Stories & Soliloquies

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  • Tag: fountain pen

    • Welcome to the Pen Show

      Posted at 1:00 pm by Michelle Joelle, on January 19, 2015

      For the past year, I’ve been using a fountain pen I’d received as gift. It’s a modern pen with a fine to medium-ish nib that takes short international ink cartridges. It’s super easy to load and writes beautifully, never spilling ink anywhere but my own hands. At first I used prepackaged cartridges (all you have you do is pop them in and pop them out), but I’m now moving into a refillable cartridge, thanks to a lovely gift from my brother-in-law, who inspired my interest in fountain pens.

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      The only other really nice pen I have is a ballpoint pen made of wood, purchased a few years back at a Renaissance Faire. For the most part, I was satisfied with just these two.

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      But then I received another fountain pen from my husband’s family. I didn’t know much about it, but it was so neat that I wanted to find out more. Instead of taking a cartridge or simply dipping – really the only two ways I could imagine filling a pen – this pen produced a little tube when you twisted it, and then squeaked when you twisted it back.

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      I started doing some research to figure out how it worked before I tried it out, and I got a little distracted by fascinating history of fountain pens. Yesterday, at the excellent suggestion of my brother-in-law, I went to my very first pen show. Let me tell you, I learned a lot. For one, I learned that this particular ink-filling mechanism was common in the 50s and 60s for the brand Shaeffer, and that there was an extra step required to fill it with ink. After screwing out the tube, you have to pull the tail back, and then as you push it back in, it pulls the ink in. Then you screw it back and your ready to go. I tried it as soon as I got home, and I discovered that I’ve got a very cool working vintage pen. And a family heirloom, to boot!

      Here’s a few other things I saw at the Pen Show:

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      My favorite find was a set of pens made of found moose antlers and covered in scrimshaw ships and pirates. I was able to chat with the maker, Ryan Krusac, and discovered that he sketched out his designs by hand on paper, scanned them into a CAD program, after which they could be transferred onto the material. I particularly love the “Ship in Tempest” and “Kraken” designs. They’d be just perfect for working on my Pirate Epic. They’re pretty much everything I’ve ever dreamt of in a pen.

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      I definitely recommend checking out a pen show near you, even if you have only the slightest interest in writing implements. I knew very little going into my first show, and I didn’t feel ready yet to buy anything, but I still learned a lot and got a lot of ideas about how to proceed next both with my tiny collection of pens, and my budding interest in the rich history of writing tools.

      Before you go, though, be sure to read this (yet another excellent suggestion from my brother-in-law). It’s helpful and highly amusing, and a wonderful prep for your pen show experience.

      Posted in The Waste Book | 9 Comments | Tagged fountain pen, ink, pen show, pens, writing tools
    • Seven Gifts for the Writer and Reader

      Posted at 1:00 pm by Michelle Joelle, on December 2, 2014

      It’s the season of gift-giving, and I love giving gifts. What can be a little stressful is the pressure of finding something that says “I was thinking of you personally when I picked this out” that’s also really useful. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of items I’m considering for the readers and writers in my life (and to be honest, a few of these are going on my wish list too).

      1) A laptop sleeve that looks like a book:

      This version is for MacBooks, so make sure you have the right specs before you choose this item.

      2) Page Nibs/Book Darts:

      These are my favorite book marks – you can leave them in your book to mark quote locations, or to give yourself a clear, line-specific marker. They come in a lot of different styles, but these and these are both perfect.

      3) Your writer’s favorite notebooks:

      A notebook is a very personal choice – while beautiful leather-bound journals are great to look at, you might want to spy on your writer to see what kind of paper, margins, and line spacing they prefer in order to get the most useful gift. You really can’t have too many notebooks.

      4) A fountain pen (and ink):

      I received a fountain pen for Christmas last year, and it very quickly became the only pen I want to use. A fountain pen can seem intimidating at first, but there are different mechanisms and styles to fit different personalities. I like the kind where you put the cartridge right into the barrel of the pen – no muss, no fuss – and I like a fine nib, but you’ll want to consider if your writer likes calligraphy, antique styling, function, and more. In spite of the width of the nib, I like the looks of this one on Amazon. The dream is the Parker Sonnet with gold trim. Don’t forget to include compatible ink cartridges or cartridge system!

