Dropsafe

by Alec Muffett

Writing Pens

My new job is forcing me to actually write things down. (gasp!) On real paper. (eek!) Legibly. (“the horror… the horror…”)

No, really.

Time was when I was a great… nah, let’s be honest here, I’ve always had the bonkers handwriting of a true geek, I never have written in joined-up script except when doing occasional Calligraphy as a teenager, and once I got a palmpilot in the mid 90s my real pen usage plummeted.

My school chemistry teacher mandated that all work handed to him had to be in fountain-pen in order to improve legibility, and (of an artistic bent) I spent much of my youth doing pen-and-ink washes, wildlife sketches, and prettymuch all of my schoolwork using Rotring or Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph technical-drawing pens; that most of my university notes are written in a 0.35mm spindly pale blue, attests to this.

Now – after several years of styluses and the occasional biro/ballpoint, I am finding my lack of legibility annoying; this is partly addressed by having a really fat, nice, customer-giveaway biro to work with, but in the long term I would really like to get back to fountain-pens and ink for note-taking during meetings.

With my aforementioned predilection towards a comfy, large pen with a fine, technical line – plus my unwillingness to pay for lacquering or silver inlay when what I want is a good pen not a vanity piece, and admitting to a certain amount of brand-loyalty, I am looking towards something like a Rotring Initial, however it struck me that the blog might be able to reach one or other pen-mavens who could perhaps offer other suggestions?

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Comments

10 responses to “Writing Pens”

  1. 1raindrop
    re: Writing Pens

    go here: http merlin.blogs.com/43folders/2004/09/introducing_the.html

    and check out the fisher bullet. i recommend moleskin (http merlin.blogs.com/43folders/2004/09/introducing_the.html) in addition to the 3×5 index cards

    i also recommend that you check out quicksilver.

    -1rd

    Reply
  2. alecm
    re: Writing Pens

    the direct URL to which you refer is:

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001ENZ20/

    …but aside from the Amazon brownie points you are accruing by getting people to click through that blog, you haven’t really contributed to increasing my level of knowledge, or indeed anyone else’s.

    Have you opinions, or are you perhaps a robot?

    Reply
  3. 1raindrop
    re: Writing Pens

    i am no robot, i am too illogical for one thing. the amazon points are not mine, but the hipster pda link shows how the system fits together and arguably gives a better pda solution than what is available via palm. now pdas are tough to beat for contacts, and i have even heard reports that you can effectively manage a calendar with them, but for note taking of the type that has more than one multisyllabic word they are utterly useless. so…we are back to a small moleskin notebook and a fisher bullet pen. these have low pocket resource utilization, excellent uptime metrics, and a low tco. -1rd

    Reply
  4. Reinout van Rees
    Rotring pencil?

    My favourite writing instrument at the time is a Rotring, but a pencil, not a pen. http http://www.rotring.de/products/writing/c_newton.html, the “rotring lava”. 0.7mm.

    Personal preference is, of course, the sole important issue: it sounds like you really prefer a fountain pen to a pencil. You might want to give it a try, however! I’m feeling naked when I don’t have him at hand 🙂

    Reinout

    Reply
  5. alecm
    re: Rotring pencil?

    pencils are good, but lack permanence – plus I tend to write quickly when using them, which makes for greater mess, more doodles, and less legibility.

    Reply
  6. Darren Moffat
    Why pen an paper though ?

    Okay I’ll bite, why is it that you need to do this on pen an paper ? The first thing that springs to mind being a fellow security geek is that you are having meetings in an environment where it is too difficult to take computers/pda’s in and out.

    I’ve always been bad at writing but I’ve recently discovered than my spelling when writing is even worse than it is when I type. I sometimes have to tap out on an virtual qwerty keyboard to spell some things (sad but true).

    Reply
  7. alecm
    re: Writing Pens

    Replace “difficult” with “socially awkward” and you’re bang-on, plus I can’t do more than a few Kb on a Palmpilot without going berserk correcting my Graffitti on the fly, so paper makes sense because it doesn’t get bolshy about how well you write. Some of the meetings I come away with 8+ sides of A5.

    Also: doodling on a palmpilot doen’t really quite have the necessary cathartic effect. 😎

    Reply
  8. Craig Morgan
    re: Writing Pens

    Funny, I’ve just gone thru exactly the same process … reaching saturation point with electronic note taking in meetings, etc.

    I too spent my formative years as a Rotring user and returned to the fold only a few weeks ago, I’d forgotten how nice it felt.

    I can only second the suggestion to obtain a supply of Moleskin’s … having read and been directed to them over the last few years, I believed it to be hype, but the experience of a good pen and a beautiful writing paper and well thought out folio is hard to beat 😉

    Moleskine details at http http://www.modoemodo.com/ and available in various sizes these days over the counter at Waterstones, etc, or easily available online.

    Craig

    Reply
  9. Tony Guntrip
    re: Writing Pens

    Well, I’ve just had my Parker Duofold International rebuilt by their nice people in Brighton (under lifetime warranty) and with Cross ink it’s a joy to use – £200 well spent.

    I’d second the moleskine sentiments, and point to the bargain prices on Amazon.co.uk…

    Reply
  10. Tony Guntrip
    re: Writing Pens

    BTW, checkout manufactum.co.uk for all the quality ephemera you need in addition to a quality pen.

    Delivery is a tad steep, but that is UPSed from Germany.

    Reply

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