Pen For Novel Writing

[Anne-Sophie]

The answer to comfortable long sessions of writing with no interruption for ink run out is to use several school pens of slightly different girth filled with the same ink.

 

A couple of wood pencils or mechanical pencils should be kept handy for correction and inspiration between fountain pen fills.

 

 

I like modern school pens, why? Most are made of lightweight plastic, very rugged and reasonably priced.

 

I recommend the following line up:

 

Black Lamy Safari, Pelikan Future, Sheaffer NoNonsense and Waterman Phileas.

You think the Waterman Phileas is a school pen ?

 

The Sheaffer No Nonsense fountain pen approaches the school pen category from above, but I don't consider any of the pens you've named to be school pens.

 

School pens are things like Pelikano Jrs. or Pelikanos, or the Stypen Ergo-Plume (which has been taken over by BIC), something like that.

 

For vintage fountain pens in this category I'd say that the Sheaffer cartridge pens, or the aptly named Sheaffer school pan would certainly qualify, and the Reform 1745 or the Reform student pens would also be vintage school pens.

 

 

 

Well... Maybe not the Phileas but the Kultur. (I got my first Phileaas in Europe, in the stationery aisle of a department store, for way less than 100 euros.)

 

The European pens I mentioned, are marketed as school pens for high school and college students.

 

When I was in middle school, I got a Stypen, it looked like a NoNonsense but with a slip cap.

 

In high school, a Pelikano would have been too short for me.

Edited June 27, 2011 by Anne-Sophie

[theallblue]

If I were you, I'd start with an inexpensive pen and see how I like it.

Lamy Safari or Vista could be a good choice for a beginner.

 

Then if you love to use it, you may make one step further to buy a better and more expensive pen...... maybe Lamy 2000 or Pilot VP.

[kiavonne]

ugh on double posts. sorry.

Edited June 27, 2011 by kiavonne

[kiavonne]

I will chime in, but I will say that my answer is a mixture of what Mickey, Ann-Sophie, and KCat put forth.

 

(edit - wow my machine went crazy and I posted waaaay before I was ready)

 

The pen first needs to feel good in your hand. Do you like the fit of a larger pen and feel better for longer with a smaller pen?

 

Then address the rest of the stuff such as how much ink do you want it to hold? Are you willing to refill every 2 to 4 pages if using cartridges or small converters, or do you want to work with an eyedropper which might hold more ink but may feel a little more tedious to fill? Piston filler, maybe more ink, faster action?

 

How do you want the line to appear on the page? Broad, medium, fine? What do you like to see? Do you want to feel the "tooth" of nib to paper or do you want the nib to glide without notice while leaving your legacy behind?

 

Then, what kind of pen actually appeals to you? Heavy, light, wild colors or solid statements?

 

Find an ink that has the qualities you want, i.e., color, waterproof, bulletproof, standard? It doesn't matter. Pick an ink you like writing with that doesn't strain your eyes or tire you when reading. You will read and re-read what you have written many times.

 

Find what you like in the way it feels in your hand, then find a good nibmeister to tune the nib to meet your description of how you want the pen to lay ink to paper. Get what you want, but remember, often you get what you pay for in the pen world.

 

Have extra pens, inks, papers standing by, and even graphite pencils and some erasers for good measure.

 

After all that, just have it all ready for when the urge to write strikes. You will never know if you are going to actually write just a quick thought or five full chapters before you decide to write. Let your pens fit that mold. Ready to go, no matter what the urge or session will bring.

 

Experimentation rocks. You'll find what you like best eventually, what fits your hand and what appeals to you to pick up the pen.

Edited June 27, 2011 by kiavonne

[jde]

<snip> I'd like to spend no more than 150 dollars for a pen. When I wrote before I used a simple click gel ink pen made by bic. I think it cost ten dollars. I often had to replace the ink cartridges, but I favored the consistent rich black flow of ink.

 

Welcome! You've got a decent budget. Fountain pens are great tools and can be great distractions. Let us know what you decide to do!

 

+1 what kiavonne said.

[Deirdre]

I mostly use F, M, or Stipula's 0.9 italic nibs for novel writing. I do occasionally use other nibs. I always use bulletproof inks for drafts. I mostly use moderate-weight pens.

