Can a bespoke Montblanc pen fix my horrible handwriting?

[a student]

https://www.ft.com/content/e955459d-b229-436d-b8aa-3a6ce8c68c2f

 

I believe it is a free to read article, and has some comments from the subscribers

[kazoolaw]

Sacerdotal indeed-

“it is time for the pimping… as Montblanc does not call it. Naturally, I go fully loaded, my initials engraved copperplate style at the base of the nib, one flank laser-etched with my email address, the other with a miniature replica of my signature and, best of all, a faceted ruby in the centre of the nib, where the air hole normally is. In fact, this little spiracle is still there.”

[Karmachanic]

Piffle

[a student]

1 hour ago, Karmachanic said:

Piffle

 

Quite so. I see this section as advertisements posing as "articles'; and that explains why such pieces are free to access

[torstar]

the System gets you by the time you are 8 for neat handwriting.

 

Canadian friends raised elsewhere in the British Commonwealth, at least up to 1990 or so, were trained to produce immaculate penmanship, probably with a ruler across the knuckles

 

as a lefty i was fortunate to even be allowed to write as nature intended, I started in 1973 or so,

 

i'm screwed up enough as it is, i see the extra damage done to natural lefties that were forced to use their other hand... a criminal act

 

you can always improve, but it takes a lot of time, you need big incentive.

 

 

[Christopher Godfrey]

I agree with the "piffle" comments above; but the one statement with which I take a pinch of salt, because of the recent complaints about MB after-sales service and some of our family here who have told stories of having to wait <months> for nib replacements, is the statement in the article about eight different nibs being available!  If that were so, then our "complainers" would never likely have had to send away their pens?  (Or have I got it all wrong?)

[torstar]

8 sounds right for Pelikan, with easy switching at home.

 

Every time i read an article about something i truly know about, the writer doesn't have a clue.

 

Then i go to the next article, on something I don't truly know about,  and take the writer at their word...

 

the Gell-Mann effect.

[Mercian]

The title of this thread (and of the article in the FT) conforms to Betteridge's Law of headlines - the correct answer to the question in it is 'no'.

 

The only thing that can 'fix' one's "horrible handwriting" is practice.

 

Various handwriting models are available to choose from - there is one to suit every personal taste.
But, after picking a model to try to learn, and investing in the learning materials for it, one must then practice it.
Over and over and over again.

One must do lots and lots of practice. Then lots more practice.

Feel free to ask me how I know this 

[lionelc]

its not just the bespoke pen, on my to buy list now would be a cravat and a golden index finger ring.  the glasses with a loop around the back will be a problem unless i get a pair with no prescription on them.  

[InkyProf]

Geez, when I told them to go stick their precious rubies in their breather holes, I didn't expect them to actually do it.

 

Sonst zwar piffle.

[Opooh]

Strictly speaking, such positions can only be objectified by subjecting them to double blind studies.

[fpupulin]

Looking at the photograph of the article's author when writing, it seems to me that his problem is not simply bad handwriting. The position of the right hand, with the middle finger that partially covers the first phalanx of the ring finger, could be the product of arthrosis or a deadly grip as I have rarely seen, and which certainly must transmit an unbearable tension when writing. By the way, even the left hand, which is holding the pages of the notebook open, seems to be under strong tension.

 

I totally agree with @Mercian: neither in this specific case nor in any other I know of can a nib "create" beautiful handwriting. I believe, however, that bad handwriting requires not only constant practice to improve, but also certain nibs, which, in my opinion, are more suitable than others depending on the chosen style.

First, you need a writing "model" to aim for. Personally, I find that the font known as Foundational (but also Carolingian and Humanistic) teaches you how to draw letters as required in the vast majority of styles. A pointed nib, and even worse, a flexible one, is perhaps the least suitable for learning the basic ductus of letters and how to connect them.

