Editing The Pen Addict 265/transcript (section)

== Novice Pen Users ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right, right. So we're going to help Sam out. Sam is a novice and he, this is an awesome question. And it kind of relates to the last question. So listen to the previous answer again, Sam. He says, how do I know what I will like? I don't want to buy things that I'll end up not appreciating. This is something we've all gone through. I believe at some point in time, especially with fountain pens, but I don't know if Sam's talking about regular pens, fountain pens, pencils, but you really have to start with just the very basics. Like I said on this previous answer, get kind of a one of each sampler of ink styles and tip sizes. So you want to try a gel, a ballpoint, a liquid ink, a pencil, and then maybe an inexpensive fountain pen. And you could buy like all those things for like 15 bucks total and get a decent, decent paper, not just the regular copy paper, sit down and use them. Commit to each of those pens for a day, figure out how they work with your writing style, what you like and what you don't like. And the way I got into fountain pens was I like my micro tip pens. And I always told myself, well, I can't find that in a fountain pen. I can't match my writing experience in a fountain pen. And then the more I use my micro tip pens, the more I research different types of pens. And the more communication I had with readers and the community as a whole, I realized that, oh, wait a minute. There are nibs that can write the way I write. And wait a minute. I can use orange ink in a fountain pen or purple ink or lime green ink.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Hold the damn phone. So yeah,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sam, I mean like my fountain pen experience started because I liked micro tip gel ink pens. Yep. And I figured out not only could I match that writing experience, I could match it to me even more and make it more customizable. It's not a quick thing though. You're not going to go tomorrow say, well, the Lamy 2000 is the pen for me. You're not going to know that for a while. So start small, figure out what makes your handwriting the best or whatever you're trying to do. Yep. What makes it the best. And then go from there. It's a slow process.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Go to a pen store and try out some stuff. Make, you know, if there's, if there is a pen show in your town or near it, like even better, right? Cause you can go and you can see people and you can play around with things. Like I really, that's, that's my number one recommendation is find a way to try out stuff that you won't, afford or can't afford or don't want to buy yet. And then it gives you a place to kind of work up to, which I, that's, that's really helped me over the last few years, go into pen shows, seeing what is around and what is out there is getting, getting a large exposure to some of the more fringe things to try and help me narrow in on what my aesthetic and what my tastes are. Right. Hence acrylic pens, all the great acrylics, you know, that's where my life has gone because I've seen just some of the unbelievable things that you can get a pen show. Right. And you know, the, all of the acrylic stuff lends itself really nicely to being, to seeing in person anyway. So, yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Just, I, I gotta, I gotta reiterate you. Please take it slow in the beginning. Don't go crazy.

'''Myke Hurley:''' 100%. That's why I was saying like, go to these things to try and get aspirations in mind and help you put your tastes together. But really you should start the way that me and Brad started, right? You start with some gel pens and some, then you start moving to some weird Japanese stuff you find on jet pens, right? Like you get like a copic multi-liner and stuff like that. And then maybe once you've kind of gone through that, you could pick yourself up an entry level fountain pen, something like a Safari or a Metropolitan or a TWSBI Eco, move up to something like a vanishing point and then go on from there. Right. Like you shouldn't be spending in the three digit range for months and months.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. If not years.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. If not years like me and you.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' If ever. Like, and you don't, don't even think that you need to do that. You could be perfectly happy with the best $3 pen that fits your needs for the rest of your life. And you'd be thrilled.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. But my caveat will be if you find a thing that you like and you find, and you have the ability to go down that route, then do it. Right. Like if it's what you want to do, don't also don't limit yourself. Right. Like if you discover real quick that you love fountain pens and there's this one that you like, that's $200 and it's perfect for you and you've tried it and it's perfect. Go for it, but don't feel like you have to. There's a, there is so much interesting stuff below $50 that is out there for you to go and try. If you haven't yet, there's no need to, to, to graduate more quickly. Right. Like, you know, I was just checking before this show, we're like, you know, five and a half years old at this point. Right. And there is, there is such a long, if you've not, you know, especially if you're new and, and I think the wiki is helping with this a lot, like you can go back and listen to the beginning episodes of the show and hear how we kind of really slowly, I think ramped up to where we are now. It's a five year process before we, you know, to, to get to where we are today. That's a long time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So play along at home.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You should, you should talking about that wiki. It's always great stuff going on there. You can go and check it out. It's a, it's a wealth of information about this show and others and lots of different stationary items. And you can also contribute as well to make it even better. Just go to stationary.wiki for that. You can send in your questions for this show by the hashtag ask TPA on Twitter. Thank you to everybody that does that every week. Please continue to do that because we love to see what we can do to try and help you and get you involved in the show. I was joking around with this earlier, but I really do mean it. If you enjoy the pen addict, share it with a friend. Like if you think, you know, somebody in your life that would enjoy this show, then please, please do that. We would appreciate it. If you want to find Brad online, you can go to pen addict.com, knock.co for his work and his goods, all the great goods. And you can find him on Instagram. He's pen addict and dowdyism on Twitter. D O W D Y I S M. I am I Myke. I M Y K E and all the social networks. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode. Uh, if I also, Oh, let me thank Harry's and Squarespace again for sponsoring the show. We appreciate their support as much as we appreciate yours. We appreciate yours more actually, but don't tell them. Uh, thanks so much, Brad, for being here as always. And to you for listening, we'll be back next time. Until then say goodbye, right? Goodbye,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Brad.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]