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Sorry If This Is Considered A Dead Horse Post But How Do You Use Your Fountain Pens?


CSG

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What do you actually use your fountain pens for? Are you a letter writer, journalist, doodler, or?

 

I have a MN 146, Parker 75, and Waterman Charleston which are my better pens and a couple Pilot Metros, and a few others that aren't so fancy. But I find, other than the occasional personal thank you or condolence note on personalized note cards, I usually just use my pens to make notes for business or personal things needing to be done. I usually write on legal style pads enclosed in leather padfolios (I have a full size and 5x8 pads). I recently ordered a Bosca Field Journal cover to hold my small Field notebooks. I've always like Bosca's wallets so this was an obvious choice to try. It'll sho up in a few days so we'll see if it's a keeper.

 

Anyway, how do you use your fountain pens?

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Not to sound dismissive, but I use them to write. It's a bit like asking the average person what they use their (ballpoint, felt-tip, rollerball) pen for, isn't it? Taking notes, outlining, writing letters and essays, planning, shopping lists, signing things.... Or are you asking if we write anymore now that digital keyboards are ubiquitous?

Festina lente

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

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Yes, "writing" is the easy, obvious answer but I guess I was thinking of it more in the latter question you ask. Very few people write actual letters anymore save for a birthday or anniversary card and email has taken over much of how we communicate. I'm no longer a student or employed (retired) so note taking, etc. is rare. While I serve on a few boards and do take the occasional note while at meetings, it seems that fountain pens are used more to simply collect and, maybe, journal. But that's why I asked. ;) And no, it's not like asking the average person about why they use more conventional writing tools. Fountain pens are archaic and are used by a special breed of person (in my opinion) who is still fighting the good fight for a traditional lifestyle. Personally, my house is full of old things (and some new) and I feel more comfortable using a fountain pen when I can. I like the traditionalism of it. Alas, I have no one left to write letters to like I did 20-40 years ago, just the occasional note as I said earlier.

Edited by CSG
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To answer your question - I use the computer a lot, but also my fountain pens. I am a professor. I use fountain pens to write lectures, grade papers, mark up doctoral thesis chapter drafts, write checks, and take notes. I usually have 3 pens inked at any one time and rotate them about every two weeks, depending mainly on how much grading I have to do or lectures I have to write.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Erick

Using right now:

Visconti Voyager 30 "M" nib running Birmingham Streetcar

Jinhao 9019 "EF" nib running Birmingham Railroad Spike

Stipula Adagio "F" nib running Birmingham Violet Sea Snail

Sailor Profit "B" nib running Van Dieman's Night - Shooting Star

 

 

 

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Thanks, Erick! That's more what I was getting at, not a vs. thread. As I asked in my initial post, "What do you actually use your fountain pens for? Are you a letter writer, journalist, doodler, or?"

 

As I don't do anything like what you do, I'm curious what people's daily usage is. Next to me, I have three inked fountain pens but other than scribbling little notes (writing on bills that they are paid, etc.), I simply don't write as often as I used to.

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I am a consultant and work from home. I use the computer throughout the day, but many times I need to make notes, etc. I also journal everyday, and I am always studying and making handwritten notes from my studies. When I write things by hand, I retain them much better than just typing them. It takes more time to write things by hand that to type them in a computer.

 

I choose to use fountain pens for many reasons:

 

I like the fluid nature of writing with a fountain pen. It is much more tactile than using a ball point or roller ball. I do use pencil and occasionally fineliners but I much prefer fountain pens.

 

I prefer the line and color variation that fountain pens afford. I like shading inks. I also like stub and italic nibs for line variation.

 

I have osteoarthritis in my writing hand. Using a fountain pen is less painful because it flows across the paper.

