Back to Inspiration Point

I did visit the Pen Show yesterday, and came home with all sorts of advice on pen care (and a couple new pens, of course..more on that later) and so, I started the morning unearthing my pens and cleaning the fountain pens, as they truly suffer when they are allowed to dry out (which I inevitably allow them to do.) About an hour (and several ink-stained fingers and towels) later, I had several spanking-clean fountain pens ready to fill and use. One of my favorites--the retractable Namiki fountain pen--actually had a few spare cartridges in the pen box, so I loaded it up and proceeded to write inanities repeatedly on a piece of paper until the ink started flowing freely and all the water had been purged from the mechanism.

It is only a matter of time, believe me, before anyone of a certain age, writing repetitious phrases, lapses into the tried and true "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." Or "party", if you prefer that version. Just take a look at all the test writing pages at the pen show. If you're trying out a pen, and lack the ego to write your name repeatedly, the old typewriter exercise is one of the first things that comes to mind. I saw a lot of it yesterday. Obviously, I am no exception, as that is what I started writing to exercise my rediscovered pen. "Now is the time...now is the time..."

One school of writing says that, if you are stumped for how to start, or don't know what to write about, the best thing is to just sit down and start writing anything; that if you do this free writing every day, you WILL come up with something. I have never believed it. It always seemed to me to put an awful lot of faith in your subconscious, and even smacked a little of 'automatic writing' and a sort of spiritualistic belief.

However, this morning as I wrote and rewrote the old saw, completely as well as in bits and pieces, the rhythm of the words started battering on my brain. Before too long, I had the beginnings of a poem (see below) and have now determined that I can keep my pens in working order, be inspired, and impose some much-needed discipline on my writing efforts by simply sitting down each morning and copying bromides (or quotations) by hand for a half hour. It's at least a start. Who knows? Maybe even my handwriting will improve...

BTW--I found an 'antique pen'--an old blue marbleized Esterbrook fountain pen, identical to the one with which I learned to write in cursive in third grade. I also spoke with the designer of another pen, called Fat Boy (which I identified with for another, this time unfortunate, reason) and I bought a red Fat Boy Comet limited edition rollerball, which I love. It has such a serious heft to it that I can't help but write more seriously and more weightily with it. And besides, did I mention that it's red? (pictured, top to bottom: the Esterbrook, the Comet, and my Namiki)

Typewriter Exercise

Now is the time.
We have waited so long, too long
in this wilderness of scandal,
of war, of intrigue, of the sly and sleazy,
Now is the time
For all good men
(All of us, good men
and women, young and old,
black and white and in between)
to come together, to come forward,
to stand in the light
of our own good conscience,
To come to the aid
of those in need, who have no defense, no hope but us,
who trust in the strong and capable hands
Of our people, our dreamers, our do-ers,
Who trust in the hope, the faith, the courage
Of our country:

one country, under God, indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all.

Now is the time.