Comments on: Neal Stephenson: writing and editing with a fountain pen

By: WereBear

WereBear — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:34:58 +0000

Before I could afford a laptop, there were my legal pads and some lovely fountain pens. I do love the tactility, and when I used cartridges I would not stop until the pen was dry.

But while writing was a joy, typing it all in was not.

By: John Austin

John Austin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:17:58 +0000

The Seattle Rock ‘n roll museum has a science fiction exhibit in the basement where you can see a great many iconic s.f. related artifacts. Captain Kirk’s command chair from the enterprise is there as well as Spock’s smock.
I was most impressed by the large stack of white un-lined paper covered with cursive handwriting in black ink. The sign in front of the stack said it was Neil Stephenson’s final handwritten draft of Cryptonomicon. It was a BIG stack.

By: Stephen Borchert

Stephen Borchert — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:49:28 +0000

Many of the gel pens out there have the silky-smooth feel of a fountain pen, but are much easier to use. You don’t want to think too much about the tools while you’re using them, and I find a fountain pen (if it’s not the “right” one) is a frustrating distraction.

By: Mike Shea

Mike Shea — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:59:17 +0000

I wrote my first novel, Seven Swords, for Nanowrimo last year using a fountain pen and a modified large Moleskine notebook.

I find a few advantages: 1. I really think about each sentence. 2. It forces a full rewrite. 3. It gets me closer to the story since there’s nothing else in front of me and the words besides pen and paper. 4. It feels more substantial when you have a 270 page handwritten book in your hands. 5. You can do it anywhere without power. 6. It gives you the feeling of doing something historical.

Overall, I love it and now I’m not sure I can ever go back to typing out a story again. It just doesn’t feel right.

By: Lev

Lev — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:10:29 +0000

[Originally posted at Fountain Pen Network. Lev]

Thanks for this delightful link. I have read Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon several years ago with much enjoyment, though I cannot say how much understanding. As far as using a fountain pen to write with, I don’t think I could do it any other way, even with my at times illegible penmanship, even for my own rereading. As bad as my writing is, my typing is even worse. I find that my “creative juices” — non-fiction, not fiction or poetry — do not flow any other way. It seems as though I require the tactile sensation of pen in hand, ink on paper, words available to eyes in order to articulate and express my thought. Later computer entry is a necessary but unpleasant final event, though, to be quite honest, final revisions do take place then.

I rather like Stephenson’s idea of using several different size nibs — I use different colored ink — to make revisions with. This sounds like a latter-day version of a palimsest.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:43:22 +0000

I just finished a new draft (on the computer) of the last story I ever wrote longhand. With any luck, it will be the last one ever. My writing is terrible, and I had to write entire paragraphs from fresh because I couldn’t read what I wrote.

The weird thing is, I am also a pen collector. My favourite pen is made entirely from glass and has to be dipped in an inkwell to write with it. I can’t imagine an entire MS written with it, although I’m sure it could be done. Just not by me!

By: Mari

Mari — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:53:15 +0000

I write long hand. I simply can’t write at the computer – I come up with 1001 gazillion things that I “could be doing” other than writing. So I sit across the room from the laptop and write on a clipboard. I’ve written four 350 page books (am working on a fifth) this way and several shorts.

Never could get the hang of writing with a fountain pen, though; that’s awesome.

By: Liz Jones

Liz Jones — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:19:01 +0000

Yikes!!! I cannot imagine writing longhand now– I would never finish! What a great thing it would be to hear him talk. I’m reading Anathem now…

By: Michelle Gregory

Michelle Gregory — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:06:12 +0000

if i write it as quickly as possible, i don’t think about the mistakes and plot problems. that’s why i love nano-wrimo (which, btw, is how i found you).