 

Using a fountain pen forces me to use a better brand of paper. I don't use the cheapest yellow pads anymore, but am more discerning in my paper selection. As a result, I use significantly less paper than I did before because quality paper costs more. How? Before I would write only on one side of a yellow pad, skipping lines frequently. I would go through a yellow pad every couple of days. Now I use good quality journals for personal use and for each client. And I write on both sides of the page. All of my notes for one client are in that journal and I don't have to go hunting in a bunch of legal pads for specific notes. And I don't lose notes now. When I am editing a document or reviewing a scientific paper, I tend to use printer paper that is somewhat fountain pen friendly.

 

Yes, the paper costs more, but in the long run, the overall paper costs for my consulting business has decreased over the last few years.

 

Finally, using a fountain pen has all but eliminated "sticky note clutter". I write my notes in my personal journal (which includes my calendar), or one of the journals I keep for each client.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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I keep a diary/journal and use a fountain pen exclusively for that. I also have a pocket planning system with 2 small notebooks and I mainly use fountain pens and mechanical pencils for it. I generally try to use a fountain pen for all of my writing, but sometimes I just grab whatever is handy.

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I keep a log of medicines I take.

 

I sit out in my garage in the evening and write observations of the day while smoking a pipe.

 

Sometimes I write verses. This is what I use fountain pens for.

 

For other things I like to use nice ballpoints. I like to use them too.

 

I am 71 and retired. I have much less use for pens these days.

 

Written cards and letters are things I like to save. After someone is gone, and I read something they wrote to me, I enjoy a wonderful feeling of connection and remembrance, but I am very sentimental. I should use my expensive pens to write more cards and letters, but surviving family members are less sentimental and toss these things out. I am also busy with endless home projects.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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pajaro, I saved pretty much all family correspondence and they are precious memories today from people who are no longer here. However, many were typers so I've got a lot of typewritten letters as well as handwritten letters. One particular set that's interesting to me is the letters my grandfather wrote my grandmother while he was recuperating in the hospital during WWII. It was a completely different insight to their relationship what with my granddad telling my grandmother the things she needed to do to keep the household running (my mother was one of their children). Needless to say, they were all written with a fountain pen (which I would have loved to have had after my grandfather passed).

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I have a car in the garage. It is not a truck, or a motobike, nor for that matter is it dull. I do not race it, nor carry loads nor drive around Australia in it. I use it less than daily for the things for which I need a car, because with a pretty free hand in the market, that is my preferred current car for the things I do.

 

I have a lot of fountain pens because they are easier to store than cars, not to mention cheaper to maintain. I do not use ballpoints or textas. I do not write novels or passionate letters. I use them more than daily for the things I need or want to write because, with a pretty free hand in the market, they are my preferred pens and mode of writing.

X

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So few letter writers, so far. Are pen pals a thing anymore or is it all email now?

I corresponded with some folks for about 7 years, but ended up stopping it because of the "pressures" of being a good pen pal and the need to respond in a timely fashion.

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I use mine to write Letters! And to make lists, or record information I need to look at more than once. I have a ring style notebook I use when going with my senior citizen parents to their doctors appointments. I write down questions they need answered, and take notes on what the doctor says.

 

I got a Midori 5-Year Diary for my birthday. It has 4-5 lines per day (5 years per page). Since I have not kept diaries or journals, this is a format I can commit to. Maybe it will lead to writing more.

 

I also write down bird counts for Project FeederWatch.

 

Edited to add check out the Snail Mail thread here, as well as the FPN Post Office. There are many letter writers among us.

Edited by Misfit
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What do you actually use your fountain pens for? Are you a letter writer, journalist, doodler, or?

 

I have a MN 146, Parker 75, and Waterman Charleston which are my better pens and a couple Pilot Metros, and a few others that aren't so fancy. But I find, other than the occasional personal thank you or condolence note on personalized note cards, I usually just use my pens to make notes for business or personal things needing to be done. I usually write on legal style pads enclosed in leather padfolios (I have a full size and 5x8 pads). I recently ordered a Bosca Field Journal cover to hold my small Field notebooks. I've always like Bosca's wallets so this was an obvious choice to try. It'll sho up in a few days so we'll see if it's a keeper.

