Slow Down! It’s National Handwriting Day
“Jennifer, just slow down!”
The number of times I’ve heard that in my lifetime need not be discussed. But National Handwriting Day is a reminder to take that advice to heart.
I can still hear my mom telling me how she could tell that I had taken my time writing her a letter years ago.
“Your handwriting was so beautiful and precise,” she explained. She was making a point about how a little focus and mindfulness on the task at hand could change the end result of any project.
One of the ways that I force myself to slow down is by using my K’arst Stone Paper Notebook. Because the paper is entirely tree-free, I feel good about my environmental impact. But, it also requires less ink and so for those of us using fountain pens, that means you can really watch the shimmer and sheen as the ink dries more slowly than it would on traditional papers.
Great if you want to slow down, but not so great if you want to jot a note and then slam the notebook shut. You can’t do that with this paper. At least not with a fountain pen. Which is why I love using it when I’m trying to really stay centered on my writing. I love watching the ink transform from wet to dry as the attributes of the individual ink transform before my eyes.
So, this National Handwriting Day I will be slowly watching ink dry. What will you be doing?
Happy belated National Handwriting Day! I, too, use K’arst Stone Paper Notebook, and lately, using my 1912 Montegrappa pen inked up with either Atlas Iron Ore or Sunlit Jade inks from Ferris Wheel Press. A vintage fountain pen with gorgeous modern inks make writing anything so much more an art form that just functionary. So, too, with all the best tools at hand, I can appreciate the words that spill out of my thoughts when I put pen to paper and record them for posterity. As an avocation, I write about history as well as historical fiction, and my characters all use fountain pens so when I use the tools my characters do to do their job or communicate in letter form with another character, I can put myself in their shoes that much more authentically.
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