Inkscape user here. It’s been a while, but I’ll try to help.
Minor tip #1: simplify curves obsessively for smoothness, and keep doing it as you work and checking the results. Ctrl-L will get you some of the way, as will deleting nodes, but note that both methods make sharp angles fairly frequently. You can re-highlight all the nodes of a simple line (F2, Ctrl-A) and hit “make selected nodes smooth” to smooth things out again.
I generally start dotting in body strokes in a fairly angular fashion as single lines, then do the above for a body stroke to get it looking right. Then set an appropriate line width and round caps, and use Stroke to Path to get an object that can be thinned and pinched at the end for a nice calligraphic taper-off. You get into a bit of a rhythm doing it after a while.