Dang it! My pen ran dry!
I am a little old school. Though I can and often do compose directly on the computer, I prefer longhand for composition, writing exercises, and early morning writing. One reason is that I have arthritis. My days of typing 110 wpm are long gone. Another reason is that there’s something about putting pen to paper that helps things flow better…slows down my thoughts and helps me capture a more introspective flavor in my writing. But that is fodder for another blog post.
Longhand writers have strong preferences of course. Course or grainy paper fatigues the hand. Some like lined paper, some don’t. Some of us get frustrated with frequent page turning, so use large notebooks. Others are fine with the smaller ones.
Our choice of pens is also a matter of preference. While I love writing with a Pilot Precise V7 above all things, I must now use a fat pen with a good grip on it. Some people like ballpoint, some gel, and some even use fountain pens.
But one thing we all hate is when that pen runs dry. It seems to always happen in the middle of a thought, when we’re in hurry, or when we’re in a remote part of the house and must trek through several rooms to grab another.
Because I use fat barrel pens with thick grips (almost always solid, not clear), I don’t have a clue when my pen is about to give up the ghost. I keep spare pens on my desk, in the car, and next to the bed, but what are you going to do if your pen runs dry while soaking in the bathtub or, ahem, somewhere else in the same room?
I’ve experienced episodes in which every pen in reach of my recliner is also dry…a testament to my distractedness, I say… a testament to my housekeeping habits, says my mother. For at least 3 minutes, my thought process must try to remain on hold while I move the cat, scrunch my five foot height low enough in the chair to close the footrest, get up, find a pen on my desk (remember to check it) and return to my chair. Sometimes I can pick up where I left off. More often, the thought process didn’t want to wait on hold and hung up on me.
I think I need to invent a pen that uses an IV bag type set up. That’s a lot of ink! Plus, you can see when the bag is almost empty and get another one prepped and ready. Certainly I’d never have a pen run dry on me again provided I remembered to CHECK the bag periodically and always have a fresh one handy.
In the grand scheme of how things go, it would cut down on the number of times I dealt with a dry pen, but wouldn’t stop it completely. A writer’s mind is a writer’s mind. Eager to get started, I’d think an inch in the bag is more than enough, only to run out without a spare! Dang it! My pen ran dry…again.
I love this entry. I have recently discovered the joys of writing longhand by pen when doing my creative writing, and I love every minute of it!
Glad you liked the entry.:) I do a lot of composing longhand, though the short stuff is still quicker on the computer. Pen and paper are anywhere I am. Much more portable.
B J Keltz