The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.
–- Marty Feldman
Susan here, looking at my desk in the aftermath of finishing another book and sending it in. A pile of yellow legal pads, scribbled up; notebooks, one filled with notes, one half-filled; sticky notes; paper clips; a wrapped chocolate; a mug of cold tea; a tangle of charger cords; and three mugs and a jar crammed with pens. My work tomorrow is to straighten all that up and move on to the next work-in-progress (due this summer). 
That’s right, three mugs and a glass jar crammed with various pens and two new packs of pens, colorful erasable pens and felt tips too. I just love pens, what can I say… It’s an addiction impossible to resist. I have more pens than I can possibly use, and I keep buying new ones. When I’m working on a book, I often write longhand on legal pads or in journals, keeping track of ideas, research notes, and snippets of scenes drafted by hand before I go to the computer. I can blow through a lot of pens (and notebooks and paper) when the ideas are flowing and/or the deadlines are looming.
I have my favorites, and then the favored of the moment. I have dozens of fountain pens,
ballpoints, rollerballs, gel pens, felt-tips, erasable pens, calligraphy pens and nibs, even a couple of quill pens and two glass pens. They;re grouped in ceramic mugs, glass jars, small baskets, tea canisters, and drawers. They come in myriad sizes and colors, and just seem to proliferate. Every so often I’ll cull through them and get rid of the old ones, empty ones, gooky ones. But there are pen types I’ll continue to use and buy again. I love the colors, the variations in line, the weight, the balance, the grip, especially those that fit a smallish hand. When I find a pen that fits me and suits me, I’ll buy multiples in every color. A few beautiful fountain pens that were gifts over the years are also treasured favorites.
What is it about the writing instrument that gives such a thrill? It’s the classic tool of the writer, despite computers. Setting pen to paper creates a direct connection between the brain and the hand, sparking synapses and bringing ideas to life.
Writing is one of the most universal ways to share our thoughts. People have been putting pen to paper, or stylus to wax, or quill to parchment for as long as humans have had language and a need to save and share stories and information. We humans are innately compelled to express our ideas and emotions and what we see and know of the world around us or in our imaginations.
The earliest pens were dried reeds and feather quills shaved to a point and dipped in some form of ink. Even before that, sticks and charcoal would have been easy tools, and styluses made of bone or metal were commonly used on clay or wax tablets. Ancient scholars used dried hollow reeds or animal hair brushes with inks made from berries, acorns, oak gall, iron salts, even snails, and other substances just ooky enough to create a good ink line.
The Romans would drag a stylus in soft wax spread on a wooden tablet; so did the early Britons (who learned it from the Romans). Egyptian scribes would chew the ends of sharpened reeds to soften them so they would hold enough ink to write a few hieroglyphic symbols, then chew and dip, chew and dip to fill the papyrus page. The reed-and-ink approach is similar to using paint and brush, a common writing tool in many cultures early and late.
Quill pens were in use by the 5th century, and could easily have been employed earlier than that. The best writing quills were made from the flight feathers of swans and geese, taken from the left wing for a nice curve in the central shaft (and from the right wing for left-handed scribes!).
Quills were a marvelous writing tool, though the ends needed frequent trimming with a knife, often dozens of times while writing or copying a manuscript. The shaved quill met writing needs for centuries until the 18th century, when fine metal nibs of brass and then steel were created and attached to the quills, eliminating the need to constantly cut the quill points.
Fountain pens are a personal favorite, and I have several. In college I loved drawing up ink from bottles, but
converted to cartridges (not so messy!). I love the smell of ink and the way it flows from the nib. A fountain pen has a certain magic that seems to encourage the writing to flow along with the inked point. Fountain pens were invented in the late 19th century by Lewis Waterman, and by the turn of the century, the ballpoint pen appeared. But they weren’t very affordable or popular until World War II, when they proved very convenient out in the field.
Bic pens came along when a Frenchman named Bich developed a cheaply produced ballpoint, and Bic pens are still a staple nearly everywhere. Soon after, the Japanese invented the felt-tip. The pen industry continued to develop and innovate, with roller ball pens, then gel pens, permanent ink pens, and most recently, pens with erasable ink, my current obsession. And there are pens that write upside-down, in water, in outer space, and on and on.
I might have too many pens, but is there any such thing? I love that colorful, glorious jumble of pens
that tempt with color and smoothness of line, and promise to help create beautiful things on paper. Maybe it’s because I was an art major, but I’m particularly susceptible to the lure of a great pen — the simple clarity of line and color, the way a pen fits my hand and my mood, or the way it facilitates the connection between brain and hand to open up the imagination and help me get those books done!
What’s your favorite sort of pen? Do you love pens and paper and the stationery sections of stores as much as I do? Do you stock up on favorites?
