Technique for Copperplate Handwriting
A retrospective analysis of copperplate handwriting shows that there are some basic strokes that are peculiar to this type of fine handwriting. Practising these strokes can be tedious, but is necessary. After a little practice it becomes enjoyable, especially when you combine these strokes with loops. Here, you can actually let your fancy go wild as in the Spencerian style.
I don't think that there is a canonical rule on the number of key strokes, or movements, in fine handwriting; my analysis summarises them in just five strokes. Two of which are really fundamental:
The downward pressure stroke
The upward hairline stroke
It is the application of these two fundamental strokes that distinguishes copperplate, or cursive, handwriting from the more formal calligraphy scripts, such as Uncial, Carolingian, etc., which require a broad edged pen nib and the application of a constant pressure. In fact, in calligraphy scripts, there is no upward stroke; all strokes are, essentially, in a downward direction. The thick and thin lines are the result of moving the angle of the nib relative to the horizontal line of the character being written.
Preliminaries
Before explaining these two copperplate key strokes, it is best to discuss a couple of preliminaries specific to copperplate handwriting: 1- how to position the paper in order to make it easier to write with the right slope, and, 2- the benefit of using ink-reservoirs attached to your nib.
Paper position.
If you are using a straight nib, then the paper will need to be rotated to the left as shown in the adjacent illustration. The left-hand-side image shows the paper positioned in line with the desk represented by the arrowed line. If you attempt to write the slanted lines with the paper in this straight position, using a straight nib, you will find some difficulty in performing this task, unless you happen to be left-handed. The trick is to rotate the paper by 35o in an anti-clock-wise direction so that the slanted line becomes parallel with the desk. Now, if you draw a vertical line, that line is actually drawn at the appropriate angle of 55o. You can also use the slanted line on the printed Practice Sheet to rotate the paper until that line becomes vertical.
My personal handwriting slope line is about 70o, hence I only need to rotate the page about 20o anticlowise. Mistral's style was even more vertical, about 80o; Mistral was the famous French novelist from Provence.
Using a reservoir attached to the nib. 
When you start using the copperplate nib and you dip the nib into the inkwell, you will quickly discover that the amount of ink retained by the nib is barely enough to write a large letter or a short word at best. The process of dipping the pen into the inkwell is repetitive and necessary. By adding a nib reservoir then you will be able to write several words before you need to dip the pen again.
A nib reservoir is just a small piece of flexible metal prong that fits underneath the nib and into the pen holder. See the illustration on the left hand side. Half its length is bent inwards in order to form a cavity between the inner surface of the reservoir and the underside of the nib, thus holding a certain amount of ink.
If you can't easily find ink reservoirs in you location, then consider making your own using a tin can.
Stroke 1: Downward Pressure Stroke 
Print a couple of sheets from the Practice Sheet 5mm.pdf file and draw straight slanted lines, contained within the waist line and the base line, using a single downward stroke. While you move down from the starting point of the line, apply an even hand pressure and notice how the nib tines spread apart to allow more ink to flow onto the paper. It is this applied hand pressure, while you draw this downward stroke, that gives this fine handwriting style the variation in thickness between the downward stroke and the upward stroke.
Repeat this exercise by starting from the top of the ascender line and down to the base line. These limits define the size of the capital letters. I recommend positioning the nib on the ascender line. Apply a small amount of hand pressure and start moving downwards, as evenly as you can, till you reach the base line; now release the hand pressure. The result should be an approximately even thickness line, the thickness being a function of the amount of pressure you applied.
Stroke 2: Upward Hairline Stroke
The upward stroke is carried out without applying hand pressure on the nib. This results in a thin line. If you are using a nib like the Leonardt 5005 EF and attempt to apply pressure while you perform the upward stroke, you will end up scratching the paper and impede your upward movement. All the examples shown on this page were done 
with the 5005 EF nib. The first row of the adjacent illustration shows a set of consecutive upward straight slanted lines. The second row shows curved lines that starts from the base line and move upwards to describe a curve. Normally, the upward stroke is always in the shape of a curve rather than a straight line. The combination of this upward stroke followed by a downward stroke is shown at the end of the second row with the letter " l ". The technique is as follows: start at the base line and draw the upward curve, as you reach the top of the ascender line begin to curve the line to the left and as you start to draw the downward slope applying an even hand pressure till you are about 3/4 of the way down towards the base line. At this point gradually reduce the applied hand pressure to commence the bottom curve of the letter " l " and then draw a short upward hairline, the tail of the letter " l " without hand pressure. By the time you reach the base line all the hand pressure should have been released.
