What Kind Of Writing Do You Do With Your Fountain Pens?

[aladeira]

I am curious about what kind of extensive writing do you generally do with your fountain pens. Letter writing? Journaling? Creative writing? Fiction, non-fiction? Poetry? Essay? Novels? Short stories? Shopping lists? How does the instrument with which you write (a fountain pen, as opposed to a computer, a pencil, etc) shape the style/tone/substance/genre of what you write? (If you don't write with your pens at all or just doodle occasionally, please state so).

 

AL

Edited September 24, 2014 by aladeira

[provis]

I use mine to take notes, draft, plan, research. Practically in most environments except extreme heat or cold because the pens in my stable are too old to risk the temperature difference. Except the Lamy 2000 with a vintage nib-- that goes EVERYWHERE.

[UDog]

I am a mystery/thriller novelist, and I produce my first drafts with fountain pens. For me, the mind-hand-pen dynamic allows my stories to evolve almost organically.

[Icywolfe]

Everything. Only FPs.

 

With FPs I can get more brain power to thinking instead of easing hand cramps.

[sirgilbert357]

I don't keep a diary or anything (can't risk my innermost thoughts getting out there for all to see, LOL), but once upon a time I used to write poetry and I always liked using a good pen for that. I don't write much poetry anymore and I've only dabbled a few times in short stories (they were all horrible, so I gave up), so I usually just use it for writing at work or practicing my cursive (which I just recently decided to take up again) at home in the evenings.

[lmarine0510]

Most of what I do is note-taking and writing down reminders (dates on calendars, post-it notes, and the like).

[tendollarword]

English mostly, though I sometimes write Latin when I'm practicing calligraphy.

 

I use my pens for crosswords, lists, notes, journal entries and other pointless scribblings.

[Baric]

Anything I need to write down while I work or at my computer at home. I keep a note journal that always handy to jot down ideas, questions, things to remember, etc. I'm also doing quite a bit of handwriting practice, maybe a 1/2 hour in the evening. My cursive skills have really deteriorated over the years.

[PAKMAN]

If I write, it's generally with a fountain pen. I like to Journal, make lists, work crosswords and I take notes in Church and in a evening class I'm taking.

[HamFist]

An unholy amount of math and physics and now engineering notes and problems.

With fountain pen my writing becomes much neater and I can actually go back and read it and it does wonders for cramps/hand fatigue.

[langere]

Shopping lists, checks, lecture notes, comments on papers and manuscripts, signatures - wherever I can!

 

Erick

[KamenRitter]

I use FP for almost anything from writing drafts, jotting notes, sketching diagrams, and scribbling anything else

[Notgatherox]

I use mine for almost everything, unless the paper is not suited for FP...

 

It helps the flow of writing I would say, because I won't have to stop seeing how smooth they write!

 

 

~Epic

[Paladin]

Signing cheques, contracts, payment vouchers, review markings on documents

[ac12]

Journaling, and whatever I happen to need writing when I'm near my pens.

[wwhite99]

Journaling, organizing, accounting stuff, letter writing and research notes. When I am using the computer to help research, I always keep pen/paper handy to keep my google lists (things to look up later) and make notes. I have ambitious plans to start a card ministry with handwritten notes for church members in nursing homes or recovering at home.

 

Walt

[Floreat]

I write story-letters to my godchildren. I'll compose the story on my iPad for easy editing, then copy it out with a fountain pen onto cream Crown Mill letter paper, leaving spaces for illustrations. Once the story is written out I'll draw all the illustrations in black ink and then colour them with watercolour or ink washes, adding a bit of sparkle using glitter gel pens. Finally I'll add secret messages here and there with Noodler's Blue Ghost, and send it all off in a matching illustrated envelope with a wax seal on the back

 

I mainly make up my own stories but I've also been introducing my five-year-old godson to English myths and legends, so he's been getting a series of Robin Hood tales too (these must have made an impression because on a recent holiday to the Forest of Dean he asked his mum if that was the forest Robin Hood lived in, and when he was given a choice of activities to try he picked archery ) He got massively excited by the invisible ink messages, but then again, so did I....! That stuff is SO cool.

 

The ink I use for the stories is very important, and I generally find that I absolutely must use a certain colour or I don't feel happy! The story I'm currently working on *had* to be written in Akkerman's Shocking Blue, the previous story *had* to be written in Rouge Haematite, and the Robin Hood letters are all in Diamine Ochre.

[tinysnail]

Everything! Taking notes, writing up homework, tutoring (which is 3h TAing, 5-8h private tutoring per week), journaling, writing letters, scrap work, practicing my penmanship, learning gothic calligraphy from a friend, jotting down tiny notes in a small notebook or planner... so, yeah, essentially everything I write. I don't do too many creative (art/writing) things with them. Maybe someday!

[Lou Erickson]

Sort of a story...

 

I ran into a co-worker using a Varsity a while back. I recalled I'd used a fountain pen in Jr. High, and thought, "Disposable! Neat!" and got a couple. Then a box. I told myself if I still cared when the box ran out, I'd buy a nicer pen. Maybe a Vanishing Point, as I'd seen them and they are neat. (Pushing 40 pens now, and still don't have a VP...)

 

When I was into my second box of Varsities, I remembered I was going to get a better pen. I got on-line and ran into Goulet Pens. Brian Goulet replied to my typical "where do I start?" e-mail very thoughtfully, and I ordered a Metro and a bottle of Baystate Blue. I thought I was set.

 

Then, I came here.

 

And here, I bumped into Peyton Street Pens having a Sheaffer sale. A Snorkel came to me, and opened my eyes to the coolness of vintage pens.

The dam broke, and I started happily acquiring things.

 

I realized I had nice pens and almost never wrote anything. I thought that was foolish. I decided to fix my handwriting, and practice every day. I started that... let's see... looks like the 17th of January of this year.

 

I also decided to air my dirty laundry, and post all of those pages to my blog. (Link is down in my signature, if you're morbidly curious.) You can see my handwriting was awful, and now it is merely bad. I go too fast while I write to keep it too neat; should work on that more. That was the point, right?

 

I've written every day since. Those first pages were random words, sort of free-form diary or journal. I found it boring and pointless, so decided to try and tell a story.

 

On the 6th of February, I started writing a "short story" using some characters we'd played in a role playing game forever ago.

 

That became a novel's worth of words. I'm well into the second now. There's a big, complex story that wants out, and it's coming out 500 words a day, or so.

 

Mind you, none of it's been edited, and it makes no sense unless you've read the other parts (which are on the Web, at least) but it's a story. Maybe I'll clean it up someday, and maybe I won't.

 

So, apparently I write fiction with my fountain pens. I never expected that!

Edited September 24, 2014 by Lou Erickson

[PaganArcher]

I write. I carry a pocket journal with me (4"X6" bombay style from B&N), at home I write letters, notes, all my research notes now, and even historical fiction. I started a story three years ago and got 8 pages written in three years. Since getting into fountain pens, I've written thirty in a week and a half, and that's been with me gone most days for work. I look for any excuse to write and even got a few other folks to see the benefits of them.