2024 Fountain Pen Objectives

2024 Fountain Pen Objectives

New Year, new Fountain Pen Journey!
After 6 years of Fountain Pen Journey on YouTube, I decided that it was time to get off the nasty mode of transport that is YouTube and continue my journey using Blogger once again, so here we go - It's time to set myself some objectives for 2024. I'll also post on here to keep you updated on my goals - This will help to keep me focussed on whether I'm achieving these goals (or not).
I don't care if January is over. It's never too late to set yourself some goals!

I had a good think about what I want to get out of the fountain pen hobby this year. There were certainly some things that I don't want to keep doing, as well as some things which I really want to do more of this year.

My 2024 fountain pen objectives are as follows:

Clean my fountain pens
Fountain pens are fun to write with. Cleaning them sucks.
It may alarm some of you who religiously clean your pens, but I have had (surprisingly!) zero issues with re-inking fountain pens over and over again (with the same ink) without cleaning them first. Some pens (e.g. TWSBI ECO, Lamy 2000) have been in my EDC pen rotation for well over a year, well over two years in some cases and there hasn't ever been a single problem with how they write.
However, I have a backlog of pens in my EDC pen drawer waiting to be cleaned. Cleaning takes time and patience. To be honest, it's a chore that I keep putting off - for months.
Sometimes I simply forget to clean them (aren't we all guilty of that?) but in general, a lack of time results in pens sitting around for ages, uncleaned.
Cleaning is time-consuming. I would rather do something more productive and all too often, life gets in the way of my intention to clean my fountain pens.

Once I've cleaned some pens, I dry them nib down on kitchen towel in a mug. Overnight is sufficient for this part of the drying process, but I usually leave them for a week.

These pens have been sitting in this mug for five months:

Now that I am not constrained by making fountain pen review videos I can now ink up the pens that I want to use, clean them or refill them when it suits me and therefore (in theory) I will have fewer pens in rotation and won't face hours of pen cleaning every time I reach this point in the pen rotation cycle.

During the past three years I have also realised that I am even more keen on keeping just a handful of pens inked up and that I enjoy reaching for certain pens most of the time: My fine-nibbed Lamy 2000 is a pen which I constantly reach for, even when I have a wide choice of other pens inked up because I like this pen a lot.

Write blog posts
Now that I have stopped making YouTube videos I have more available time to use my fountain pens and actually write. YouTube demands a regular upload/publishing schedule, but writing blogs is a more free and easy affair, so whilst my blog posts will keep coming (probably with far more regularity than my YouTube videos in recent years!), I am no longer compelled to lose precious hours every weekend filming videos, and I can write blog posts happily when I have time.
This year, I really can't wait to start writing again. I did not enjoy making videos for YouTube, but I do enjoy writing, so expect to see me being far more productive with this blog!
(Also, this blog is unlikely to get the same number of views as my YouTube videos, but those people who do find their way here are more likely to read these blog posts: On YouTube, the  trend is to skip through videos, just looking for the bits which are important. Don't even get me started on #Shorts)

I am also looking forward to finally being able to blog about pens in the way that is right for me. YouTube was constrictive: It required a significant number of pen review videos, Pen Mail (NPD) videos and EDC videos, all of which proved to be popular, but all of which took up my time and stopped me from talking about subjects which I wanted to talk about. Here in the blogosphere (god I don't like that word) I am free to write about what I like. Get ready to suck it up people.

Don't buy pens which I know that I won't use
After more than 6 years of buying fountain pens, I have amassed a decent collection of fountain pens - some of which I still haven't used to this day. I intend to remedy this sometime over the coming year or two.
Special Edition fountain pens are always alluring, but even the cheap pens (e.g. Lamy Safari) which I could buy "just because I collect this model" do not interest me like they would have done when I was a couple of years into my Fountain Pen Journey.

I am buying fewer fountain pens these days for a few reasons;

• I have the models which I want(ed)
• New models/designs do not interest me
• Prices have increased
• New colour editions are not in colours that I like (I'm sick of seeing pastel special editions)
• Cheap Chinese pens are now much more expensive, therefore I am moving away from brands such as Majohn, Asvine, etc.

