pen (or brush), where the tool itself, combined with pressure variation, creates the thick-and-thin line variation characteristic of the style — the letters are essentially written, once, correctly, with the pen doing much of the visual work through its inherent design. Hand lettering is technically drawing letters, often built up through multiple strokes, sketched and refined rather than written in one continuous motion, meaning any tool (including a basic pencil or marker) can be used, since the letterforms are illustrated rather than penned in a single stroke. Someone wanting the classic look of flowing script calligraphy specifically needs calligraphy tools and technique, while hand lettering offers more tool flexibility for a different, more illustrative letterform style.
Nib flexibility is what actually creates line variation in calligraphy
A pointed calligraphy nib flexes and spreads under increased pressure, producing a wider line on a downstroke and a thin line on an upstroke — this pressure-based line variation is the core visual signature of pointed-pen calligraphy styles like Copperplate or Modern Calligraphy. Nibs vary considerably in flexibility, and a nib too stiff for a beginner doesn't respond as readily to pressure changes, making it harder to achieve visible line variation regardless of technique, while an overly flexible or a poorly suited nib for a beginner's still-developing pressure control can catch or splatter unpredictably. Testing a few nib options, since feel varies meaningfully between them, is worth doing rather than assuming any nib produces similar results.
Ink flow and paper compatibility affect results as much as the pen itself
Calligraphy ink needs to flow well through the specific nib being used without being so thin that it bleeds or feathers into the paper, or so thick that it doesn't flow smoothly at all. Paper matters just as much — smooth, non-absorbent paper (rather than standard, more porous printer or notebook paper) prevents ink from feathering into fibers and bleeding into an unintentionally thicker, less controlled line than the nib and hand actually produced.
Broad-edge (chisel-tip) calligraphy is a distinct style from pointed-pen
Broad-edge calligraphy, used for styles like Italic or Gothic blackletter, uses a flat, chisel-shaped nib held at a consistent angle, where line variation comes from the direction of the stroke relative to the nib's angle, rather than from pressure the way pointed-pen calligraphy works. This is a genuinely different technique and tool requiring separate practice — someone learning pointed-pen script calligraphy isn't automatically equipped with broad-edge technique, and vice versa, even though both fall under the general "calligraphy" umbrella term.
The one thing people forget
Practice basic strokes and drills repeatedly before attempting full words or phrases, the same foundational approach used in most structured calligraphy instruction — consistent basic strokes (ovals, straight lines with correct pressure application) build the muscle memory and control that full letterforms depend on, and skipping this foundational practice to jump straight to writing words often means struggling with inconsistent results that repeated basic drills would have addressed first.