Lifelong learner and curious forever student that I am, the journey of reading & writing, absorbing new information and perspectives, and honing skills is endless. While I use both analog and digital tools to create and organize my work and thoughts, I find I am more focused and inspired and less distracted when writing with pen and paper.
Back in October of 2022, after the Autumn Equinox had passed in the Northern Hemisphere, I posted an article about how I was doing analog creative work in my journals, Current Notebook Lineup – Analog Journals for Creativity. That party continues, and I’ve continued to branch out and refine my writing game.
Again feeling all the back-to-school and fall feels, this year I wrote an article about harnessing the season’s energy, Building Momentum by Seizing the Back-to-School Mood: Ambiance, Supplies & Action, and now I’m elaborating on my inky story.
Personal History of Writing Utensils
This is for my true Pen Friends, people who are nerdy about their writing tools and creative gear, and for my future self as I reflect on my journey, from the grand themes to the minute moments of beauty like those when pen meets paper.
Ballpoint, Gel & Fountain Pen
School Days
In school it was #2 pencils and cheap ballpoints that I didn’t need to worry too much about losing, along with the occasional fancy pencil, pen, or eraser from Bell, Book, and Candle, our local Sanrio stationery store in Kailua-Kona. I can still recall the scent of that little shop, fresh plastic with a distinct fruity fragrance all it’s own.
Although I love beautiful things, I’ve never been a pen snob and can appreciate the smooth writing and accessibility of reliable basics such as the BIC Cristal, whose influence on literacy worldwide I just learned about this year in this video:
We’re not going into pencils, markers, and highlighters which I use in my Bullet Journal and elsewhere today, but I find all of those creative materials fun and helpful in different contexts.
My young romantic self was definitely drawn to old-fashioned supplies like quill pens, inks, stamping and so forth but I didn’t stay loyal to crafts other than scrapbooking (still intermittent) 🖊️
My first fountain pen was a disposable, probably a Pilot Varsity, which I used for epic emotional and informational (but inconsistent) diary entries. 1996 was quite a summer: I got my driver’s license, had phenomenal guest ballet teachers at our dance intensive, and injured my knee for the first time during a jazz layout. Unfortunately the writing performance/experience didn’t lead me to stick with the pen long term.
College & Professional
Wanting to make the scholarly tasks of note-taking, essay-writing, and studying more pleasurable, Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pens were my go-to for all my notes in college. With so many colors and a smooth aesthetic (plus a discount when I worked for the bookstore), I couldn’t resist. Now I prefer the fatter, juicier Moonlight 10 version which also show up splendidly on black paper as punchy accents.
Then Pilot G2 and other such gel pens then took over the writing scene, which I devoured in several iterations including Dr. Grip, eventually with refill cartridges. I did very much like their smoothness, comfort in writing, variety of colors and line widths available, and reliability.
Mostly blue was the ink color for me in those days, professional and friendly like the president of Whitman College at that time, Tom Cronin (we’ll ignore his poor taste in “friendly” fonts, Comic Sans, and focus on the fact that he read bedtime stories to groups of students in the dorms as a study break).
Working to balance experimentation with many media with not over-consuming gear and supplies. Not wasting or taking a greater environmental toll than necessary.
Environmental as well as weight limitations made me a minimal gearhead, and a Write in the Rain pen went long-distance hiking with me and my then-partner on the Appalachian Trail. Wanting to be able to have my words withstand the elements, I found that pencil/graphite is good against water as well, but can be smeary as well as be erased.
Grad School & Beyond
Taking up that lovely Write in the Rain pen again in recent years with my consistent heavy writing practices, I found that for me, these ink cartridges (though lovely!) are too expensive for extensive writing such as morning pages and journaling.
Refillable, retractable Ballpoint Cartridge Pens seemed to be more environmentally-friendly, and I tried a wide range of refills. My endless thirst for ink with daily Morning Pages, journaling, note-taking, etc. led to frequent replacement. Refill after refill still seemed excessive.
Often receiving thoughtful gifts from the families of my students in Honolulu, a Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen helped inspire me at a time of total re-invention. Part of me wishes I had kept this lightweight beauty during my international move, but once I used up the cartridges it came with and needed to downsize, I let it go.
Now I know that converters are available and they can be dropped-fill converted too! Smooth writing experience and I found the Violet ink to be a bright cheering orchid/bougainvillea/magenta color. Only problem was the ink is water-soluble, so I lost some words to rain. It would be fun to play with such a pen and a water brush for sketching.
Teaching Artist’s Tools
Waterproof, portable, and reliable in all writing scenarios, the Fisher Space Pen (in a matte black bullet form) was a lovely birthday gift from my girlfriend’s mother which I have since used in my Daily Log journal. It can truly write in all conditions, the ink cartridge is proving to last well for short notes and the pen is small enough to have with me at all times.
Sakura Pigma Micron fine-liners are indeed great for Bullet Journaling and permanent sketching. For my own Bullet Journal use, I first picked up a versatile 03 width, then added a bolder 08 and super-fine 01. The archival ink, lack of bleed-through, and precision are wonderful, but the tips can be easy to damage and the plastic disposability is not my favorite.
The Muji Multi-Colored ballpoint pen I got here in Cologne last year is unfortunately not durable enough to withstand the punishment I put it through, but it was a handy way to do color-coordination for a time.
Looking for a more sustainable option, a long-term high-quality writing experience brought me back to fountain pens.
This back-to-school season, and after much research and shopping around, I invested in two LAMY fountain pens (and shared about it on IG here), a blacked-out AL-Star that now has an extra fine nib and a converter with Octopus Fluids Black Document Ink in it, and a Vista demonstrator in part thanks to Hemingway Jones on YouTube with a medium nib and Octopus Fluids Violet Document Ink in it. Sooo delightful to write with, gorgeous ink color, glad my research was successful! The AL-Star is replacing my old fine-liner (on IG here) and other everyday tools wonderfully as I hoped.
So far, the new writing tools are proving very inspiring, sparking a righteous cycle of creativity and reveling in the experience.
Observing my new fountain pen hobby, Ela found her first fountain pen, a wooden and red plastic LAMY abc (unfortunately the cap it came with, that had her name on it, is missing, but she crafted a new one!), and a Parker pen gifted to her by her grandma, but her Charcoal Safari that got her through the rest of her school days (they’re required to use fountain pen in German schools) is not yet to be found.
Meanwhile, I’m salivating over all of the beautiful inks and pens in this wide world of stationery, while trying to keep my use thoughtful, minimal, and sustainable.
Resources for Further Exploration
- Reflective Practice Through Journaling
- Bullet Journaling for Order and Inspiration
- Artful Archiving
- My Creative Morning Ritual
- Learning from Mistakes and Failure
Questions for Reflection
- What is your favorite writing utensil?
- Do you write in an analog format? What are your preferred media & supplies?
- Which creative project is currently your focus?
- What would you like to try in the future?
Glad you joined me for this nerdy voyage of writing and writerly tools.
More dance, yoga, and coaching content coming at you again soon, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media until then!
Blythe Stephens, MFA, Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach: dance through your difficulties
and take leaps of faith into a joyful, fulfilling life