Hello From The Netherlands

[Coop]

Hi, my name is Pepijn, I live in the Netherlands with my wife & son and I earn a living as a mobile telecoms engineer.

 

As my name is impossible to pronounce by anyone who doesn't speak dutch (it usually ends up being pronounced something like pepidgeon), I use the name "Coop" online and for my non-dutch friends. The nickname originated from the car I used to drive when I was younger, a classic Mini Cooper (the real one, not that rip-off by BMW). I don't own the car anymore, but the name kind of stuck.

 

My handwriting has always... well... I guess there is no nice way to put it... my handwriting has always sucked (bad). As a personal improvement goal for 2014, I want to try and clean up my handwriting a bit. I only decided to do this late January, so it doesn't count as a New Years resolution.

 

I started off by taking a good look at my handwriting, to see what is actually wrong with it:

- I write too small, not to say tiny. On regular lined paper, each character is about a quarter of the line height, with capitols being somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the line heigth.

- My writing is a blur. Many of the characters I write end up looking exactly the same.

- I write very irregular, spacing is a mess and I can't seem to write characters in a consistent way. Especially my lower case "f" is a problem.

 

Then I took a good look at what was causing these problems. I found that when I write, my hand is very cramped, limiting my motion. I put so much pressure on my pen, it's like I'm trying to murder the paper. Also, I'm a victim of the digital age, I simply don't write enough by hand, nearly everything I do is on a keyboard.

 

After that I started thinking about how to solve this. Of course there's the obvious: write more. So I've started taking all my notes at work by hand. Also I've started to keep a journal. Another thing I did is replace my company issued ballpoint pen with a fountain pen. Back in school, I used to write with a fountain pen a lot. I remembered how putting too much pressure on the nib made the pen stop working (or even break). By using a fountain pen again, I want to force myself to use less pressure. And of course I will need some discipline to make my writing a little more consistent.

 

I purchased a nice journal (Rhodia Webnotebook A5) and a number of cheap (mostly Chinese) fountain pens. I already had a Waterman Graduate, which is nothing special, but it does have some emotional value, so I don't want to mess it up if I have a relapse into trying to stab my paper to death. I bought a cheap fountain pen at the dutch department store "Hema", I use this pen with "Hema" store brand cartridges. This pen loos and feels cheap, probably because it is. I also purchased a Hero 529, as I was amazed by a pen being available for $2.76 shipped. My next purchase was a Hero 382, I only received this pen last friday and it does seem to have some flow issues, but shape and weight wise, this is my favourite so far. One pen is still on it's way to me, a Jinhao X750, I bid on this pen on ebay and completely forgot about it. I didn't expect to win the auction as it was a complete lowball bid, but I ended up winning the auction anyway. As both Hero pens came with a converter, I purchased a bottle of ink as well. After doing some research online, I was completely overwhelmed with what was available. I remember going out to the office supply store as a kid to buy ink for my mom, and all I could choose from was Waterman blue ink, and parker blue or black ink. Of course, it was an office store, so choice was limited, but seeing 36 different colours from a single brand and 20+ brands to choose from at the first website I looked at, was something I was not prepared for. I opted for the cheapest bottle of ink I could find, which happened to be Hero brand as well. The ink I ended up with was the No. 232 blue-black, which happens to be a colour I quite like.

 

To have a reference point, I wrote a couple of pages in my journal on the 1st of February. Using my company issued cheap-ass ballpoint pen. It was terrible. As I wanted to see if my attempts to improve my handwriting had any effect, I put away my journal for a month. During that month, I took notes exclusively by hand and wrote with fountain pen only. And my logic seems to be correct. I'm much less cramped and no longer trying to inflict bodily harm on my paper. on the 1st of March, I wrote another page in my journal, it wasn't a day and night difference, but even though the difference is small, an improvement could clearly be seen.

 

This improvement has motivated me to keep working on this. It has shown me that not all is lost. So now I'm looking for a way to improve flow on my Hero 382, eagerly awaiting delivery of my Jinhao X750 and desperately trying not to get addicted to fountain pens (my other hobbies are expensive enough as it is).

