As some of you know, I spend my days surrounded by fountain pens because that's my day job. As I've worked with "nice" writing instruments pretty much all of my working life, I pay a lot of attention to the pen I use. I enjoy to touch them; I enjoy to write with them; and I don't like to use cheap throw-away ballpens you can get at every corner. I ban them from my house, much to the chagrin of my husband who hardly ever notices what he's writing with. Recently, I got a particularly nice fountain pen for my birthday. Its barrel shows autumn leaves as my birthday is in autumn, it has gorgous colors that make me happy even if the weather is so bland it brings me down, and it writes like a dream. I filled it with brown ink as the finishing touch - and now I enjoy taking notes more than ever.
Beside my fountain pen, I love pencils. They are so . . . forgiving. And flexible. I like that concept of erasing things and starting again. If you look at the tools a writer has to have, a keyboard is certainly more important than a pen . . . but we all take notes whereever we go; we all love to have pen and paper within reach to make sure our darting ideas don't escape before we catch them. How about you? Do you write with fountain pens at all? Do you prefer rollerballs or ball pens? Or even pencils? Do you have a much-loved pen that you never want to lose? Or it it all the same to you as long as the thing writes?
9 comments:
I have to admit that I don't think much about my writing instrument. In fact, I take for granted that there will always be something at hand when I need it, but your post has reminded me how lucky I am to be able to make that statement.
Enjoy your new birthday pen - and put it to good use writing stories.
I like the pencils with the adjustable points. You never have to sharpen them and they always seem to have an eraser intact. Only problem is everyone else likes them too and they're always disappearing.
I had a fountain pen all through high school and I loved it. The nib became worn on one side and probably should have been replaced every few years. I always had a bottle of Pacific Blue Fountain ink to fill it.
Now I just grab any old pen but some are definitely better to write with than others. I don't know where my beloved fountain pen is--perhaps I should look for it.
Lis, do you learn to write with a fountain pen at school in Australia? We do in Germany - the kids even get a certificate when they know how to write. Sandy and Zelda, is that the same in the US?
Back when I was in school (a long time ago), we had to learn to write with a fountain pen. I don't think my kids did. Too bad. Fine penmanship is a good skill to have.
I loved my fountain pen when I was younger, but have since moved to roller balls. As a teacher for many years, I needed something that flew across the page with no friction because I had so many papers to grade. The few times I write by hand now, I use those, too.
I doubt whether many kids now would know what a fountain pen was! Which is what Jane's next post is all about.
I was another who had to write at school with a fountain pen, but sadly that policy failed to give me a love of physical writing. I just never write anything down, with any writing instrument. I even panic when I have to sign a book!
From your comments, it seems that fountain pens are becoming rare indeed. I have found that I write much better with a fountain pen than with a roller ball or ball pen. My writing looks nicer, maybe because I write slower, maybe because the ink gives my letters nicer curves . . . who knows. But I do enjoy it! Thank you for all your comments! It's so encouraging to get answers when you blog!
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