I recently got a new fountain pen. (Yeah, I know: new typewriter, new fountain pen”¦ We’ll get to that in a moment.) I always carry my pen in my pocket, and while I liked the nib of the one I had, a Tombow Object, I found it heavy, and its innards clattered around while I was writing. Plus I love small things — ultimate portability seems to be an ideal of mine — so when I saw the Kaweco Lilliput, I really wanted it.
(I’m ashamed of wanting things. When they’re named “Object” it’s even worse.)
The Lilliput had good reviews online and sounded like the perfect pen for my tiny handwriting and need for precision when I write shorthand. When it arrived and I started using it, though, I found it scratchy, and it dried out if I paused for even a short time. Uh-oh.
So yesterday after work, I plucked out the nibs from both pens and”¦ whaddyaknow? They were exactly the same size, so I swapped them.
The nib that came with the Kaweco is much nicer-looking, with etched scrollwork that adds to the feeling that this pen dropped out of time in the Forties and somehow reappeared here, but”¦ scratchy and dry is just bad.
I used this new Frankenpen to write today’s morning pages, and it was just a perfect writing experience. Once again, DIY has allowed me to customise some small piece of the world to work exactly the way I want it to.
“¦Which brings me around to something that came up in the morning pages:
I am very good at setting up the perfect conditions for doing creative work. But I have become more accustomed to doing this than to actually doing creative work. I like my systems, and they are rewarding but it’s a trap to hide them them and not do the work. I have created the very best in security blankets. My systems are excellent: I have the best pen, typewriter, notebooks, programs, schedule, packages, delivery channels”¦ Now it’s time to put them to use. I’m not knocking what I’ve created — I’m proud of these achievements and I know my attention to them will help me become a better teacher to others. But, you know”¦ Again, I’m not making myself wrong here. But I’m all packed, and now there’s another adventure ahead.