The Joy of a Perfect Pen: My Love Affair with Writing Instruments
When I was in kindergarten, we had octagonal-shaped crayons so that they wouldn’t roll off the desk, but they were not as waxy and slippery as the ones today. They had a drier feel to them, and the application of the color to the paper just felt different. It was almost like a blend of a pencil and a chalky substance, with just enough of a wax touch to hold it in its shape. I loved those crayons more than any I had before or since.
My whole life, I’ve been fascinated with writing instruments, yes, even crayons. Highlighters, Sharpies, colored pencils, gel pens, and the gold standard of wooden pencils, the Dixon Ticonderoga — I love them all!
I appreciate penmanship and calligraphy, too. I can’t help myself, if I find a pen in my hand and it feels good and there’s a sheet of paper in front of me with an inch of blank space, I’m going to write something on it in beautiful cursive. It’s a bit of an obsession, I suppose.
The Beauty of Craftsmanship
Some instruments just feel good in my hands. That’s not just true with pens and pencils; even in the kitchen, a well-crafted knife makes me feel more confident. A quality writing instrument feels like it has some substance to it, a bit of weight. The surface should feel nice, but that could be either smooth or something with a bit of texture. It mustn’t be difficult to grasp or unpleasant to hold. The item must have the right balance, not too heavy at either the top or the bottom.
Fountain pens have fascinated me from childhood. My dad had one with a bladder we filled from a jar of ink by forcing a suction of the ink into the bladder. I never did quite get the hang of it, so I was thrilled when I found a fountain pen with ink cartridges that I could toss away and replace. The first time I saw one was in Monterey, California, while I was a Defense Language Institute. Down in Pacific Grove, there was a little stationery store that also sold books, or maybe it was a bookstore that also sold stationery supplies. My roommate had gotten one of these magical pens, and I coveted that pen. So, off we went to that little shop in Pacific Grove.
This fountain pen, though, wasn’t just an ordinary fountain pen. It had a bit of a wider nib, so it wrote like a calligrapher’s pen, just lovely and with a bit of added class. I purchased some lined, colored paper and matching envelopes and a fabulous fountain pen, and my letters home were instantly more valuable. Years later, and too many moves to count, and that fountain pen has been long since lost, but I’ve had several since then, always the same brand: Shaeffer.
The Connection Between Pen and Paper
There’s a particular tactile experience in writing with a great instrument, and there’s a particular different experience in writing with a poor one. There are no in-betweens, by the way. If it’s not great, it’s poor. It may work, but it’s still poor. Also, “great” is subjective; it’s whatever you declare it to be.
The push or pull of the pencil or pen across the surface of the paper — or whatever it is that is on the receiving end — can feel almost meditative. I have practiced penmanship so much that it’s close to perfect in form, and there’s a rhythm in its execution. Why did I practice penmanship, when we’re all going digital? I just love writing. There’s enough research to support the benefits of hand-writing your notes, so I won’t elaborate those here. If it were as efficient to write everything by hand rather than typing it all out on a keyboard, I’d do it.
Still, why bother?
My handwriting, although it’s good, can’t legibly keep up with my thoughts. Still, I keep a journal in longhand, I have a scripture study journal that I keep in longhand, and I recently received a digital note-taking device on which I write longhand, more on it below. Oh, this device is truly lovely, it feels like paper, and the feeling of the stylus across it feels just like a fine pencil on fine parchment. I get that benefit of writing my notes out longhand, but after I finish, I convert them to digital text for the next step in my study/training process.
Memorable Writing Instruments
In addition to that box of kindergarten crayons and my first personal fountain pen, there have been many that have held place in my memory. Some were gifts, some were just different, and some are no longer available.
The Parker
For graduation, I got a Parker pen. It wasn’t encrusted with jewels, it didn’t solve world hunger or create world peace, but it had a substantial feel to it, and it wasn’t cheap. A Parker Pen was something my parents would have had to sacrifice to purchase, but I held that pen close to me for many years. I lost it when a purse got stolen from me, and it was the only thing in the purse that I truly missed.
The Flairs
When I was young, maybe 10 or 11, one of the things in my Christmas stocking one year was a set of three Flair pens – red, purple, and pink. I didn’t need any other colors for what I wanted to do with them, and I used those three colors until there was no ink left in them.
