Originally Posted by
elaineb
Hooray, another fine-nib lover! I also have very small handwriting and am happiest with an XF nib, although fine is usually, um, fine as well.
I started out life with normal-sized script and a love of medium nibs. However, I turned to writing fiction years ago, and found that I produce better first drafts when I write them by hand. My handwriting evolved over time. (The faster I wrote, the better I could keep up with my stream of thought.) But I didn't realize how much it had changed until I pulled out pages I'd written 20 years ago. My script has grown much more compact and uses an absolute minimum of strokes to form letter shapes. And it also shrunk in size by about 50%. I can now fit the same number of words on an A5 sheet that I used to write on an letter-sized page.
Smaller strokes take less time to write. I still occasionally pull out my juicy old medium nib pens to write letters, but it always feels like I'm stuck in slow-motion as I put down the words. It's frustrating. I don't own a single broad nib. I appreciate how much fun they can be for inkplay and ornamental writing, but I just don't have the patience to use them. Same for italic and flex nibs. I've done calligraphy my whole life, and will sometimes pull out my dip nibs to do some decorative headings or pretty envelope. But to use them for normal writing? I don't have the time. The words are banging against my skull to get out onto the page, and anything that interferes is an exercise in frustration.
So, I tightly clutch my fine, extra-fine, and ultra-extra fine pens to my chest with one hand, and wave hello to another fine-nib user with the other. Welcome to FPGeeks!
Bookmarks