Editing The Pen Addict 107/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So then the last item on the list, and I almost didn't include it because it's a completely separate category, and it's its own show, and that's fountain pens. But I included it because people always ask, why would I use a fountain pen over any of these other types of pens you just listed? And the reason for me that I keep coming back to is that it's much more customizable than all of these pens combined. It's, I can choose, or I can make, or have made something very specific to fit my writing style with the color and consistency of ink that I want to use on the specific paper that I want.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I find that's why fountain pens are so popular because of that customization. Now, they are the most difficult and finicky of all these pens, right? I mean, they require more maintenance. They require you to pay attention to what you're writing on. You know, if you're using some inks, they're just going to bleed worse than the worst Uniball Vision ever has. It's just, you know, it could be really bad. But a lot of people also like fountain pens because they are more eco-friendly, I guess, from a refillable aspect. You know, if you're not buying, you know, 40 of them a year, like myself, they are a little more eco-friendly if you have a fountain pen and you keep refilling it with a bottle of ink. So, I mean, I just wanted to throw fountain pens in there as a comparison to why people like fountain pens, but we're going to have a whole separate episode that will cover everything fountain pen. But out of these other five, you know, ballpoint pens, liquid ink pens, gel ink pens, drawing pens, and hybrid ballpoint pens, those are the main categories of pens that people run into on a daily basis. You know, either at the office, using at the office, shopping at the office supply store, ordering online. And these are just kind of these, the general questions I get sometimes. Like one of the most popular questions I get, Myke, is what refill is going to last the longest? Well, it's probably going to be a ballpoint or a hybrid ballpoint. Well, I don't like ballpoints or it doesn't fit my type of writing. You know, what's my other choice? So, this is the kind of, these are the kind of topics I wanted to point out for each specific pen to where it'll hopefully help you make a decision on what writing instrument works best for the situation that you're in. You know, and I'm always open to discussing this with people. I, you know, my first question, people want me to recommend a pen to them. Well, there's never a direct answer, right? You got to tell me the hows and whys of the situation that you're writing in or what you're trying to accomplish. And then we can narrow it down and we usually narrow it down to one of these particular pens. And because of one of these reasons that I've talked about, you know, are you a left-hander? Well, you may not want a traditional ballpoint because it's going to smear. Same with a gel ink pen. It doesn't dry that fast. So, let's look at these other pens. So, things like that. That's why I wanted to talk about these items again.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Get these general assumptions out there again. And hopefully it will help people make a decision to purchase a pen or writing instrument that works the best for their writing situation that they're currently in. And, you know, there's no shame in having a pen for every different writing situation, Myke, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I mean, well, for me, though, every writing situation is pretty much fulfilled by a fountain pen. Right. Because, as you said earlier, like, that's just my style. I've been able to find the perfect thing for me. And luckily for both of us, there are fountain pens in it. And I think it does come from having particular needs and wants. And even more than that, like, I just feel like the designs and the beauty are in fountain pens more than they are in other pens. And I think if that's the thing that's important to you, then you should really start checking out fountain pens because you can spend an equal amount of time trying to find the perfect-looking pen. As you can, the perfect performing pen. And then you can also go down the road of having pens made.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Which is a whole other topic for a whole other time. Because we're both going to do that relatively soon, I think.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. Yep, very soon. We're going to essentially start from scratch, if you will, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep, that's going to be a fun journey. We'll definitely be talking about that soon once we get all the details ironed out.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I need to reply to an email. Do I need to reply to an email? Oh, you're ready.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, you're good right now. Okay, good.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Secrets. We're waiting for the next email. Right. Okay, so I'll just hold fire. Yeah. But yeah, that'll be several episodes worth of conversation. But, so yeah, this is a good topic to rehash. It's a good baseline to set, I think. And, you know, we've both been on this journey since episode one. And, you know, things have changed or things have become more clear on how we, and when I say we, I'm talking specifically me and you, how you and I use pens, what works the best for us, and hopefully we've had the experience enough to be able to communicate with that. Other people who are looking for the same thing to fit a pen into a particular writing need they have. So, you know, some of you experienced listeners may not have gotten a lot out of the glossary, but I think it's something we need to do because we've had so many new listeners and we get so many emails about purchasing pens for the first time. You know, people who are breaking away from the hotel ballpoint or the office supply cabinet and want something a little bit better. So this is a good place to point them to to figure out, okay, I need this for my writing instrument and I can eliminate this, this, and this and let me try a couple of these other pens that might work for me. So it's trial and error. You're going to find, you know, these are not stone cold facts. You know, there's going to be some variance in this, but in the general sense of it, you know, a lot of these things are true and, you know, you can use this to help you find the best pen for you.