Don't be so precious about my pens
One thing that I worry about is damaging and losing my fountain pens, especially those EDC pens which I take to work or use around the house and garden.
This year I fully intend to sit in and enjoy our garden more, rather than just work in it. Part of this includes sitting in our garden writing, both with my pens and on my laptop, writing these blog posts.

I have a load of pen sleeves and cases that I have never used. These protect pens and ought to be utilised! Keeping my pens, unused, inside the house is daft - Fountain pens are meant to be used.
Ok, maybe my most pretty and/or expensive pens won't venture into the great outdoors, but I have a lot of pens which I previously would not class as "EDC" pens which I really should just use.

Personal side note: EDC pens don't have to be made from brass...

For the few of you who may be aware that we moved into a new house a couple of years ago, you will know that another love of mine is our garden. After two years of relatively intensive work in our garden, it's now maturing and the time has come to enjoy our garden, rather than work in it.
This spring we are getting a new picnic bench to sit at - This is likely to be the place where I will write my blog posts: I originally intended to be in the garden all summer and sit indoors recording videos for YouTube all winter, but this doesn't fit in with our lifestyle, so once again, being free and easy, writing blogs in our garden will be the way forward in 2024.

Use up some inks
Over the first couple of years of Fountain Pen Journey I bought a great number of different inks. I  have several black inks, plenty of blue inks (I don't even like blue ink) and various other ink colours which are perfectly suitable for writing with. It's time to start making my way through these, emptying one bottle at a time.
In 2022 I finally finished my first bottle of ink (Octopus Inks Tiefgrun) - For many this is a significant milestone!
I am currently working my way through a bottle of Diamine 1864 Blue Black, which was a present from my Wife a few years ago that unfortunately doesn't tick either of the blue or black boxes particularly well. Oh, and a small 15ml bottle of Diamine Twilight, which no matter how often I refill my Lamy 2000 with it, the level of ink in this bottle never seems to decrease.

Limiting myself to just a handful of inks also means that pen cleaning won't be so arduous.

Over the past six years I have also figured out what I like and don't like about fountain pen inks, but that topic will be covered in a separate blog post in the future.

Forget about my next Grail Pen, whatever it might be
My original grail pen was the Lamy 2000. I bought a damaged Lamy 2000, quite cheaply, from a seller on eBay, less than a year into my Fountain Pen Journey.
That purchase cancelled out my then grail pen, leaving me with a gap.
My next grail pen was the Visconti Homosapiens Bronze Age, which I bought in 2020 and enjoyed using through 2021, until I moved on to using other pens. (Don't read too much into this - the Homosapiens is a lovely pen to write with and it really ought to be a pen which I use regularly, but due to filming pen reviews, it had to be set aside to make way for other pens. Maybe it's another pen to be filed with Diamine 1864 Blue Black..?)
I have never mentioned this in my YouTube channel previously, but I do did have another grail pen; the Parker 75 RMS Queen Elizabeth. I honestly thought that this could not possibly be priced any higher than £200 (I have no idea where I got this notion from), but when these pens are available, they regularly cost £750!
Nope. Just nope. I refuse to pay that much money for a Parker 75.
I mean, it's not like the pen is made from brass/alloy from the Titanic's propeller!

I am now without a grail pen goal. That's not a bad thing. One thing that I learned after 6 years of my Fountain Pen Journey is that there are a lot of fountain pens that cost less than £50 which are an absolute joy to write with. Looking for that "one" grail pen these days really doesn't make sense when I already own pens which are very attractive and write very well.

I was worried that I should be searching for a grail pen, but the reality is this: Even as a collector and user of fountain pens, I don't need to try to find a pen and spend absurd amounts of money on it when I do find it.
My Lamy 2000 is testament to this notion: I really wanted this pen and now it gets used all of the time because I enjoy it.
Lusting after something "new" is a waste of energy.

There are some pens which I will undoubtedly buy in 2024, and there are a couple which I'm on the lookout for, though I wouldn't class these as being my grail pens.

I will write NPD blog posts when new pens arrive in the mail!


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