When writing Chinese characters you need to write each stroke in the correct order in order for it to look right. Here are some principles for determining stroke order:

• Write the strokes top to bottom.
• Write the strokes left to right.
• A horizontal stroke precedes a vertical stroke.
• Write the outer strokes before the inner strokes.
• The bottom, or sealing stroke at the bottom of an outer box is written after the inside strokes.
• Write a middle stroke before the stroke that goes on each ide.