 

A round-tipped nib (like most medium nibs) is very forgiving in terms of tilt and rotation of the pen. All things being equal, a medium nib with stub characteristics gives your writing a little more variation, making it more personal. I insist that the nib shouldn't be too broad (a medium stub is better than a broad stub) and should be rounded along the edges (like, justly, a stub) to allow the pen to adopt different inclinations and even rotate slightly (although this isn't desirable).

 

In conclusion: a couple of nibs, medium and medium stub, and a couple of basic styles (Foundational and Humanistic), writing slowly, are a good start. Then you will need a paper that is not too smooth, and a lot of practice.

[Mercian]

35 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

I believe, however, that bad handwriting requires not only constant practice to improve, but also certain nibs, which, in my opinion, are more suitable than others depending on the chosen style.

 

You are, undoubtedly, right about that! 

 

e.g. when I first joined FPN, if anyone had handed me a pen that had a flexible nib on it I would probably have damaged the nib if I tried to use it.
Decades spent in the 'ballpoint desert' had got me pressing down on my pens hard.

I only plucked up the courage to try pens with (slightly) flexible nibs after my grip/downward-pressure had lightened up to the point at which I could (can) - without any conscious effort - write with Lamy Z50 nibs that are marked 'EF', and not have them feel in the least bit 'draggy' on the page.

I am still not at the point that I can generate line variation on-demand without consciously thinking about doing so, and also taking great care over the process.
I need to practice more!

[a student]

7 hours ago, lionelc said:

its not just the bespoke pen, on my to buy list now would be a cravat and a golden index finger ring.  the glasses with a loop around the back will be a problem unless i get a pair with no prescription on them.  

 

You seem to have overlooked the good fellow's shirt- that is a neat looking fabric, and reminds me that sometime back the writer produced a piece on bespoke tailoring! 

 

(I understand that the newspaper's advertisement revenue from this particular section is what makes the publication financially viable)

[a student]

3 hours ago, fpupulin said:

Looking at the photograph of the article's author when writing, it seems to me that his problem is not simply bad handwriting. The position of the right hand, with the middle finger that partially covers the first phalanx of the ring finger, could be the product of arthrosis or a deadly grip as I have rarely seen, and which certainly must transmit an unbearable tension when writing. By the way, even the left hand, which is holding the pages of the notebook open, seems to be under strong tension.

 

I totally agree with @Mercian: neither in this specific case nor in any other I know of can a nib "create" beautiful handwriting. I believe, however, that bad handwriting requires not only constant practice to improve, but also certain nibs, which, in my opinion, are more suitable than others depending on the chosen style.

First, you need a writing "model" to aim for. Personally, I find that the font known as Foundational (but also Carolingian and Humanistic) teaches you how to draw letters as required in the vast majority of styles. A pointed nib, and even worse, a flexible one, is perhaps the least suitable for learning the basic ductus of letters and how to connect them.

 

A round-tipped nib (like most medium nibs) is very forgiving in terms of tilt and rotation of the pen. All things being equal, a medium nib with stub characteristics gives your writing a little more variation, making it more personal. I insist that the nib shouldn't be too broad (a medium stub is better than a broad stub) and should be rounded along the edges (like, justly, a stub) to allow the pen to adopt different inclinations and even rotate slightly (although this isn't desirable).

 

In conclusion: a couple of nibs, medium and medium stub, and a couple of basic styles (Foundational and Humanistic), writing slowly, are a good start. Then you will need a paper that is not too smooth, and a lot of practice.

 

In your experience have you ever come across a case where the writing experience with the standard Medium nib differs between two pens from the same brand– say Montblanc?

[Christopher Godfrey]

I've just noticed something <else> about that article -- namely, the use of the (invented) word "Tudorbethan" which, although one understands it, is just plain <daft>!  Henry VIII could only have signed in a Tudor style (whatever that may have been?), since the Elizabethan age only commenced eleven years after his death!

 

(For those who do not remember: after Henry's death came the young Edward VI followed by the Lady Jane Grey -- she of the nine days -- and Mary I, before Elizabeth)

[fpupulin]

9 hours ago, a student said:

 

In your experience have you ever come across a case where the writing experience with the standard Medium nib differs between two pens from the same brand– say Montblanc?

