Pen portraits 02
You can tell a lot about a writer by the type of pen they use…
Eliza Campbell – 0.7mm Rollerball
My handwriting is a Monet situation – great from away, but a bit of a mess up close. The trick to beautifully illeg- ible handwriting is to barely ever lift your hand off the page, and my partner in literary crime has long been the inkiest of all pens: The Rollerball (no thicker than 0.7mm though, I’m not a lunatic). Pentel, Uniball, BIC, whatever. I’m not partial to any brand in particular so long as its cartridge is full and its ink is as black as my soul. This pen is not for the faint of heart. It is a messy and unforgiving mistress, but perfect for achieving that sixteenth-century-love-letter/Anne-Frank-Diary kind of vibe (non-cursive writers need not apply). It’s dramatic, it’s definitive, volatile and a little bit high maintenance. I guess it’s probably me, pen-sonified.
Cassandra Bulman – Kikki-K Slim Ballpoint Pens
I love buying lots of the same pen and not spending much on them. I stumbled across the Kikki-K slim ball- point pens a couple of years ago and fell in in love. Each pack comes with five different designs/colours and I scatter them across my bags, pencil cases, desk and car – and other places I’ve probably forgotten about – so that I’m never without a pen. Who knows when you might need one? The logical part of my brain tells me that I probably don’t need to have three pens in my handbag or take five pens to a two-hour uni class but the other part of my brain says “Of course we need them! We’re definitely going to use all of them, and they all need to be different patterns!”
Shannyn Oberegger – any and all pens
I like to be organised and in control. I make sure I have a list for what I need to do and a plan for completing each task. I like my surroundings to be neat and tidy, but looking at my pen collection, you would never guess it. I use whatever pen is around when I need it. My note- books are a mix of colours, though I tend to favour blue and black as they make my scribble-like handwriting easier to read later (it is like another language). I kind of have one rule – no red ink. I only use it for corrections. My diary, although organised and well laid out, has no systematic use of pen or colour, either. It seems to be my way of letting go a bit and letting out the mess.
Helena Melton – Fiona Patten MP promotional pen
Ever since I was a child I’ve hated writing with pens. If you’re left-handed like me, using pens is a traumatising experience: the words smudge, the ink rubs along the side of your hand, the other kids laugh at you and your teacher gets upset. My work was always more Pollock than Pulitzer. Since I left high school, I’ve steered clear of using pens in my everyday life. This is a pretty easy feat to achieve as it’s 2018 and the heyday of hand-written communication is over. Some people find it a travesty of culture; I consider it a victory for the lefties. The only arena where I use a pen is in my diary, where I have extremely strict requirements for the pens I use. I will buy one pen at random and – if it’s up to standard – I will use it until its ink runs dry. My current pen of choice is from the office of Fiona Patten, a freebie from my boyfriend’s work that has passed the test. Any pen that smudges is immediately thrown in the trash; I don’t have the time or mental energy to deal with that kind of negativity in my life. The era of the pen is over.