I work in lots of different contemporary styles. Some of the styles just came to me, a few are variations of my natural handwriting, but I found an interesting way of coming up with new hands. This will sound terrible at first but stick with me. Find a style you like and copy it. Before anyone burns me at the stake, I promise I'm not in favor of stealing from other artists. What I have found is that when I attempt to copy someone's style, my own tendencies shine through very prominently, thus making a very different script than the one I'm referencing. This way I can draw on a similar qualitiy or feeling from the inspiration script (ex: whimsical) while still creating something unique. This may not work out so well for you if you are an excellent reproductionist.
Oh my goodness, I love you Elsa. "Before anyone burns me at the stake..." LOL
I think that's great advice! I definitely feel like I'm drawn towards certain styles, but really had no idea where to even begin developing a style close to that. However, I can already predict my issues: I'll probably want THEIR style and resist having my own style coming through...especially since I feel like everything I do is rubbish right now (not feeling down about myself, just the reality of a newbie!).
BUT I think you're onto something though - studying letters and figuring out WHY I'm drawn to some forms rather than others may help me gauge and discover what I like!