 

My experience, @a student, is limited to a few brands, but here it goes.

 

In the Extra pens by Montegrappa, my two M nibs behave almost identically. They are a bit dryer than my Omas and Montblanc medium nibs.

 

In my Omas Paragons the M nibs are more or less the same size as the Montegrappa, but wetter. I would suggest to whom is on its way to improve handwriting to choose a wet nib over a dryer one.

 

Among my Montblanc pens, I have medium nibs on two pens with 6-size nibs and one in the 9-size. The two 146/Le Grand are markedly different between them, with the nib of my Ultra Back being broader and wetter. The M nib of my 149 is grossly the size of that of the Ultra Black and also a wet nib. They are very easy nibs to use and write under any circumstances, with any kind of ink. 

 

I use my mediums less frequently than other nibs, which I feel more expressive, but they are nonetheless a joy to write with and I really think they should be included as prime choices in the arsenal of the aspiring good-handwriter. 

[Vintage_BE]

14 hours ago, Mercian said:

I am still not at the point that I can generate line variation on-demand without consciously thinking about doing so, and also taking great care over the process.

 

You’re not the only one. I have concluded (for myself) that, in order to significantly improve my handwriting, I need to carefully focus on each stroke - which means: writing quite slowly. Extended and extensive practice did result in an improvement of my handwriting, but it no longer serves a practical purpose (meeting notes or grocery list? I would always  do those on a laptop or a mobile phone).

 

I enjoy handwriting a bit like someone else enjoys playing a musical instrument - I regularly write and send letters (about 25,000 times slower than firing off an email).

 

Things were of course different a century ago; the below is a transcription of a marketing slogan used in a “business penmanship” course book. Those times are gone, however.

 

I doubt that the majority of the purchasers of bespoke MB nibs have the interest and the drive required to bring their handwriting to another level. @fpupulinstands out as an exception, and I would submit that MB might be well advised to create a “Writers edition” in his honor 😉 

[fpupulin]

When my wife remained trapped in Germany during her postdoc in 2020, at the peak of the COVID infection, and I was home alone 10 thousand miles away, Í wrote her a letter each day for more than one year.

I never, never considered sending her an anonymous email, so each afternoon I took a photograph of my daily handwritten letter and sent it as an image for her reading my words as they sprout from my heart and my pen.

 

When eventually she was able to come back home, I had the almost 400 letters, the true ones, bound for her in a volume, full of different ink colors and strokes of different nibs. This is the power of handwriting.

 

It is absolutely clear that handwriting has no more a significant role in our lives, and it will never recover its importance, but there still are thinks that can not be properly done without a pen, because they represent a direct expression of our feelings and our deepest and true essence.

[a student]

4 hours ago, fpupulin said:

 

My experience, @a student, is limited to a few brands, but here it goes.

 

In the Extra pens by Montegrappa, my two M nibs behave almost identically. They are a bit dryer than my Omas and Montblanc medium nibs.

 

In my Omas Paragons the M nibs are more or less the same size as the Montegrappa, but wetter. I would suggest to whom is on its way to improve handwriting to choose a wet nib over a dryer one.

 

Among my Montblanc pens, I have medium nibs on two pens with 6-size nibs and one in the 9-size. The two 146/Le Grand are markedly different between them, with the nib of my Ultra Back being broader and wetter. The M nib of my 149 is grossly the size of that of the Ultra Black and also a wet nib. They are very easy nibs to use and write under any circumstances, with any kind of ink. 

 

I use my mediums less frequently than other nibs, which I feel more expressive, but they are nonetheless a joy to write with and I really think they should be included as prime choices in the arsenal of the aspiring good-handwriter. 

 

Thank you for explaining your experience and for clarifying that even though the nibs come as standard, variations re the M nib, as within a brand, is not an impossibility.