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I need help fact-checking my a part in the Novel I am writing. I want to know how someone who writes Italics would hold their pen, is it any different from someone who writes with a Straight Handwriting? I conjecture that someone who writes in a Straight Handwriting will have the nib pointing -45 to -20 degrees from their body whereas an Italics writer would hold it -15 to +25 degrees. What this means is that a Normal writer's nib will be more worn on the left side than the right, and vice-versa in an Italics writer. Please send in a picture (if possible) of how you would hold your nib if you are writing in italics, and mention whether you usually write in a straight, or in italics. Everyone who submits a response will be mentioned in the Acknowledgements at the beginning of my novel. It's a thriller, and this is the part where the detective begins to suspect things she would have never had otherwise... Any help and advice will be deeply appreciated. I place a very high price on the factual accuracy of a novel.

I don't know what the proper name for this, but Im curious to know what other folks think.... I've attached a photo, for purely illustrative purposes: the part where the barrel and the nib unit and grip all come together. Like a "step". I find pens with this to be very uncomfortable, difficult to hold....but that might just be because my hands are relatively small, though long fingered, and my joints are hypermobile and headed towards arthritis. Any thoughts or opinions very welcome. I'm trying to distract myself from some things about which I can do nothing, and I find that thinking/reading about/using my pens, plus listening to Leonard Cohen, is a very good way of at least taking the edge off somewhat.... Alex

I'm 'training' with my Noodler's semiflex nib (in a Konrad), with the prospect of owning a vintage full flex (superflex?) fountain pen in mind. So I started searching for the proper way of holding a flexible nibbed pen (so I won't ruin a 100 year old pen when I purchase it) but guess what...not everyone agrees to the same thing. I have 2 sources that state exactly the opposite of each other: first is https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/43939-how-do-you-hold-your-vintage-flex-nib-pens/ which is a very delectable read, specifying that the vintage flex pens should be held as flat (horizontal?) as possible, meaning in between the thumb and index fingers. That's fine and dandy, but here comes http://www.vintagepen.net/how-to-use-flex-nibs.html which states that the pen should be held rested atop the first knuckle of the index finger. At least both sources agree on one thing: the index finger must be atop the pen section and the flexing is done with the index finger. How do you do it? And why? Is there a 'proper' way? Or does everyone uses the hold that suits them best? Dragoş

Hello, Being a ballpoint generation and having used ballpoints since the first day I went to school, I had difficulty in transitioning to fountain pens. Loosening up the grip and using the whole arm movement were like learning how to walk all over again. In the end, I finally found what works for me, and hopefully this may be helpful to others who are having similar problems. Note that this is not the only way. I am pretty sure that others may have discovered various ways of holding fountain pens. Figure 1 shows how I hold ballpoint pens. The pen is held/pinched by the index finger and the thumb, and the pen rests near the first joint of the middle finger. Notice how much my index finger bends and how my index finger meets my thumb. When writing using this grip, I rely a lot on finger movements and downward pressure, both of which are unsuitable for writing with fountain pens. Figure 2 shows my fountain pen grip. First, notice that I slide my thumb position backward (Always remember to pull back your thumb when using fountain pens). Second. the pen is held by my middle finger and my thumb. The pen rests near the first joint of the middle finger and held in place by the thumb. The thumb is positioned slightly backward towards the rear. Third, the index finger simply rests on the pen. In fact, I can actually lift my index finger up and write (as shown in Figure 3). Forth, when writing, do not use any part of your palm as the pivot. Instead, use the fleshy part of your forearm as the pivot and let your arm move freely. When using this fountain pen grip, you will rely less on finger movement, and more on wrist and whole arm movement, which is the ideal according to Palmer. The only caveat is that you cannot use this grip when you need to exert downward pressure. So when you are writing using ballpoint pens or you need to write on carbon papers, you need another grip. I hope this helps.