Straight Lines in Shodō

Straight lines are so hard.   I took them apart and put them back together this morning in shodō class, blackening several pieces of scrap paper with straight lines, and had my first moment of feeling really proud of a character I had created; the first kanji in the word, "poet."  Of course the two diagonal lines in the second character still require some investigation but I'm pleased with my morning's discoveries and skill acquisition.  I'm on my way to drawing straight lines.

Sensei's on the left, mine on the right;
note the slight upward slant of the lines from left to right,
she gives a wonderful example to emulate