A syringe of blue ink

I suddenly stop writing, open a compartment of my pencil-case and take a syringe out. Then my hand reaches a nylon bag in my backpack.

There is a bottle of blue ink in it. I unscrew my fountain pen and expose the ink-cartridge. With the syringe I carefully suck up some ink from the ink bottle, inject it into the cartridge,carefully screw everything back together and dispose the tools.

People around me usually look mesmerized at my doing.

“Why do you write with a fountain pen?”

Well, we had to write with those for the first 5 years of school and it just grew on me. I’ve used fountain pens as main writing tool ever since, while >99% of others switched to ballpoint pens. There are a few reasons I like in particular.

Better calligraphy

I suck at writing. I’ve always envied whoever wrote with a nice calligraphy. After tried many ballpoint pens it was really obvious that my best “font” is unmistakably tied to a fountain pen. The non-viscous ink allows fast and fluid writing while giving the letters a certain readability.

I particularly like the fact that double passes on the same line are not noticed since the ink fills the gaps between the two lines easily. A lot of the calligraphy is also depending on the particular nib that one uses.

Of course that works for me and for my way of writing. If you are a lefty, for instance, of course it’s a whole different story.

Style

Come on! Writing with a fountain pen looks classy and stylish as ****. ;)

Erasability

When using proper washable ink (royal blue in my case), whatever you write could be erased and rewritten with an Ink Eradicator like the Super Pirat by Pelikan. This allows only one rewrite, after that you’ll need some white correction fluid.

This is an extreme pro for anybody like me who makes a ton of mistakes for each page. On the other hand it’s a con or those who need an indelible writing (like a signature) - you’ll need some non-washable ink. Consider having two fountain pens, maybe?

I have to say that there are many good ballpoint pens today on the market with more fluid ink and a specific eraser, just as if it was a normal pencil. I like the Frixion by Pilot. The only downside is the price.

Price

Yes, good fountain pens are not cheap, I agree, but they are worth it. Would you spend s****ton of hours of your life writing with a 1 € ballpoint pen? Consider some entry-level-but-non-childish fountain pens like the Sonnet by Parker with a stainless steel nib (the cheapest). You may find some at under 80 €. A huge list of pens for beginners as well as many tips is available on the Subreddit dedicated to them (thanks Lorenzo for the suggestion).

On the other hand the ink is cheap, like really cheap - if you buy ink bottles instead of cartridges. A pack of 5 cartridges is about 3 € while an ink bottle that fills >50 cartridges is about 4 €, which means that with ink bottles you’ll save up to 90%.

I like it

At the end of the story it’s a matter of personal taste and preference. I just like writing the fountain pens and you maybe prefer pencils and that’s OK! Just use anything that makes you feel good and produces a good result at the same time.