Practicing writing japanese?

Question

what are some things you think I need in order to practice writing kanji?

like some people say pencil and graph paper...but right now I use college ruled paper and a ballpoint pen. but I'm not sure if that's right.

Answer 1

Graph paper and a pencil are better.  Japanese people typically use graph paper because it allows you to align characters vertically, as well as horizontally.  A ballpoint pen gives you a rather sharp line; a softer pencil line is better for kanji because it is more similar to a brush line.