this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024

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Fountain Pens

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Are you using a fountain pen for long-form writing? (jlai.lu)

submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Dear Lemmy fountain pen community,

I'm well over 50 and I started using a fountain pen in school, when I was still a little kid learning to write. That was back in the 70s. All those years, I've always been using a fountain pen of some sort for most of the stuff I write, and sketch.

I was wondering how many of us were still using a fountain pen to write long-form content? I mean, are you using one to write letters, keep a journal, or for any other form of content?

Even though I don't have a nice handwriting, I know quite a few people who like receiving my handwritten letters more than a neatly typed letter, and so do I. It kinda feels more personal and unique.

Beside the now too rare handwritten letter, sketching and keeping a journal another thing I like doing when I work on a long text is to draft it using a pen. Only once I'm done with that draft I will switch to the computer for the final typed version. It sure is much slower to write longhand which is exactly what I'm looking for: less speed, aka more time to (try to) think. And less distractions too ;)

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Hi! I use a fountain pen all the time. I learned to use one as an exchange student: at my school in Belgium, all work needed to be completed in fountain pen (this was in 1996, which i just now realize is almost 30 years ago).

i hate talking on the phone and i zoom all day at work, so i recently decided to start sending longhand letters to my old friends and distant family. I’ve had pretty good response, though a few people seemed puzzled.

I write essays and short fiction, and writing on paper is just better for me. On a word processor, i tinker with wording too much: one sentence can take me ten minutes to finish. On paper, i move on and fix things when i type it up later. I think paper lets me build momentum.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

this was in 1996, which i just now realize is almost 30 years ago

;)

I’ve had pretty good response, though a few people seemed puzzled.

Indeed. I noticed a few people reaching to me when they see me writing longhand, asking me what I do (and then why). Most of them being friendly.

I write essays and short fiction, and writing on paper is just better for me. On a word processor, i tinker with wording too much: one sentence can take me ten minutes to finish. On paper, i move on and fix things when i type it up later.** I think paper lets me build momentum**.

100% this. And it has been like that since... even before I got my first computer (in the early 80s) when I was using a typewriter: I love writing longhand, it helps me connect with whatever it is I'm writing and get in the... vibe/mood (I don't know what would be the way to say that in English). Oddly, it's only recently I decided to also switch my blog to longhand writing/drafting. I don't publish more often, that's for sure, but what matters to me is that blogging is a much more pleasurable experience than using WP on computer or a tablet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

My grandma is hard of hearing so she prefers written correspondence. I like using my fountain pen to write postcards because there’s something about the tactile feedback of a fountain pen. Like typing on a nice keyboard. Also I can change the color of the inks to match the season, stamps, and whatever.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

My grandma is hard of hearing so she prefers written correspondence.

Getting older myself (worse eyesight and a much worse hearing) I would not have thought about that but that's a good point you're making.

Like typing on a nice keyboard.

I also appreciate a nice keyboard but I also have a hard time finding anything that suits my needs. My granddad taught me to touch-type when I was still a little child (even then, I wanted to write stories and make 'magazines' for my friends) and si I learned on his old full-mechanical and full-metal typewriter (an Olympia SG1, if anyone is interested). Compared to this wonder, all keyboards do feel a bit plasticy and lightweight to me ;)

Also I can change the color of the inks to match the season, stamps, and whatever.

Younger I liked doing that too. Nowadays, I use two, three inks at most.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I almost exclusively write my handwriting practice with my fountain pen. Then what is it for? Please don't ask me. Although sometimes I write a birthday card. Which always goes horrible wrong somehow. So 99% is practice, and the 1% real work is horrible despite that much practice 😭. The only other thing is my sketchbook. Which is an assault to the eyes. Sketching sounds like a short form activity but it takes me surprisingly long to do a simple drawing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

So 99% is practice, and the 1% real work is horrible despite that much practice 😭. The only other thing is my sketchbook. Which is an assault to the eyes.

Don't be too harsh on yourself. My handwriting is 100% trash, like it really is. Back in school, I was driving every single one of my teachers crazy just because I could not write. Did not prevent me from earning a living writing, and to write daily ;)

As for my own sketches, well, let's just say I won't win any art competition. That, I can tell you confidently. But I can also tell you I enjoy sketching tremendously. So, I'm fine with my lack of prize-winning perspective ;)

Sketching sounds like a short form activity but it takes me surprisingly long to do a simple drawing.

If you're anything like me, it's not a surprise: I need time for everything new... not to learn the stuff itself but to assimilate it and to make it some kind of a second nature, something I just do without worrying or thinking too much about it.

I don't know if this may help you, but that's helping me, so here it is: recently, I decided to add daily sketches in my journal and since I journal almost every single day, I notice any page/spread where I have not added at least one sketch. And I mean sketching absolutely anything provided that it grabs my attention (be it IRL or on the Internet, like this mushroom whose picture I saw that day on Lemmy) — I blurred the journal parts ;)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yup! I've only been into fountain pens for a few years but I use them every day for journaling, work notes, and most other writing I do.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

Nice! And welcome to dark side... dark only because of the many inks, obviously :p

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

@Libb I do. Journaling, first drafts of blog posts and sometimes short stories - l prefer to write them by hand with #fountainpens.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

The same here. I've tested many digital journaling app/services but I always come back to the good old pen and paper. And not just because I care my privacy (I do). It just feels nicer.

I also draft my blog longhand, btw. Nice to meet someone else doing the same (could not find any URL to your blog in your profile, don't hesitate to share it) :)