 

This week, I'm using a Stipula 22 (piston filler) and a Visconti Aida (cartridge-converter). If you always have four pens with you, cartridges aren't an issue.

 

I use a different ink color each day, rotating my pens. That way, I know how much I wrote.

[WanderingAuthor]

After all that, just have it all ready for when the urge to write strikes. You will never know if you are going to actually write just a quick thought or five full chapters before you decide to write. Let your pens fit that mold. Ready to go, no matter what the urge or session will bring.

 

You've made some good points, and there is certainly no one "right" answer. But you've also missed some of the reasons I consider a very few models to be suitable for serious writing. The quote above highlights one of those issues: some pens just aren't capable of "standing by" until you're ready to use them. I have pens that will dry out within twenty-four hours after I ink them, to the point that I need to struggle to get them writing at all. Unless I have a particular reason, or happen to have the time to ink one up on-the-fly, those pens are ruled out as tools for serious writing. If the pen needs to be refilled too often, or if the filling process is too disruptive, it isn't a tool for serious writing. And so on.

 

Also, even though this is a fountain pen forum, since this post is mainly of interest to writers, I do have to take issue with one thing you said. If you wait for "the urge to write", you won't get much writing done. I wasted a lot of years believing that urge would strike often enough. It doesn't. If you really take writing seriously, you learn to manufacture that urge, mostly by putting your gluteus maximus in a chair and setting pen to paper and covering that paper with words. Even if the words are terrible. Even if the story goes off the rails. You can fix those things, but you can't fix a blank page. (And that is one of the reasons I consider certain qualities essential in a serious writing pen; it has to be able to stay the distance with you, instead of giving you excuses to leave that page blank.)

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Are you willing to refill every 2 to 4 pages if using cartridges ....

What fountain pens have you used that have only gotten two to four pages of writing out of a short international cartridge?

[Mike]

A friend wrote some parts of his novel with a cartridge-filling pen. I forget what model, but he was quite irritated by the small ink capacity of the short cartridges and converter, and eventually went looking for a pen that took long international cartridges. Not sure what he wound up with, if anything, but he was very unamused by the, ah, enforced 'scrubus interruptus' that short cartridges caused...

That's interesting. I sometimes write about 13 pages on a short international cartridge and there's still a little bit of ink left in it.

 

What pen, ink and paper was he using?

 

I finally heard back from him - he was using a Baoer 388, what sounded like Visconti cartridges (he described the container they come in...) in some variety of blue, and A4 lined Rhodia tablets, and got 4-5 sides/pages, single-spaced, on a single short international cartridge.

 

By contrast, he notes he used a Hero 616 Jumbo with Noodler's Blue on the same paper, and got 12-15 pages/fill, presumably because of the finer nib.

 

He wound up going with the Lamy Safari because of its larger cartridge for a "travel pen", not liking it, and eventually sticking with the Hero. I foisted off a spare, freshly-restored Snorkel on him recently, as he's working on a second novel, but I'm not really sure how much he uses or likes it. It's a vintage-fine nib, so probably comparable to the Hero in terms of line width, and writing capacity.

[Martius]

Alas, I once lost a notebook filled with over 60 first drafts of poems. However, a minor setback like that can't persuade me to switch to the computer full time, which tells you something about the power of pens. Figure out whether you like big pens or small pens and order a pen you think will be comfortable in your hand from a skilled nib technician (like Richard Binder or John Mottishaw) and request that they adjust the flow to "wet." You won't regret this, as fountain pens often write poorly from the factory - even expensive pens.

[algabatz]

As you can see there are as many opinions as there are pen-users

 

I've written a few completed novels.

 

My books

 

 

All writers should check out this site:

 

Authonomy

 

 

I've found that I always want to bring a notebook with me just in case I get an idea or something.

I usually have two sizes A5 in my briefcase and A7 in my pocket. I go through these fairly quickly so I buy cheaper ones:

 

http://www.gullbergs.se/ProductImages/42-15-001/4215001/1/248x248/Anteckningsbok-A4-med-f%C3%B6rst%C3%A4rkta-h%C3%B6rn.jpg

 

 

 

The problem with these is that the paper is fairly thin and porous, so I tend to use extra fine or fine nibs to keep the ink on one side.

