A line in the official bio I use for author events says, “She owns way more movie scores and fountain pens than she can actually afford,” and that’s not an exaggeration. I have an Excel spreadsheet listing all of my fountain pens and the amount of money I spent on them. I’m not going to disclose that amount, but let’s just say that it’s four figures, mmkay?
This photo accounts for…maybe half of my fountain pen collection.
I work at a small liberal arts college, and I’m fortunate enough to have the week of Christmas off, not returning to campus until January 2 each year. This year I decided I wanted to do an epic decluttering and cleaning of my space. In the process…well, I discovered an awful lot of stationery products, pens, inks, and pen cases that I’m not using.
My top-left desk drawer AFTER decluttering
So this year, I’ve decided to be very intentional about the stationery purchases I make.
A few stationery caveats
I’m not counting the office supplies required to keep my businesses running. For instance, I have to have sticker paper, ink, mailers, and a few other supplies to run Redhead Paper, my sticker business. I also have to have printer paper, toner, etc., to keep my writing business running.
That doesn’t mean I need a $4,700 fountain pen, though, no matter how much I might want one.
No, I’ve never spent that much on a pen, I promise! The four-figure sum is total expenditure. I do own a few pens that cost over $100, though.
I’m also making some very specific exceptions. If I travel to a city that actually has a pen/stationery shop, I’m allowed to buy things there. I don’t intend to blow the bank, but I’m allowed to buy.
I’m also allowed to buy things off my longterm wishlist if the right conditions arise. For instance, a great pen sale or maybe a fabulous book sales month. I’ve been coveting a couple of Galen Leather products for years now. I mean, just LOOK at that Medic Bag! So if I’m able to acquire one of those, I will.
Using and Enjoying My Stationery
That said, I’m also going to make an effort to really use and enjoy what I already have.
This is a 19-liter Really Useful Box full of notebooks. To my shame, these are not ALL of the empty notebooks I own.
I got a Hobonichi Techo for my planner this year, and it is made with Tomoe River Paper to be fountain pen friendly. That means I’ve automatically added an important way to use fountain pens that I didn’t have last year.
I’m also making a concerted effort to keep a journal this year. I’m keeping a commonplace book on fountain pen friendly paper. Later this month, I’m going to Hawaii, and I intend to keep a detailed travel journal.
I’m also, thankfully, finally back into the writing almost daily habit. I’m an outliner, and my writing routine typically goes like this:
- Look at my outline for what scene comes next.
- Pre-write the scene longhand, including dialogue, specific things that need to be in the scene, blocking, etc.
- Actually write the scene on my computer, elaborating on the pre-written scene.
I have a number of fountain-pen-friendly notebooks already in my possession, which means Step 2 is a great opportunity to use more of my ink stash AND my notebook stash.
I’ll try to keep you updated on how things are going with this project as 2025 continues.