 

Anyway, how do you use your fountain pens?

Letters

Journals

Notes

Lists

Editing

Drafts

Sketches

Doodles

Pen/ink tests to post

 

Probably a few more.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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I keep a morning pages journal; in fact starting that was got me into fountain pens -- I wanted a "nice" journal (okay, in retrospect the paper on the early ones were awful) and a "nice" pen to get me into the habit.

I've also started writing and drawing again. I have done NaPoWriMo for I think three years running, and have made stabs at fiction (somehow, I can't get the words to come out the way I want them to on a laptop, but I can easily write a couple of pages (probably the equivalent of about three or four typed pages) if I'm doing it on unlined paper with a pen with a fine nib. I've also done drawing, and did Inktober a couple of years ago (posting on here instead of on something like Facebook).

I sign checks. I make to-do lists and shopping lists. A couple of years ago I got asked to do a major project for something my friend's husband was running and I had to do a lot of research ahead of time (that's when I learned to really love my Parker 51 Vac with the slightly opened up tines on the EF nib -- taking notes from the books I was reading for the project, because I made a LOT of notes). With the right ink, I can even sign the backs of credit cards and those little plastic Post-it flags. I take notes at meetings and classes. And tonight, I signed a birthday card for the woman who hosts the amateur choir I'm in. Oh, I also do sudokus and those crazy Numbrix puzzles in _Parade_ magazine where you have to have all the numbers in order without any being on the diagonal (sometimes I can actually get the entire puzzle done :thumbup:).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I’m a journalist and arts critic by trade and I use fountain pens — of which I have too many — for taking interview notes and, when I have the luxury of time, sketching out stories. I have written 14 produced plays (produced on a VERY small scale, but still...) all of which were originally written with fountain pens. For my newspaper one December, I wrote an original holiday-themed novella, which was written to deadline, and much of it was first written by hand with fountain pens. I also journal somewhat indiscriminately. Basically I am an example of graphomania run amok.

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I write letters to my mom, who is 94 and still sharp as a tack but doesn't have ready access to a computer anymore. So the weekly missives are a great joy for her, along with my phone calls across the country. I started a while ago just as a way to practice my handwriting, first off copying poetry I thought she would like and then moving on to old song lyrics I figured she might hum along with, and of course events of the day.

Otherwise, for practice, I have copied the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the remaining Amendments, both because no one ever reads them and I thought it would be a good annual July 4th undertaking. Not that I am replicating the old quill strokes, just the text. I have a great little bound copy of those old documents printed by the Cato Institute for about $5. And I also write 3-4 pages in a journal ever day, dry as toast drivel mostly but occasional flashes of insight.

And as a practicing architect, I also use my pens to sketch design ideas and mark up drawings, the latter with a TWSBI vac mini loaded with Sheaffer red, though I also quite like Robert Oster Fire Engine Red for that task.

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Yes, "writing" is the easy, obvious answer but I guess I was thinking of it more in the latter question you ask. Very few people write actual letters anymore save for a birthday or anniversary card and email has taken over much of how we communicate._...‹snip›... Personally, my house is full of old things (and some new) and I feel more comfortable using a fountain pen when I can.

But you can write all day with fountain pens if that's what you want to do. How many people paint or draw because they must, for their livelihood or otherwise as a means to secure survival? How many people run 5km or more every second day because they must, and would die or fall straight into ill health if they didn't? Talk to family and friends on the phone? Play chess, or mahjong? That's why most of us here see this as a "hobby".

 

I could spend that hour it takes me to complete a run in the Royal Botanic Garden to write something of no particular purpose or value instead. Or I could watch TV, or practise martial arts kata (or set sequences of movements), or scour the Web for pr0n in that same period of time. There is no reason why what you choose to do with your time (and tools) to be necessarily meaningful and productive outside of just being enjoyable.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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