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 1 month 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] 11 points 1 month 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] 4 points 1 month 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] 5 points 1 month 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] 3 points 1 month 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] 4 points 1 month 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] 2 points 1 month ago

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month 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] 3 points 1 month 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 1 month ago (1 children)

I write almost everything I can with a fountain pen, and have for probably the last 12 years or so. I have my nicer ballpoints for using at work, where a fountain pen wouldn't be practical, or on the rare occasions I have to sign receipts or get a hardcopy of the paper for the crossword.

I've gotten the most use in maintaining a journal, which I've done with some regularity since I first bought a Pilot Metropolitan all those years ago. Now that I'm taking another go at university, I've also written all my course with them, which is probably several hundred pages by now. Every so often, I take a stab at writing some fiction, but those efforts haven't really amounted to more than one short story.

I keep a planner, and write letters to one friend on occasion. I've got a very neglected Gemini blog that I would also like to draft out entries by hand in, just to be writing something and publishing it into the void on a somewhat regular basis.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I keep a planner, and write letters to one friend on occasion.

Sending (and receiving) and handwritten letter is such a pleasant thing (depending the content of the letter, obviously bet let's agree we're all nice people ;). What's sad is that by the look of it seems like many people may never experience that. And the excitement building up while you wait for the next letter to reach you or your correspondant.

I’ve got a very neglected Gemini blog that I would also like to draft out entries by hand in, just to be writing something and publishing it into the void on a somewhat regular basis.

I do the same on my own (quite neglected too, and Hugo-powered) blog, drafting everything longhand, feel free to check my profile if you want to have a look at it, as well as to share you own blog... even though I know not much about that Gemini thing (some kind of alternative to WWW, am I correct?) ;)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month 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 1 month 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) :)