Being a Parker person I prefer a Vacumatic, Parker 75 or a Parker 51:

 

 

http://parkercollector.com/bilder_pennor/51/1styear-6.jpg

 

 

 

 

/Tony

[max dog]

The two of the most recommended affordable fountain pens for beginners you will see mentioned in this forum would be the Pelikan M200 and the Lamy 2000.

Edited June 28, 2011 by max dog

[sidewinderwcc]

I am not a published author, but am currently working on a few novels, and I write them all with fountain pens.

 

Since you have literally dozens of posts telling you what qualities to look for in a pen and subsequent choices, I am instead going to perhaps give a little insight on the choice of paper. When I first started getting into fountain pens and taking my writing seriously, I bought dozens of journals ranging from Rhodia to Moleskin and everything in between, and found some amazing journals that I would recommend in a heartbeat. However, as I turned out more and more pages, I started to realize that journals are not the ideal tool for a writer.

 

I personally found journals made it hard to edit, rearrange, and get a scope of your work as it starts to grow. Therefore, on the suggestions of fellow posters, I bought a stockpile of bagasse paper from staples and have never looked back. The paper works with all of my pens, even my tsunami wet pens like my Pelikan IB and my Visconti Stubs, and both sides can be used. But what made it best for me, was I could rearrange scenes as I finished them, work out of order if I chose, and could easily edit a page or rewrite it if need be. In a journal, after I did these things, I was left with a marked up mess of scribbles, cross outs and arrows. Maybe its just the OCD in me, but it made my work feel "sloppy".

 

I guess the point of this long rant is, before you spend a lot of money on journals like I did, contemplate the usefulness of notebook paper and the ability to take out and change when you wish.

[DAYoung]

The two of the most recommended affordable fountain pens for beginners you will see mentioned in this forum would be the Pelikan M200 and the Lamy 2000.

 

Yes, I'd second this. An M200 is a very good place to start.

[oDucksFTW]

Well, I finally did it. Several days ago while on honeymoon I dragged the wife to Artlite in Atlanta, Georgia. I very kind and knowledgeable gentleman assisted me in the purchase of a Pelikan M205. I was able to write with several pens and several sizes of nibs. I settled on the medium because I prefer the thick flow of ink to a thin one. As all of you can imagine I love my new pen. I also purchased with it two Rhodia notepads, which I absolutely adore. Now I'm eager to try some different inks. Thanks to everyone who offered their advice and support. It helped a lot!

[mcg1355]

Congrats!! Now the the ink addiction will begin :roflmho:

 

And yes the Rhodia products are top notch.

[ExcaliburZ]

The two of the most recommended affordable fountain pens for beginners you will see mentioned in this forum would be the Pelikan M200 and the Lamy 2000.

 

Lamy Safari/Vista and Twsbi Diamond 530

[Bo Bo Olson]

To use just one ink, is counterproductive.

You need a different color ink for when you change viewpoint. That will remind you, you are in another person's head with a different vocabulary.

 

In that a good book has three braids you need three colors of ink.

 

You got a hot headed viewpoint character use a hot ink.

A cold one, a cold ink.

and so on.

Depressed brown, or quirky violet.

Eco freak green.

 

A constant reminder of where that character is coming from....or changing into.

The hero has to change...has to come up with some part of him that is stronger than the weak point of the villain he is matched against.

So you can also have two shades of your character's inks.

Sort of a visual reminder of where you are at right now in your writing.

Your hero can start out wishy washy blue and end up Visconti Blue.

 

Your villain strong black, and where he is weak a washed out black.

 

A fancy character with a semi-flex or maxi-semi-flex/'flexi' or stub nib....that changes to a plain nib when he crumbles.

 

A good excuse to have 15 pens and inks.

 

If you are going to play with pens and inks, why not structure your play.

Edited July 28, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[dsatco]

Why don't you just buy an old Royal typewriter? Maybe an IBM Selectric?

Real ink, real paper, and the nostalgia...!!

(I'm just sayin'.)

[Sailor Kenshin]

EDIT: When I started typing this there weren't other replies!

 

With a fountain pen, the ink is not a part of the pen;

 

If you get a Pilot Varsity it is.

 

Just a thought---and these are great 'back-up' pens to have around.