Who handwrites anymore?
That's so old school.
Well, just call me old fashion.
Back in December, I completed the rough draft of CLIPPED WINGS, entirely handwritten in cursive with a fountain pen in a total of eight college-ruled composition books. Why would I put myself through such cruel torture?
Well, I love writing with fountain pens, there's nothing that can compare with the feel and sensation of watching liquid ink form words on a piece of paper. In 2012 I ran across a YouTube video made by Brian Goulet about how to use fountain pens. Until that point in my boring life, I'd not paid any mind to fountain pens, after all, I grew up in the Bic pen generation. I was so captivated by his videos I watched everything Brian posted online. I searched out other fountain pen vids. It was as if I'd been put in a trance, I couldn't get enough information about fountain pens.
In 2013, I entered an online contest and won a genuine fountain pen as my prize. I excitedly filled that sucker with ink from a small glass bottle. As soon as the nib connected with the paper, I was hooked. I had fallen head over heels into the allusive fountain pen rabbit hole. Since that fateful day, I seek out any opportunity to write with pen and ink. Sometimes when I can't find something useful to write I simply scribble one phrase over and over on any paper I have handy. “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. Call me crazy and order a tailor to fit me for a straight jacket. I am a fountain pen addict, and I publicly admit it. There, I said it.
With my love of fountain pens, it was just a natural desire to handwrite the first draft of my inaugural novel in 2017. Sure I'd written and published a couple of short stories and three novellas in 2010, but they were composed entirely on a laptop. That was years before I became mesmerized by the fantastical world of fountain pens.
I began my new adventure into handwriting a fictional novel rough draft. Not just any novel, but an epic-length Southern literary novel. To prepare for the journey, I inked up anywhere from 6 – 8 fountain pens with different brands and colors of fountain pen ink. I also acquired a bunch of cheap college-ruled composition books for fifty cents each – I'm kind of a cheapskate. From Amazon, I purchased a SMUDGEGUARD spandex glove. It's a two-finger glove that fits on the pinky and ring fingers and prevents the transfer of body oil onto the paper as you write. Fountain pens can be persnickety boogers when they come into contact with body oil, it may skip or not lay a proper amount of ink on paper.
Smudgeguard also protects the hand from getting all inky by accidentally dragging it across wet ink. Of course, for the fountain pen enthusiast, it's considered a badge of courage to brandish inky hands and fingers, it just comes with the territory. To prepare for my new task I needed some writing background music, something that would tug at my emotions. I returned to YouTube again where I found and downloaded a large collection of emotional piano and violin music tracks. I don't think I broke any laws in doing so -- if I did -- oopsie.
So, I began handwriting the rough draft in cursive, you know what that is? It's that curlicue style of handwriting that just about anyone born after 1970 can't read. It's a private hieroglyphic type of writing that the Baby Boomer generation and generations before used to compose secret messages to one another.
I found that handwriting was much more convenient than lugging a bulky laptop around everywhere. I could take my composition book and a couple of fountain pens along wherever I went. I wrote in coffee shops, on public transit, and waiting in lobbies between appointments, and I could even write when I was in the toilet if I wanted. The downside, fountain pens do not hold an indefinite amount of ink. It was not uncommon to be writing happily along and run out of ink in mid-sentence when I'd simply grab a replacement inked pen. I'd go through from 6 -8 inked pens each week. Every Sunday I'd clean and refill the next week's supply of pens. So, that's a quick overview of how the rough draft of CLIPPED WINGS was written – by hand, in cursive, with fountain pens, in college-ruled composition books. Could I get much more old-school than that?
A sampling of pens and inks I used to write the rough draft:
Sheaffer 1960's vintage “School Pen” …............Pelikan 4001 Dunkelgrun Ink
Fountain Pen Revolution “Himalaya” …............ Chesterfield Amethyst
Platinum “Plaisir” …................................................ Sheaffer Peacock Blue
Levenger “True Writer” …..................................... Waterman Mysterious Blue
Lamy “Safari” …....................................................... Diamine Eclipse
Sailor “1911” ….......................................................... Levenger Cocoa
Esterbrook “J-Series” (vintage) ….......................Monteverde Moonstone
Parker “Sonnet” (60's vintage) …........................Cross Violet (limited edition)
Waterman “Carene” …...........................................Waterman Serenity Blue
Pilot “Metropolitan” …........................................... Parker Blue/Black
Happy Writing!
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Bestselling Fiction Author
Stories with an LGBTQ+ Twist
corrupting readers since 2008
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