maybe my dad *did* have the right idea

[kadiera]

School shuns tech, teaches fountain pen.
Principal believes pens help boost academic performance, self-esteemWhen I was in the 5th grade, I had to write a report on a US state

Comments

[pstscrpt]

Honestly, I'm surprised that there have been handwritten memos in even your grandparents' lifetime, much less your father's working life.

I've never used a fountain pen. Are they like the gel pens that came out in the last few years, where there's very little friction against the page? Those are inclined to make blotches, too, but they're the only thing I've ever found where the physical action of writing is not unpleasant (at least for a little while).

[kadiera]

It depends.

Nothing quite replicates the feel of a gel pen...the consistency of the ink is fairly unique.

Fountain pens use a much thinner ink. And the feel is highly dependent on the paper...if the paper is too "soft", the pen sinks in and the ink spreads. If the paper is too hard, the ink pools and takes forever to dry.

Also, there's a bit of a learning curve, because "pushing" the pen leads to scratching the paper and ink splatters (and a feel reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard, to my mind), so you have to form letters carefully and "pull" the pen.