I am trying to write much more and thus using my pens more. To get some inspiration: for which things do you use your pens? Just for specific things or are you an all-rounder? And do you write much/a lot?
I am trying to write much more and thus using my pens more. To get some inspiration: for which things do you use your pens? Just for specific things or are you an all-rounder? And do you write much/a lot?
BlkWhiteFilmPix (January 24th, 2019)
1. Writing, sketching.
2. All-rounder.
3. Yup. Letters, lists, journals, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, notes, thinks.
My other pen is a Montblanc.
And my other blog is a tumblr!
And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM2NGSSD
Lady Onogaro (January 25th, 2019)
Honestly, this seems the wrong way around. If you want to buy something for the fun of it, do it. If you want to do something because you enjoy the doing, do it. But doing something just because you bought the tool seems like a joyless waste of time. Time isn't an infinite resource. Spend it doing either what's most useful or enjoyable at any one time. If you want to write or draw because the activities appeal to you, then do that - and then choose the most effective tools, not the pens you already bought.
...I hand write thousands of words every week and type thousands more. It's work and I find it satisfying, and I chose my tools carefully to be the best for the purpose - a Filco mechanical keyboard with Cherry Brown MX switches and dampers, extremely custom emacs install, and a Kakuno F nib (it beat out every other pen I auditioned - even the Triumph nib Sheaffers and my Danitrio Raw) and custom printed paper. Typing something just because I have a good keyboard, no. Not even if I get around to buying that Topres with electrocapacitive switches. Ditto for pens.
Mechanical keyboard? That's not a mechanical keyboard! This is a mechanical keyboard:
IMG_3229.jpg
AzJon (January 24th, 2019), azkid (January 31st, 2019), inklord (January 25th, 2019), Kaputnik (January 24th, 2019), Lady Onogaro (January 25th, 2019), Morgaine (January 31st, 2019), Sailor Kenshin (January 24th, 2019), VertOlive (January 24th, 2019)
I''d agree that a good starting point is wanting to write for the sake of writing. Using better tools (fountain pens rather than ballpoints) may help you enjoy the process more, and perhaps write more as a result, but I don't know that that's an end in itself. Then again, for some it may be something to pursue for its own sake.
As for what I write, fountain pens have become my primary writing instrument over the past eight years or so. I use them at work for most of what I write by hand. My work notebook of technical notes is all in fountain pen. Quick jottings which won't be saved may be in either FP or pencil, usually a mechanical pencil.
I keep a journal, rarely missing a day's entry, and generally writing at least a couple of pages, often considerably more. Since I don''t want to binge on too much introspection, and since there isn't always anything interesting to record about my own activities, I use it to record interesting things that I learn, and muse about the events of the day.
I have one little notebook with alphabetized tabs that I didn't know what else to do with, so I've made it my private glossary for new words that I learn.
There have been some stalled efforts at producing publishable fiction, but so far they are all at the notebook stage, and I haven't worked on "my book" for a while.
I never learned to draw, and am now trying to teach myself through books and of course, practice. I prefer to use pencils for this, but at least one of the beginner books has me using pen for some purposes. It recommends gel pens, and that's actually what I've been doing, but I have tried my FPs as well, and may return to them as I get more confident.
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
G.K. Chesterton
NibsForScript (January 24th, 2019), Pterodactylus (January 24th, 2019)
Good to know!
But where are your drawings in the Art and Calligraphy Forum?
I want to see them!
As you might know I started drawing the same way a couple of years ago at FPN, first I wrote posts, then I started to add scribbles to it, at the end I ended writing much less and drawing mainly.
.... this can be an addictive process.
... and an expensive one too......
First I bought a lot of FP because of the writing.....
..... then I bought a lot of art supplies(tools and materials) because of the drawing .....
I've just spent some time enjoying your work in the Art and Calligraphy forum.
As for myself, if I end up producing anything that seems worth sharing publicly, I will. I'm far from being there yet. But the nice thing about being at the bottom is that you can only go up.
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
G.K. Chesterton
Pterodactylus (January 25th, 2019)
I have a Matias QuietPro mechanical keyboard that types like a dream. I love it. I use it when I need to input text into a computer. Often that text is composed and rewritten once or twice in fountain pen, and then transcribed.
I'm a professional writer and editor (one of several hats I wear), and I do most of my writing with a fountain pen. That includes fiction, nonfiction, letter-writing, shopping lists and filling out forms (unless they're in triplicate). I've never made a first draft of an internet forum post in fountain pen, however. Those get composed at the keyboard.
I used to do a fair bit of edged-nib calligraphy, but fell out of practice. I've started doing practice drills, trying to get back up to speed, but my drawing table is in my unheated garage (well, okay, I've got a space heater, but it's still a hostile environment in winter), so I'm limping along in that department for the nonce. I tried fountain pen briefly but didn't like the way the inks looked, so I'm doing almost all my calligraphy with dip pens. I'm also gearing up to start learning pointed pen calligraphy when it gets warm (been reading how-to manuals), and will be using dip pens for that, too. I've acquired some very cool vintage nibs.
I used to draw in pen and ink a lot, and back then my instrument of choice was a Rapidograph technical pen. I had a set, and they required an enormous amount of babying, but when they were working smoothly, they were a delight. Lately I've been doing a little sketching in fp, mostly with firm fine nibs, but also a little with some semi-flex. I'm even rustier at drawing than at calligraphy; too many years doing digital art. But I hope to eventually be once again able to produce something I won't be too terribly ashamed to show people.
My biggest problem isn't what to use my pens and other instruments for, but finding the time to do it.
