Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Writing Instruments and Blogs Gone Bad

I was going to title this post "Confessions of a Pen Slut" but then decided that I might get unwanted attention from search engines.  As for the "Blog Gone Bad" part, I'm just bumming because my Smilla and GI Jane posters from yesterday didn't show up right...they were there when I previewed it.  Oh well.

Anyway.  I had an hour and a half to kill last night while my middle son had swim team practice, so I snuck down to WalMart to pick up some milk and peruse the cheapo Christmas goodies (to see what tacky scented bath stuff I'll be getting from my kids this year--can I just say that Vanilla Musk is WAY not a fave?).  I decided that maybe, now that I have written 50,000 words worth of novel, that maybe I would go back and try to write a bit of a synopsis, just to make sure I had the story straight in my mind.  The whole thing had changed so much from Nov. 1 to Nov 29 that I was no longer sure I had anyone's internal or external goals or whatever laid out.  Okay, back to WalMart. Of course, I left the house without my trusty composition book/journal, so I decided to pick up another one.  And look for a new pen, while I was at it. 

For a couple of years now, I have been a big fan of the Bic Z4+, but it's really hard to find.
BIC Z4CV11BK Rubber Grip Bold Rollerball Pens It's got nice juicy ink, and it flows really nicely, a cool rubbery grip, but again...hard to find.  I also like a good ball point pen.  Not too fine a tip, and the ones I usually like are not store bought, but things I pick up from vendors at trade shows...so until the Zeiss Microscope booth next year, I'm out of luck.  Although I always love the good old fashioned Bic Ball points...the ones with the clear barrel and the little blue plug in the end that is so nice to chew on. But I couldn't find those, either!  I wound up with a Papermate gel pen, which is so so. 
Gel 2ct - Blue Medium  0.7mm
It did the trick, though...I got through some good character and plot analysis, so that when I get around to trying to put the stuff I wrote in some sort of order, I'll have a clearer idea of what I need to add and take away. 

But now I am in a quandry about the whole pen issue...am I a pen slut, that I am so willing to try new models, and not hold out until I find my beloved model? 

5 comments:

  1. My all-time fave is the Pentel RSVP. I don't like gel--I'm ballpoint all the way, and these are a nice fine tip, and the bodies aren't too big to hold comfortably for a long time. These pens got me through a bachelor's degree and many many pages of character studies and plot ideas.

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  2. I am more of a color girl, right now I use reynolds but I dont have any high standard as long as it flows and fits in my hand am good. The only stipulations tho' is that it should write in uncommon colors like pink, purple, orange, aquamarine, if not it bores me I was like this in Uni too.

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  3. Ooooohhhh... pens. I love pens.

    Flow, flow, flow. If it flows well then I'm in writerly heaven. If it has a particularly pleasing colour, then even better!

    You have a brilliant blog... and a new follower :)

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  4. Thanks, Kit! Like your blog, too. And I'm totally interested in the synesthete thing...I work in neuroscience in real life...I may have some questions....

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  5. Neuroscience = you brainy lady = Kit on best behaviour!

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