Beginnings
I never know how to start things. All I know how to do is begin and see where it goes.
There’s a scene in one of my favorite silly films where the author character has been sitting at a folding table slapping a pencil on a yellow legal pad after his computer was burned up by some goons. Basically, he needs to finish the book that he hasn’t started so he can pay off the goons. He ends up hiring a stenographer to dictate his book to, but then he spends about eight hours telling her to delete the first line over and over. He can’t begin. He’s completely intimidated by the literary greats and his past successes. Essentially, he only snaps out of it when the stenographer threatens to leave and not come back. Then the words flow.
While Alex and Emma (2003) is ultimately a goofy film, I think it really captures the weirdness of those of us who write stories. We’re not all Alex, but we all have our moments as creatives.
I’m the sort of writer who can’t get going until I just start. Then the characters take over and they tell me where the story goes.
And this blog is about how the stories get created. We all have stories in our everyday lives from planning, journaling, and all of our different arts. I hope to share my tools and how I’m using them. And to gush over my favorite writing utensils.
I started with fountain pens during graduate school. My first pen was a Lamy Safari and my first bottle was Lamy Turquoise.
While researching pens, I discovered the amazing array of inks and have acquired quite a collection over the years. Then there came paper. Nib grinds. The rabbit hole is deep friends.
Welcome. Let’s go on a journey.
Blogs that Inspired me to start this one:
The Gentleman Stationer
(And many more)
Currently Inked
As it is currently December, I am playing with a lot of the new Diamine Inkvent colors from the Green Edition.
Kaweco liliput fireblue (14K M “journaller” by Custom Nib Studio) - Colorverse Black Hole (sample) - Colorverse is one of my favorite ink brands on the market. When they came out I was working at a small museum in Utah where we did a lot of astronomy programs (southeast Utah is great for stargazing). The space themes just spoke to me, the bottles are beautiful, and I’m a total fan. May add a bottle of this color to my wishlist to add to my Colorverse stack.
Kaweco liliput copper (EF Flex by FPnibs.com) - Diamine Memory Lane - This was my second Kaweco liliput and is one that is never lacking in ink. I’ve been enjoying this flex nib for stories as it makes a delightfully vintage scratchy sound.
Kaweco liliput green (M stub by NibSmith) - Diamine Solar Storm - my newest pen acquisition, but a trusted nib. This is a really fun ink. Drafted some content for the start of the blog with this one.
Kaweco Sport Iridescent Pearl (M CSI by NibGrinder) - Sailor Ink Studio 273 - this was my first bottle of Sailor Ink Studio line. I really adore this brown. I added a little bit of white lightning ink additive and it haloes beautifully on some papers.
Kaweco Sport Crown Blue (B) - Diamine Ghost - Might need a bottle of this ink at some point. I have a set of short stories at the moment about a fictional paranormal investigator group... an ink named ghost might be necessary. Also, during November 2022 I tested out a bunch of gray, brown, and black inks - gray is a great neutral to play with when needing to really focus on writing.
Kaweco Sport Deep Red (BB) - Diamine Pick Me Up - This ink was super weird and seems to have divided the folks on Instagram, so I wanted to give it a try. We’ll see how it goes - this one might look much better in a thinner nib.
Notebooks
Journal - A Cafe Notes with Tomoe River paper in A6 size.
Scribbles - I couldn’t seem to stick to one paper this week. I was in an A6 notebook I made out of loose leaf Cosmo Air Lite, on some Clairefontaine paper, and also some Kokuyo Perpanep Sara Sara and Zara Zara - can’t decide which one I like better (actually leaning toward Zara Zara at the moment).
