But you never said what kind! What kind of nib is that, a medium? Cartridge? Converter? Lever? Plunger? I have three fountain pens. I have a Montblanc with a bold nib. It's very nice, but I almost never have really nice paper, so it often comes out a bit anesthesia and ink gets all over my hands. I love it. Carrying an ink bottle around is a pain though. I have a Lamy with a medium nib that is my everyday pen. It's made out of some kind of impact resistant plastic that can really take a beating. It can be tough to get the ink going again if I haven't used it in a while, but I like it enough that I'd buy another. They're still under $40 I think. Lastly, I have a Cross, with a fine nib, which I love, but unfortunately, the cartridges are really small, almost as if they were designed for a pen used exclusively for signatures. Anyway, I still have terrible handwriting but I love letting my hands shape the words and seeing how the lines are influenced by the implements. Tools are very important to me and I find that often the people who don't consider their tools to be important, are tools themselves. Edit: sleepiness errors
I have a Lamy as well, but with a fine nib. The plastic does seem like it could survive just about anything. It's a great, solid pen. The relationship between people and their tools is very interesting to me. I wonder if there are subtle creative benefits to using "your favorite ____" while working. Or if it constrains you within things created by it in the past. Or if it doesn't matter whatsoever.
I've only ever tried the medium. I didn't think to ask if other widths were available, though at the price, it's very doable. I did try one of the clear ones not too long ago and though color or opacity/transparency shouldn't matter, it did feel different somehow. I don't know if I liked it or not. I certainly think there are. I have no hard evidence, but when writing with a pen and particularly a fountain pen, sometimes I'll write something just because I enjoy the feeling of the nib on paper traveling through the pen and into my hand. Sometimes with typewriters I do the same, but because I like the sound, or the way I have to engage with it much more physically. On a computer I have noticed that I chop things up and move them around in ways that I can't otherwise and sometimes good things have come out of that. This is really interesting to think about and it hadn't occurred to me before. I have often wondered what it might be like to use the implements of someone I admire. I'd like to check this out someday, though I can't imagine what circumstances would have to conspire to make that a possibility, much less an opportunity.I wonder if there are subtle creative benefits to using "your favorite ____" while working.
Or if it constrains you within things created by it in the past. Or if it doesn't matter whatsoever.