Never Underestimate A Good Pen
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton
I have come to accept that most of my writing will suck. But for a few great ideas, you have to come up with a million. Hitchcock made a lot of mediocre movies. 90% of Emerson’s work was never published. Etc.
Most of us never read Emerson anyway.
Record ideas, lessons, trials, wins, losses.
Write tales. Write songs. Draw.
Remember.
Get a pen that inspires you. For me, gel ink, the kind that makes a mark with the lightest touch. None of this ball point garbage (but that’s just me).
Don’t be afraid to spend good money on a pen.
Choose wisely, and be careful not to lose it.
Yesss for good pens. Your “most of us never read Emerson anyway” remark? Quite genius I would say.
–Stephanie
January 14, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Why thank you Stephanie.
The truth is I’ve never read Emerson. But I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.
January 14, 2011 at 4:55 pm
nice. the rule of thumb given me by my editor is 90 % of what you write will be junk but make writing a habit each day to find the gold…
January 14, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Hi, you may find this post helpful:
http://johnager.co.uk/2011/01/11/organizing-a-moleskine-or-any-other-notebook/
Best wishes, John.
January 18, 2011 at 10:19 am
its true … i am more inclined to write when i love the pen. i use pilot’s precise v5 pens, mostly blue or black but i do love a splash of color for emphasis.
January 19, 2011 at 8:03 pm