 

I hope spending some time on this forum will inspire me, both in keeping up improving my handwriting and learning more about the fascinating world of fountain pens. And of course, helping me find the fountain pen I will buy to reward myself once I achieve my goal of having a handwriting that is consistent and can actually be read by other people than myself.

 

[captain nib]

Welcome!

 

Wishing to better one's handwriting is an admirable objective. Fountain pens need a relaxed grip, unlike ballpoints. You have suffered the curse of the tight, forced grip to make the ballpoint write. With FP's, the nib & ink do the work....only with slight pressure. As others will say, your fingers are more stretched out to simply let the FP rest comfortably.

 

Tiny writing is not to be condemned. But it may explain why characters can't be legibly formed. Too bunched together. Grip being too forced. Use the FP to slowly practice each letter, and maybe a bit larger than you normally do. Then string words together, then sentences. No rush. You're trying to reinvent your writing.

 

As for any addiction....resistance is futile !! Your addiction will grow...and handwriting improve.

 

Happy fountain penning.

[mr2txaggie]

Howdy,

 

Welcome to the FPN, Coop. There are lot of very knowledgeable folks here( many of them from the Netherlands ). I got into FPs the same way you did, wanting to improve my handwriting. For many, many years mine was so bad all I would do is print. We will only encourage you to ' buy more, buy more, Coop'.

 

aggie

[85AKbN]

[i4sgeorgiev]

Hello and welcome to FPN!

[Sasha Royale]

Welcome, Coop !

 

Ballpoint pen writing promotes a cramped style. The ball has to track on the paper, so one must press hard. While pressing hard,

one has to grip firmly to prevent slippage of the pen. Hence, a cramped hand results. A fountain pen requires only light contact with

the paper, and a light, fingers-extended grip is encouraged.

 

Another limit might be that you have been writing for yourself. What does it matte, as long as YOU can read it ? Enjoy your fountain

pens by writing to others, who will appreciate larger, carefully crafted characters. Letter writing improves penmanship, reinforces

interpersonal bonds, and is therapeutically relaxing.

 

Write with joy.

[Coop]

Thank you all for the kind words of welcome.

 

And thank you for confirming a lot of my conclusions about my messed up writing. It really is a good motivator.

 

 

I've created a thread in the penmanship section as well (see the link in my signature) to keep track of my improvements. I'll try to post regular updates there.

[Clancy]

Hello Pepijn. Greetings from California and a warm welcome to FPN. It's great to have you here with us.

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

[Wahl]

[RMN]

Hallo Pepijn. Hartelijk welkom bij FPN.

 

 

For good handwriting, with an normal pen, a very relaxed grip is very important. The pen should lie effortless between the fingers. The fingers should not really GRIP the pen, but just stabilise the pen so it does not roll away. Write with the muscles of your arm, not with the fingermuscles.

A small script takes more precision in writing, try to make it a bit bigger, and use a corresponding nib. Small writing needs a F or XF nib, larger writing needs a M or B nib. Small writing with a B nib is illegible, big writing with an F nib looks scrawny.

 

Enjoy your pens, enjoy the forum

 

 

D.ick

[riccardodebole]

Welcome to FPN !

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Hi! Welcome to FPN.
I'm really glad you've joined us.

 

Best wishes,
VirtuThe3rd

[cavey]

Oi! Welcome Pepijn! You weren't hard to find after we mentioned FPN to each other on facebook

 

I'd say Pepijn would better translate to the english Pippin, rather than Pepidgeon

 

 

And man, the memories of your mini cooper, running around those corners to/from work in Breda on the highway Proper kart handling madness

[Coop]

Hey Cavey, sup bro?

 

The Pepidgeon guy was atcually A Lebanese guy trying to pronounce a dutch name during a (poorly executed) attempt to speak English.

 

And you didn't even experience the Mini in its most extreme form.