How Have Pandemic Restrictions Changed Your Pen Use?

[bongo47]

Ive been forced to work exclusively remotely. Zoom calls, emails and Slack fill my day. But I still have a set of 4 or so inked pens in rotation. But early into this I realized I should take advantage of this and change my go-to pens. Prior to social distancing, Id generally make sure I had on hand pens that could be clipped to a shirt or in a shirt pocket, and perhaps a pen Id be ok with in a front pocket of a pair of jeans. My selection also tended to be stealthy to a degree, so my pens didnt Get seems as intended to show off, or attract attention. But thats out the window now. Ive got my brightly colored, or bulky, or stiff clipped pens inked up. Ive also put some that arent excellent writers into the mix, since I can always mess with them (prime the feed, dab with water, or whatever) and not worry about being stuck in a meeting without a pen. So Ive managed to dig a bit deeper into the pen drawer and reacquaint myself with some of my rarely used pens.

 

So thats what Ive noticed/chose I do differently with my pens during the pandemic. How about you?

[peroride]

I was always a 9-5er so working from home is odd. But I get to use a lot more pens particularly vintage or bigger ones ready at the sleeve or holder.

 

Usage is the same as on prem, basic layout of the day, todo list and project planning from analog capture then transfer relevant stuff to digital record for search.

 

I find analog helps get all the junk off my mind and onto scrap paper: junk mail, envelopes, annual company booklets, anything that is paper. For writing on newsprint stock where FP cursive crosses the background type, it helps using a broad nib and colorful ink like red or brighter shimmers; or in between the type with UEF/PO. The discard note scraps are then used for wrapping compose instead of recycling bin at the office.

 

I found a Platinum Prefounte or Curidas trumps a Conid for quick notes really dispelling the notion of a do-it-all perfect pen.

 

So the take home, haha, is I get to use more pens and wider variety because there's no need to schlep them on commute and also worry about security and crushing vintage pens.

 

Writing with a Waterman 12 POC at work in 2020, who would have thunk it?!

[Ink Stained Wretch]

I have two "outdoor" fountain pens and two "meeting" fountain pens. My meetings are all electronic now, and I have not been out for a long time. I used my main outdoor pen a couple of weeks ago just to keep it writing. The other outdoor pen has not been used for months now. It's probably dried out and may need a lot of attention to get going again. I tried to keep my two meeting fountain pens in use, but it just hasn't happened. I don't know if either of those works now. They may both be totally clogged with dried ink.

 

Yeah, the sequestration of the pandemic is having quite an effect on at least four of my fountain pens .

[ENewton]

I have similarly tended to carry one pen in my bag while another stayed at home. Since the pandemic began, I have gone out so little, and stayed so close to home, that I have seldom needed to take a bag, let alone a pen. However, now that one can again go to a park and sit, as opposed to being allowed outdoors only to take exercise, I think I will again start carrying a pen for scribbling or sketching outdoors.

[basterma]

I have always been one who uses one pen at a time for one fill/cartridge, with the pen in a cloth pouch. I may have another pen ready if i think the current one will run out of ink. That part of my usage isn't affected by the virus. Prior to the onset of remote teaching I used my pens to write lesson plans/ideas and solve the problems I assigned my students. I wrote meeting minutes occasionally as well. Now I am planning online but using my pen to transcribe student answers and grades as a backup and hedge against the technology not working as advertised. Solving problems and writing minutes still goes on. I find writing notes during meetings makes it harder to fall asleep during meetings...

[sandy101]

It hasn't, apart form the fact that I've managed to use my grandfather's Victory Duofold more, because that pen does not leave the house. If nothing else, it's confirmed that I've got five or six pens that see constant use - and I probably need to sell some of the others on as I won't miss them.

 

The pens that are getting constant use

 

1/ MB146

2/ Cross Peerless

3/ S T Dupont D-line

4/ Parket Victory

5/ Parker 51

 

With the Platinum Izomo and Cross Towsend takig the slack in the other room.

 

The fact that I've got a whole range of other pens, but keep on gravitating towards these 7 is telling me it's time to sell some of the more expensive ones on.

[Keyless Works]

I have pens in a safe deposit box that I haven't seen since January. Maybe I will free them soon.

[twin63]

Mine has changed due to my job. I work for a regional blood bank. My office is in a facility that also houses an emergency clinic. I have to pass the clinic going in and out. That, along with the fact that my 82 year old mother lives with me, has prompted me to not carry any pens to work. I have a handful of pens at my desk, including a couple of fountain pens. I also have a couple of pens in the car, so I’m not without. I just want to limit what I bring back to the house. Once things settle down, I’ll be back to carrying my Sheaffer 330’s and my Franklin-Christoph Pocket 20.

