Revelations

[Sandy]

I've been doing NaNoWrimo again this year.

The challenge is to produce 50,000 words in the month on November.

Yesteray I picked up my Visconti Van Gough ( a recent purchase) and wrote with it. The steel nib had been tuned (by The Writing Desk where I bought it) which meant I got hours of writing from it with no fuss. I got thousands of words, with no fuss and no cramp - and then I realised - this is what I've wanted. It's not about whether the nib is gold or steel, or the ink colour. It is about having the tools get out of the way (pen, paper and ink) so that I can write for hours at a time with no hand cramp, no fuss or tryin gto argue with a nib that won't lay down a line on that paper.

When I made a 2018 Parker Sonnet my EDC I noticed the same effect. I chose pocket notebooks that suited Parker Quink and got on with the job of writing.

My goal has been to make writing as effortless as possible - and after spending a few years acuiring a varierty of pens, paper and inks, I find myself gravitating towards combinations that work. I'm buying 3 brands of notebook because they work best with the pens and inks I have - and I'm buying fewer pens (although the ones I do buy tend to be more expensive).

Now, I've acheived that one - the goal is now to use the tools to write something worth reading.

[guyy]

I agree. I will only use smoothly functioning pens for NaNoWriMo. Or letter writing, or... anything really. The balky ones gather dust until i feel like tinkering with them.

I also want my pens to leave legible traces, too, so for me, that generally means wet writers with edged nibs of some sort. Legibility is more of an issue for NaNoWriMo because i may end up typing up my output.

[azkid]

I didn't do any writing for this, but I agree with the revelation. It is nice to just forget about the pen, tinkering with the pen, fussing about line width and legibility, messing with flow and ink and blah blah blah.

The last couple of weeks the Pilot Metro has been that for me. Such a joy to use. Not sure I could write thousands of words without cramping.

It's kind of like how I got sick of fiddling with and fixing my ancient jeep all the time instead of four wheeling. Now I have something that is new and reliable and I can just enjoy the outdoors.

[Ole Juul]

I think it is an absolute requirement that a pen is able to deliver as fast as required and one should not have to think about a pen when working. All my vintage pens do that. My two Kaweco's didn't though until I found suitable inks for them, but they also have too small an ink reserve to be chosen for a longer session. My other (very cheap) modern pens all write without my having to do anything. I guess I'm not as fussy as some people, but I certainly wouldn't tolerate a pen that couldn't keep up with me when I'm writing text.

[guyy]

I write really fast, fast enough to outpace many modern feeds. It’s one reason i tend to use vintage pens for composition.

[guyy]

I write really fast, fast enough to outpace many modern feeds. It’s one reason i tend to use vintage pens for composition.

I type quickly but write slowly. That's why I use a computer keyboard for composing extensive pieces of content, and only write with pen and ink for the ‘art’ and/or pleasure of doing so. For jotting handwritten notes down in the course of a meeting, etc. it's usually so stop-start that continuous and plentiful ink flow through the nib doesn't matter that much anyway.

Well great, but some of us don’t work that way.

[Chuck Naill]

Having my collection in storage for moving, I’ve been using only the Al Star and Vista LAMY pens. Both do the job for which a pen is required except for when a water proof ink is required and then a Parker 45 with gel ink refill is suitable.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've been doing NaNoWrimo again this year.

The challenge is to produce 50,000 words in the month on November.

Yesteray I picked up my Visconti Van Gough ( a recent purchase) and wrote with it. The steel nib had been tuned (by The Writing Desk where I bought it) which meant I got hours of writing from it with no fuss. I got thousands of words, with no fuss and no cramp - and then I realised - this is what I've wanted. It's not about whether the nib is gold or steel, or the ink colour. It is about having the tools get out of the way (pen, paper and ink) so that I can write for hours at a time with no hand cramp, no fuss or tryin gto argue with a nib that won't lay down a line on that paper.

When I made a 2018 Parker Sonnet my EDC I noticed the same effect. I chose pocket notebooks that suited Parker Quink and got on with the job of writing.

My goal has been to make writing as effortless as possible - and after spending a few years acuiring a varierty of pens, paper and inks, I find myself gravitating towards combinations that work. I'm buying 3 brands of notebook because they work best with the pens and inks I have - and I'm buying fewer pens (although the ones I do buy tend to be more expensive).

Now, I've acheived that one - the goal is now to use the tools to write something worth reading.

This has been my goal for some time: I want my implements to 'disappear.' That is, no fussl no worry, just write.

As for writing something worth reading...I gave up on that long ago. 😜🤣

[penwash]

It is about having the tools get out of the way (pen, paper and ink) so that I can write for hours at a time with no hand cramp, no fuss or tryin gto argue with a nib that won't lay down a line on that paper.

This reminded me of a few buyers (people who bought vintage pens that I restored) who told me similar things. Apparently they write for hours and prior to getting the pen from me, they have been fighting with ink flow issues.

Furthermore, this thread gave me a new appreciation for you all who still chose to use fountain pens as a tool to do your writing masterpieces. On how important and appreciated it is for a fountain pen to just write when you want it to write.

As a restorer, I have a different perspective because my goal is to do what I can to make a forgotten and often neglected vintage pen to write again. If a pen refused to write well, then it will be put in a box where I can revisit them again in the future when (if) new suitable parts can be obtained. Getting these stubborn ones to work *is* one of the fun part (at least to me).

Therefore I take it as a given, that if one of my pens doesn't write well, it will stay with me, and not go to a new home.

[Sailor Kenshin]

It is about having the tools get out of the way (pen, paper and ink) so that I can write for hours at a time with no hand cramp, no fuss or tryin gto argue with a nib that won't lay down a line on that paper.

This reminded me of a few buyers (people who bought vintage pens that I restored) who told me similar things. Apparently they write for hours and prior to getting the pen from me, they have been fighting with ink flow issues.

Furthermore, this thread gave me a new appreciation for you all who still chose to use fountain pens as a tool to do your writing masterpieces. On how important and appreciated it is for a fountain pen to just write when you want it to write.

As a restorer, I have a different perspective because my goal is to do what I can to make a forgotten and often neglected vintage pen to write again. If a pen refused to write well, then it will be put in a box where I can revisit them again in the future when (if) new suitable parts can be obtained. Getting these stubborn ones to work *is* one of the fun part (at least to me).

Therefore I take it as a given, that if one of my pens doesn't write well, it will stay with me, and not go to a new home.

We do some pen work...so I'm wondering, when you put a pen away for future restoration, do you attach a note with a list of the problems for the pen?

[penwash]

We do some pen work...so I'm wondering, when you put a pen away for future restoration, do you attach a note with a list of the problems for the pen?

Good question. And my answer (not speaking for any other restorers) is no.

Let's say a pen has been in my "wait for parts" box for a while, when I pick it back up, I re-examine the pen as though it's a new pen, and sometimes I see a new possibility that didn't enter my mind before. Maybe a new technique, maybe a new parts that I acquire since the last time, etc.

So there is a benefit of looking at a pen with a fresh perspective after some time has elapsed.

Which kinda like photography, but I digress...