The fundamental rule of copperplate handwriting is contained in the above description: apply pressure on the downward stroke and release the pressure on the upward stroke; modulate the pressure as you turn from a upward stroke to a downward stroke, or vice-versa.
The letter " l " makes a good practice exercise, therefore I strongly suggest that you try a few pages practising this letter. As you gain proficiency and confidence you will find that loops seem to find their way into your style.
Stroke 3: Letter O 
The shape of the letter "O" in copperplate handwriting is not round but elliptical, that is oval. By the way, the etymology of oval is from "ovum," which is the Latin for egg; hence the oval shape. This letter is the root shape of other letters such as the "c", "d", "g", "q", and others. The technique is exactly the same as for the letter " l " except that the curves are contained between the waist line and the base line. The example shown in the illustration shows the letter "o" written plainly and some written with a small swirl; this is my normal way of writing the letter "o", and, in fact, it shows as those with the swirl are much more consistent and even than those without swirl! This little swirl is a kind of grace line that enables you to write without ever lifting the nib from the paper. The swirl is drawn without applying hand pressure. As you reach the top of the waist line, during the upward stroke of the letter "o", curve the line to form a small loop and tail, the tail ending back to the waist line.
Stroke 4: The Double Fish Hook Stroke 
This stroke, which I call the "double fish hook" on account of its shape, is drawn by placing the nib 1/4 down from the waist line and tracing an upward curve tangent to the waist line and curving clockwise to form a hook; then continue without lifting the pen from the paper in a downstroke straight line. As you approach the base line release the pressure, gradually, and curve to the right tangentially with the base line; then curve gently upwards to form an upward hook.
Stroke 4a: A variation of this stroke is the single hook stroke which is accomplished simply by omitting the bottom hook and finish as a straight slope line at the bottom of the base line, or by omitting the top hook and starting at the top of the waist line with the straight downward slope. In this latter case it is usual to start with a slanting leading upward line starting midway between the base line and the waist line, stroke 4b.
The double and single fish hook strokes are used to write the letter "n" and "m" as well as part of the "a", "h", "p" and "u".
Stroke 5: This stroke is a combination of Stroke-4b and Stroke-1 ending in a left-handed tail. Depending on how you want to form the dash line that normally cuts the letter "f" somewhere in the middle, there are several different ways of writing the letter "f". I will show two options:
Option 1- Start at the waist line and draw Stroke-4b, detail 1 on the adjacent illustration. Continue in an anticlockwise direction to turn downwards to do Stroke-1 that extends below the base line and curves towards the left to form a tail, detail 2 in the illustration. The distance above the waist line should be about the same as the distance below the base line. In this way you maintain symmetry and the grace of this letterform. Now put the dash line at the level of the waist line, detail 3. Detail 1 and 2 are drawn without lifting the pen. F|or detail 3 you have to lify yjr pen from the paper.
Option 2- Start at the base line and draw Stroke-4b, detail 1 in the adject lower illustration. Now, continue to draw the long pressure part of the letter using Stroke-1, till you approach the descender line and start turning in a clockwise direction, detail 2 in the lower illustration. Finally, repeat Stroke-4b to draw the upward loop ending into a small swirl pointing upwards, detail 3. Make the two loops as symmetrical as you can. The one shown on the lower illustration shows some minor imperfections in the symmetry of the two loops, and the long pressure stroke shows a thinner line at the top, whereas detail 2 is almost perfect. The reason for the small swirling loop pointing upwards is to provide a grace line to start the next letter. If the next letter was an "l" or an "r" (or any other letter), then you are already at the right level to start that second letter. Note also that the whole letter is written in a continuous stroke without ever lifting the pen from the paper.