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
(What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)
Pterodactylus (January 27th, 2019)
OP here.
I am not looking for things to do just because I bought pens . I do use and love all the pens I bought (journaling mostly), I am just afraid that I don´t use them enough which will result in cartridges drying up, etc. For example, I had not a chance to use them in the last three days. However, I could have explained that better in the OP.
Thank you
Hm, you might hit the nail on the head there. At work I am very digital (despite working as secretary I have a background in IT) and my other hobbies are digital too. Finding time or opportunities to use pens is indeed not easy. And that was more what I meant with my original question.
Sailor Kenshin (January 29th, 2019)
That still seems backwards. If the pens you use dry out too fast for the way that you use them, then doesn't make more sense to buy pens that seal better rather than writing or drawing for the sake of it? Platinum Preppies, Cools, Balances and Plasirs are cheap and will keep ink "fresh" for around a year. And I be very surprised if any pen with an inner cap has problems with just a few days - I often leave my $3 Baoer 100 that long and it's never complained.
Last edited by ilikenails; January 29th, 2019 at 06:24 AM.
In my work I have no need to write a word with a FP (I have an IT job).
But I use every excuse to write or scribble with my FPs.
E.g. scribbling or writing random words during (boring) telcos, to take notes (that I could do also digital), to help to visualize problems I´m working on.....
writing shopping lists, posts for FPGeeks, sketching, drawing, writing just for fun or to improve....
Ok, you got me, I´ve way too many FPˋs for what I write......but I donˋt care, I like my pens even most of them are quite a long time in their storage before I use them again..... It’s luxury to be able to choose from many options.
... I don´t feel guilty (and will not share my pens with others which have less or none)
BlkWhiteFilmPix (January 24th, 2019)
Yeah, I studied IT and while I am now working as a sort of secretary, my job is quite digital and most of my hobbies are digital as well. I like writing on paper, it just quite difficult to find opportunities... I do keep a journal and also a bulletjournal at work for which I use my pens. If I need to take notes during a meeting I use a pen,
Maybe I am overcomplicating it in my head :P But it is still fun to read what others do.
1. Writing letters and notes to people.
Also for taking notes during appointments, jotting down things that come up that I want to remember, some drawing, and filling out forms.
2. All-rounder.
3. A lot. Writing letters and notes is my main way to communicate with people. And I keep journals.
Keep using your pens.
Bob
Making the world a more peaceful place, one fine art print and one handwritten letter at a time.
“If ‘To hold a pen is to be at war’ as Voltaire said, Montblanc suggests you show up in full dress uniform, ready to go down like an officer and a gentleman among the Bic-wielding hordes.” - Chris Wright
Paper cuts through the noise – Richard Moross, MOO CEO
Indiana Jones used a notebook in the map room, not an app.
www.bobsoltys.net/fountainpens
Morgaine (January 31st, 2019), NibsForScript (January 24th, 2019)
Having pens is not the reason I write. I write a lot and so I need fountain pens to keep from getting hand cramps and writer's calluses.
I keep several journals going at once, different books for different subjects. In summer, when I am busy gardening and taking canoe trips, I write ideas in a pocket notebook. In winter, I take the ideas of summer and write entries for the journals. A journal entry usually goes through several edits and drafts before a fair copy is made in the journal book with permanent ink. Then, I am likely to pound it into my computer and share it with friends. When friends and relatives come to our house for visits, they are free to browse my journal collection. If they can't read my cursive chicken scratchin' they can watch the boob tube.
Examples: I played music with a string band for 28 years. We probably averaged 20 gigs per year. They are all described in a stack of journal books. I played with a Celtic string band for 10 years. Ditto those gigs.
There are stacks of canoe trip journals, cat journals, gardening journals, miscellaneous rants and observations.
To me, a pen is a tool. In my opinion, the best of those tools were made in the '40s and '50s and those are the ones I keep in my hoard.
"Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little." -Epicurus-
BlkWhiteFilmPix (January 28th, 2019), carlos.q (January 24th, 2019), Lady Onogaro (January 25th, 2019), NibsForScript (January 24th, 2019)
All my blog posts are drafted with a fountain pen in a notebook.
I’ve completely switched over to fountain pens, so they’re definitely all-rounders. Over the years I had transitioned to doing most of my work on a computer, but in 2017 I re-taught myself cursive after a 30-year hiatus. I switched to handwriting all my notes for work, initially just as an excuse to practice my cursive and improve my handwriting. I found that I enjoyed all the extra time I was getting with my FPs so I never stopped.
Now I hand write pretty much everything (except legal documents and emails) and later type it all up. Yes, it’s twice the work, but it makes the work more pleasurable. And that’s not including all the cognitive benefits that handwriting purportedly provides.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I use my pens for daily journaling (including doodles) and for extensive pen pal correspondence.
I've never used them for work either in the lab or the morgue and funeral home mainly because I have to use horrible paper in those arenas and I can't stand the feathering and breaking nibs on triplicate forms-- those are ballpoint duties.
I use nice mechanical pencils for bookkeeping and Latin study--because erasers.
Last edited by VertOlive; January 24th, 2019 at 09:46 PM.
"Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine
Lady Onogaro (January 25th, 2019)
Last edited by carlos.q; January 25th, 2019 at 04:20 AM.
azkid (January 31st, 2019)
Mostly grocery lists.
But also pen pals.
I also tend to plot out D&D plots, characters, maps, etc. in draft because the pen is what I have on hand when an idea pops into my head.
Sometimes I just fill a page with ribbons to watch the ink dry.
Morgaine (January 31st, 2019)
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