Susan, it may be possible to have too many pens, but as long as you’re enjoying them….! An interesting history. My favorites are blue felt tip flair pens.
What a fun post, Susan. In high school and college, I used to use a fountain pen with purple or green ink…and, yes, I do recall those bottles of ink! Nowadays, I tend to use a Sharpie S-Gel 0.5 for everyday writing. I also use Sharpie Ultra Fine Point permanent markers for the little love notes I leave in my husband’s lunch box. (If I don’t, the note smears in the moist environment.)
I understand chocolate wrappers, but a wrapped chocolate is hard to comprehend.
A naked chocolate might get linty…heaven forbid!
Thank you, Susan, for the lovely and interesting post.
I like Uniball 207, a pen that cannot be erased from documents or checks and helps prevent identity theft. They can easily be found in Target.
I enjoy checking out stores and websites with all sorts of stationery. http://www.fineartamerica.com is one I like.
Just what I needed, Patricia – another site with irresistible paper products! Many thanks! I’ve already placed my first order!
LOL…..i’m with you, Constance! Too many temptations……
What a fun, interesting post, Susan! I agree with Marty, that a pen is much easier to write with!😉😊
I am with you, I love pens, all aorts of pens. I have my mother’s fountain pen, two toned, brass colored on the cap and a chocolate brown for the base. My father gave it to me whenI was leaving for college(my mother died when inwas 7) and I have treasured it ever since. I also have a pen that my Aunt gave me from Tiffany’s whenI graduated from college and i still keep it in it’s blue tiffany box with her hand written note in it.
But like you, I have all sorts of modern pens, gel, felt tip, ball point, but I have not run across the erasable ones yet…have to look for those! And I keep my pens in pretty decorated pencil cups all over my apt so I can grab one when I need it. I also have fun pads and stationery and, of course, yellow lined pads of different sizes to write on. I love wandering around stationery stores or sections of stores like that and the temptations are almost too much to bear! I also love pretty notecards,especially those from Museums. There is something about a handwritten note or letter that trumps a computerized one anyday! I handwrite my to do lists, or grocery lists or other things i need to know or remember. My adress book is full of handwritten names and addresses and zinsurprise people when i ask for their information that I write it down rather than typing it into a phone.
Such an interesting post, Susan – and given Christina’s Christmas post about paper, notebooks, cards, etc, it seems especially appropriate! I received my first fountain pen as a high school graduation gift from my beloved English teacher – in addition to congratulations, her note advised me that if I treated it well, and used it often, it would always bring me joy. She was, of course, as always, correct! I now have many fountain pens, which occupy an old small silver tray I found at a church fair. I also have a large chipped mug from France full of gel pens in all colors; an empty glass candle container full of colored pencils; a plant pot full of colored markers; and an old stationery box filled with ink samples in so many colors (most of them from Gouletpens.com, a wonderful source).
I am in total agreement with JaneA about handwritten notes and letters – and use that to justify my continuing acquisition of writing instruments! All my nieces and nephews, and now their children, know exactly what to expect from me on graduating from high school.
I used a fountain pen in elementary school, but I never had cartridges, so my fingers were frequently ink stained. I was delighted when the Bic ballpoint pens arrived on the scene. Colored pencils were a must for all of the lab sciences, as we often had to submit drawings of specimens and procedures.
I do love stationary, and I periodically purchase the custom variety: fold notes which are embossed with my name. I have also ordered such custom notes as gifts for family members and friends, with either their monograms or their whole names. I have impressed upon the younger (and some older) members of the family of the importance of writing thank you notes as a way of not only showing gratitude, but good manners. The gifts of personalized stationary has been my way to encourage note writing for any occasion in an era when sending emails has become the norm.
*have been my way…
I love gel pens and Uniballs, anything where the ink flows freely. I remember getting Schaefer fountain pens when I was young-I probably still have some cartridges hanging around. In those days, I used to write a lot of letters to friends who lived some distance away, because making long distance calls was very rare, except for an emergency. It used to cost money to call a different area code! I don’t make a conscious effort to collect pens, but I have about 2 mugs worth, they seem to multiple on their own. I also love museum notecards, but sometimes they are so pretty the temptation is to hoard them instead of sending them out.
Definitely, Karin! I have a tiny easel on my desk and rotate notecards I can’t bear to send away – about to replace a snowy Pissarro card with a very old daffodil card – I’m forcing Spring!
What a lovely idea, Constance. I’ll have to see jf i can find one somewhere and do something similar!
I know what you mean, Karin. I have ended putting them in plastic sleeve pages in a three ring bindiw and leaf throjgh them from time to time…my kwn little art library of favorite paintings and pictures!
Karin, I heartily agree with your last statement!
I love pens, paper – stationery in general. I used to have tons of all but since downsizing I have to be more selective. I love Pentel gel pens always in green or purple ink.
Those are fun colors, Jeanne!