My First Year In Fountain Pens

I bought my first fountain pen in April of 2012, a Lamy Joy with a 1.1 mm stub nib because I thought I could fix my awful handwriting with calligraphy, and a Jar of Edelstein Aventurine because green was an exotic colour. I bought my first fountain pen because a friend sent me a link or two to FPN, and the shots of handwriting were really pretty, and the writing instruments a lot different from my pencil case of gel pens.

I inked up my pen with the cartridge converter I bought separately, because I had read my pen could be filled with inks other than the boring blue cartridge it came with and spent a week or so scribbling around and trying to incorporate it into my life.  My writing didn't improve and it looked nothing like the beautiful pieces of writing shared online. The problem wasn't me, I just needed a better pen. A little research and another visit to the same pen store later, I had a Pilot Parallel.  This time there was an instruction leaflet showing how I could use the pen to write in different fonts.

"Scripts," my friend corrected. "Fonts are for computers, scripts are for writing."

ITALIC. ROMAN. GOTHIC. Three headings for three different scripts I could write with my new pen. My awkward strokes slowed down as I tried to imitate the curves and ticks. The Pilot Parallel was sharper, I had to keep the broad flat tip of the pen on the paper throughout the entire stroke to form letters. If I twisted the pen off the page the corners would catch paper fibres and claw across the page, complaining about the abuse as I scraped out a crude copy of the alphabet in small letters and then capitals.

A desire overcame me to share my newfound writing abilities with the world. I found pen pals on FPN and took photos of my pens and writing. The year was capped by a Kaweco calligraphy set for Christmas. With 1.1, 1.5, 1.9 and 2.3 mm nib sizes in steel, I had one pen body that could transform into four different pens. The possibilities were endless!