      5) A personalized library embosser:

      I first saw this on another list of gifts for book lovers, and it just looks awesome. This is one item that’s going to make it on my own wish list, for sure.

      6) A gift certificate to the Mythgard Institute:

      The Mythgard Institute is both an educational institute and an online hub for active auditors. The courses cover modern fantasy and science fiction as well as Medieval and Renaissance literature, and can be taken in real time – with an option for live interaction with the professors – or downloaded to be done at your own leisure. Past course packs include classes on Arthurian literature, philology, Chaucer, Tolkien, Harry Potter, C.S. Lewis, and more. With this certificate, you can help offset the cost of an experience that’s incredibly rewarding.

      7) A book stand:

      I got myself this cook book stand from ideasinwood to use in my office. I prop up my book and take notes, or I prop up my notes for typing. It’s such a great resource. There are a lot of different kinds of book holders, so you can really match the style of your intended recipient.

      And there you have it – seven great gifts for the writers and readers in your life.

      Posted in The Waste Book | 26 Comments | Tagged book darts, book holder, books, christmas, embosser, fountain pen, gift guide, gift list, gifts, ideasinwood, laptop sleeve, library, mythgard institute, notebooks, readers, writers
    • Anatomy of a Writer

      Posted at 1:00 pm by Michelle Joelle, on January 15, 2014

      For many, writing is a task done on the computer. You set up a document, and begin to fill the page with letters, backspacing, cutting and pasting, jumping ahead, deleting great sections, adding new ones, etc.. For this type of writing, the computer is part of the body, an extension through the fingertips, connecting the screen to the brain. I like the computer when I’m writing quickly. My typing fingers are able to keep up with my brain when it’s racing in a way no other medium can really match.

      Often, the word processor is thought of as an advancement of the typewriter, but I can’t imagine ever feeling as immediately connected to the page through a typewriter as I do through a computer. To me, a typewriter is for slow, precise writing. You want to avoid mistakes, think things through, carefully consider the flow of thoughts and wrangle them into something neat and clear. I love typewriters because they break the immediacy of writing that a computer allows, and force me to filter my thoughts, slow them down. It gives me time to subvocalize the words, and place them with care. I could use more of this – it’s too bad my only typewriter is a broken vintage monster I found in the basement of a row home in West Philly.

      But my absolute favorite way to write is with a nice pen in a fancy notebook. Never do I feel more connected to the words on the page than when I put them there by hand. I prefer inky pens (I’m sure there an official name) on Moleskine lined notebooks. I’ll deal with a ballpoint pen and napkin when it’s the only option, though I prefer writing that leaves no indent into the page. I feel like I can move faster. Putting pen to nice paper combines the two options listed above – I feel the immediacy of typing as my thoughts are one with the ink left on the page, but the inability to delete, to cut and paste, to rework thoughtlessly slows me down in a way that is similar to the type writer.

      I edit by crossing things out and putting notes in the margin, and then I simply start again and write sections or ideas afresh. I write through entire chapters, and then I rewrite them, making changes and adjustments as I go, revisiting and reliving ideas rather than cutting and pasting them. Writing with a pen allows me to fly, and it allows me to linger. It keeps my focus pure and present, but allows me to stop and reconsider at the same time. When I write notes for teaching, I always do them out by hand a few times before typing them up. It’s the best way to let the thoughts out of my brain, rework them until they make sense, and then put them back into my mind in a way that feels organic.

      For Christmas, I got some new notebooks and a gorgeous fountain pen. I’m still learning about it, but I can’t wait to add it to my repertoire. It may even get a post of its very own.

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      The other ingredients I need are a good cup of tea, cozy sweater and an even cozier pair of socks, some sort of scented candle, my reference books, and either a good view out a sunny window, or a bright desk lamp in an otherwise dimly lit room. It’s all about the ambiance.

      Related articles
      • On writing with fountain pens (om.co)
      • The Development of the Typewriter (historicalwritings.wordpress.com)
      Posted in The Waste Book | 10 Comments | Tagged fountain pen, Moleskine, paper, Typewriter, Typing, writing
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