The Pentel Favorite
My husband found one pencil he really enjoyed using, a Pentel. Rather than a flat-sided barrel, it was round, with a graceful taper to the tip. They were never available locally in either department stores or office supply stores, so when I found them, I bought five of them. We’re down to one, and he keeps it in his office at work. It was another favorite item that left my possession with another purse in another theft. Pentel has discontinued that model, so he guards it pretty carefully.
The Lamy
About eight years ago, I purchased another good-quality fountain pen. This one doesn’t have the wider nib, but it has enough heft to it that it feels good in my hand. I love the way I write with it, and by holding it slightly differently, I can get different types of strokes on the paper.
What do wonderful pens and pencils do for me creatively? Well, on the surface, nothing, really. But I feel more creative with them. You know how a really great outfit makes you feel like a million bucks, even though you know you’re still fronting the same face? It’s that way for me with a wonderful pen or pencil. I feel like I could be the next Jane Austin — even though any novel I write will be written on a computer. I know, I know, there’s a lot of incongruity there, and I can’t explain it. It just feels like that.
A Collector’s Heart for Writing Instruments
I never had a dream to collect writing instruments. Depending on whom you ask in my household, I either do or don’t. I have amassed a very large drawer full of pencils and another large drawer full of pens. Most of them probably need to be thrown away because they came in novelty gift bags of some type and are of novelty gift-bag quality. When I try to sharpen some of them, the graphite isn’t even centered in the pencil.
The pens have accumulated over time from various sources as well, but there’s an interesting juxtaposition between swag pencils and swag pens. While a swag pencil is usually junk, a giveaway pen seems to be really nice to write with. Some came from the last company I worked with, a couple from a paint company, two from my high school reunion, and several others I can’t call to memory right now, but they’re all just terrific to write with.
I really don’t intend to “collect” pens as a “collection.” There’s something in me that hates being without something to write with and something to write on. As a result, I have a little pad of paper and several pencils in every piece of furniture that has a drawer. I make sure I have a pen and a pencil in every bag I carry, because once, on a business trip, I hadn’t packed a single writing instrument. I didn’t carry my purse because we were flying instead of driving, and I had never considered needing them in the computer bag. That changed as soon as I got home. But no, “collecting” writing instruments isn’t what I’m doing.
Writing as an Art Form
I believe that if you have good penmanship, you’re going to have good penmanship with just about any instrument. I also believe that when you hold a great writing tool, there’s something that makes you want to do it well. There was a period of about three or four years when I could draw quite well, but I don’t know what happened — I lost it somewhere along the way. But penmanship — that flourished.
None of my elementary school teachers would recognize my penmanship as belong to that messy little girl they knew. For my entire growing-up time, it was passable at best. I can’t even remember when I decided to make the effort a lovely penmanship, but along the way it has improved immensely. One time, I wrote out a check to cash at the bank using one of my wide-nib fountain pens, and the result was so pretty that the bank teller told me she wished she didn’t have to process it normally.
Daily Use
I use my fountain pens in my journal, because reading a journal should be an act of art as much as writing in it. If I had sloppy writing, I wouldn’t bother, but eventually someone may read the journal, and, even if the text is mundane, my descendants can say, “Well, it’s dull as mud, but the writing is sure pretty.”
My Christmas gift from my husband was a ReMarkable tablet. Justifying the purchase was easy, citing all the ways I could use it. I have used it in all of those ways, and I do love it. The stylus on the screen has a movement that is a tactile delight. The way it makes my writing feel is ridiculously self-indulgent, to the extent that if I don’t need to transfer the text and copy it into another program, I just leave it in my own handwriting. It feels so good that I look for ways to use it!
Your Turn
I’ve rambled on for 1,800 words now, waxing philosophical about writing instruments — how they’re so much more than just tools, and more like companions. Think about the things you use daily and how they signify to you. Not just pens and pencils, that’s just my thing. What objects come into your hand every day that play such a role in your life that having some of great quality puts a smile on your face? Or, do you have one great pen or pencil that you just refuse to let go of? Drop a comment below and let’s compare notes!
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