A novel promising method of melt writing of metailic precursor alloy followed by oxidation to produce superconducting coatings with variable shape on a strong tough substrate is reported. Bi 1.4Pb 0.6Sr 2Ca 3Cu 4Ag 11–36 alloys were used as the metallic precursors and silver sheets and stainless steel plates covered by silver sheets were used as the writing substrates. The coatings were oxidized and annealed to generate superconducting onset temperatures of 112–116 K, zero-resistance temperatures of 100–106 K and critical current densities of about 800 A cm −2 at 77 K in zero field. The thickness and shapes of the written coatings can be controlled by adjusting the processing parameters. The adhesion and surface smoothness of the coatings were also affected by the alloy composition and the melt-writing processing parameters. The microstructure of the superconducting coatings was studied by a combination of scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and X-ray powder diffraction. The oxidation and annealing conditions were found to be critically important for achieving good superconducting properties.