 

At home, everything is fair game. I’m finally getting around to inking some pens that haven’t been used.

[ENewton]

It hasn't, apart form the fact that I've managed to use my grandfather's Victory Duofold more, because that pen does not leave the house.

 

Wonderful pen, the Parker Victory. The barrel on mine is somewhat discolored, but the nib is the best I have.

[Mr5x5]

Been so busy I haven't had time to write much other than on the computer

[alexwi]

I used to get all my writing done while riding the subway to and in NYC.

 

When I'm home, I don't make time for writing, and I've been swamped with work, which is a priority. I've written all of 4 pages in my journal since March 12.

 

Considering how hard NYC's been hit, I'm not planning to be there during business hours until a few weeks after the city reopens fully - the one time I had to go visit a client, I was there from 10pm until 4am, while there was no one in the office and I drove.

 

Once I'm done with the gazillion things in my to-do list, I plan to set time aside to just sit and write.

 

I'm mostly OK for now, but my daughter (and we, as well) misses her friends and we all miss normalcy. The wrath I feel towards the Chinese government for what they didn't do is beyond what I could write here without being banned for life.

 

alex

[AmandaW]

Home, and the studio next door, have been my workspace for over a decade. I valued my isolation. The shutdown meant extra family coming home to live and work, five people, which made it impossible for me even though I have been grateful they were all safe. People coming and going led to me constantly cooking and cleaning. I couldn't think. I could no longer set up an easel where I wanted, or record a voice over without background noise or video without interruption. I gave up and found other things to do.

 

My survival strategy, once I realised I needed one, became small projects - things I could do or make that didn't need much by way of time, materials or space - the shops were shut and online orders frustratingly slow. Oddly, unplanned, my fountain pens became central to everything I'm doing now. I thought I was just going to tidy my desk a little. I made a set of storage drawers for my pens and then another smaller one for currently inked. That led to finding them all, cleaning and organising. Then suddenly I could see where my interests lie, the gaps in functionality. Then a few orders for more.

 

Then deciding to improve my handwriting (because I had been teaching myself to write with a brush, it helps if the writing is legible to start with!). Then an italic hand. And drawing with pen and ink in sketchbooks or loose sheets (on a board attached to a tripod, very small and portable, made with what I had), faster and more private than an easel and oils.

 

So each day I have a structured but flexible timetable which includes journaling, writing drills and sketching. Out of this debacle there will be a new body of work based on practice and notes made now. I might not be able to get on with it, but I can prevent my mind and soul shriveling up with resentment!

[Ink Stained Wretch]

.... I find writing notes during meetings makes it harder to fall asleep during meetings...

LOL ! Decades ago I had to start writing notes during meetings because I tend to find meetings so boring that my mind would wander and I just couldn't be bothered to pay attention to what was going on at them. By making myself write things down during the meetings I force myself to pay attention. Being observed writing things down during meetings has also resulted in people constantly wanting me to be the Secretary or Secretary pro tem of whatever entity is causing the meeting to happen.

 

Well, at least I know what's been happening at meetings these days.

 

With all of the meetings happening virtually now, I write everything into a word processor, however .

[Intensity]

No changes for me whatsoever. Most of my fountain pen use is done at home, and there's plenty of home time nowadays.

[TSherbs]

more pen pals

[kulnet]

i've been using mine more and more since covid went down and will continue to do so

[ridiculopathy]

I used to only bring 3 pens to work for note-taking. Now that I'm work-from-home, I have the full selection, and my notes have a lot more color variety.

[bongo47]

I’ll add a bit to my original post. In addition to pulling less-used pens for rotation, also started to just fill half way. I still don’t write that much, and a full pen (even just a converter) can last a month or more in my set of 4-5 inked pens. But that’s no good, since I have a line of pens waiting their turn. And since it’s no biggie if a pen runs dry while I’m home, it’s fine to just give them a bit of ink.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

There might be an indirect effect. I've been working this whole time, since my job is considered "essential", and I need to be physically present to do large parts of it. So my journal keeping and work use is pretty much unaffected. I'll add that some people here have been able to work from home, but I'm one of the lucky ones who gets to come in, still.

 

But with the increased isolation the rest of the time, I've been looking for (and finding) more things to do at home. And one of them is taking out pens that I haven't used in a while and giving them another shot. I have the Pilot Vanishing Point with a 1.1 mm stub that never worked out for me before, but now I'm finding that I rather like writing with it. And so forth.

[MuddyWaters]

I have been working more from home on the computer directly so been using my work fountain pens (wing sung 618 with 4001 black) a bit less.