Ballpoint pens and cartridge razors.

[Slivovitz]

Here's one of those random thoughts that has been kicking around. In the shaving sections around here, you'll occasionally see somebody comment that the experience of using a classic safety razor or a straight has improved their technique if they ever return to a cartridge or disposable for a time. They now know to use minimal pressure, and understand that blade angle is important. And of course their prep is much better, and they're using better soaps or creams.

I think I've experienced this with fountain pens and ballpoints. Not that I use ballpoints, or my rollerballs, that much any more, but they do get used for quick notes under some conditions, and every now and then I'll write a full journal page, maybe two, in ballpoint just for variety. I've noticed that:

• You don't necessarily need to use that much pressure. It depends on the refill, of course, but many ballpoints write perfectly well with a very light touch. I believe that I used to press constantly, if somewhat unconsciously, just because I thought that was the way to do it. Fountain pens made me try to use as light a touch as possible, and that has carried back to ballpoints.
• I believe I'm now using a shallower pen angle with ballpoints. It's still probably a bit steeper than I would use with a fountain pen, but it leads to a more natural, relaxed feeling that is a lot more comfortable. The steep, often nearly vertical, angles that I see people using with their ballpoints are now a source of amazement.
• Quality of handwriting...okay, actually I can't confirm that using a fountain pen has improved this. When I look at my journals and other writings from a number of years ago, the earlier ones in ballpoint, then in rollerball, before I finally bought a fountain pen, the overall quality is much the same. At some point I did print out some cursive style sheets and relearn the proper forms of some letters that I'd gotten in the habit of printing, but other than that, for good or ill, it's basically the same. Of course, the same writing looks better in fountain pen ink, with richer colors, and little bits of shading and line variation

Still, this has made me aware that, as with so many other things, it's not just the tool, it's learning to use whatever you've got in the best way.

 

[andrew98]

Like so many things, technique is often more important than the tool. The added benefits provided by nice tools can only been enjoyed once good technique is mastered.

-Andy

 

[DunEdinRanger]

Like so many things, technique is often more important than the tool. The added benefits provided by nice tools can only been enjoyed once good technique is mastered.

-Andy

Then there is the "Mikey" corollary, named in dubious honor of a friend - "When you're as bad as Mikey, you need the best in equipment."

 

[the_edski]

I've noticed much the same lately. It is pretty much the same epiphany that "carts aren't the devil". It's just FP's and DE's are so much more fun to use!

 

[GG1]

Well I can get a really good shave (and faster too) with a disposable razor (won't try again with canned goo though), but I really love using DE and straights.

That said I'm hoping my handwriting will improve. That is my justification to wife for getting into fountain pens.

 

[mdw15]

I enjoyed using fountain pens, and their ballpoint counterparts in sets, earlier in my career, but then stopped using fountain pens years ago.

Wandering into the traditional wet shaving world, and B&B, reawakened my interest in fountain pens and I'm back to using both ballpoints and fountain pens at work and at home.

I used rollerballs in sets in the past but, since I'm back to serious pens and pen sets, I've dropped the rollerball. I don't want to carry around three pens and I don't need a third choice. If the fountain pen is inconvenient, I use the ballpoint.

In my work, if I'm interviewing someone and taking notes, I can write a ilttle faster with the ballpoint--I need to keep up--but still prefer the fountain pen. Using the latter pushes me to write better, to choose better words, fewer words.

This time around, the digital world has educated me quickly and well. That knowledge, along with my valuable (well, expensive) experience, has helped me enjoy fountain pens even more now. I'm looking into getting a stub and maybe even an italic nib for the new Pelikans, choices I didn't even know about the first time.

As to the senses aroused in my use of the ballpoint. . .I started writing so many years ago I can't recall when I settled into the current mode and why. Except that I know I hold my pens differently than most folks. But since my teachers stopped rapping my knuckles (in public school!), I've just accepted it without the anxiety.

The ballpoint has always been for me the bland way to write. I appreciate the convenience and use them for that reason, but at least with pen sets you get some aesthetic pleasure from them and you get to express yourself in some fashion at the same time.