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> A simple thing, on paper. Get a piece of it out and start writing. Or typing - doesn’t really matter. On the contrary, I feel writing notes on paper with my

> A simple thing, on paper. Get a piece of it out and start writing. Or typing - doesn’t really matter. On the contrary, I feel writing notes on paper with my fountain pen really different from typing on a computer. Only the former give me the feeling of work well done and some relaxed mind. I find really interesting to see years later that event X and Y happened on the same day while they are disjunct in memory.

cvs268 7y ago
> I feel writing notes on paper with my fountain pen really different from typing on a computer. > Only the former give me the feeling of work well done and some relaxed mind. Maybe you need to switch to a font with cursive-letters/extended ligatures :-) On a serious note, this reminds me of my school-days. At my school, a "Hero-pen" was all the rage; All the "cool" kids had one. Recently found out (i think from some random HN comment!) that the prized-possession of my childhood - The "Hero pen" was "inspired" by the Parker 51! Not able to find the HN comment, but here are some links from my browser history for some fountain-pen nostalgia :-) :-) https://frankunderwater.com/2017/02/20/remaking-parker-45-a-cooperation-between-hero-parker/ https://frankunderwater.com/2017/02/20/remaking-parker-45-a-... https://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2014/03/hero-616-doctor-review.html https://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2014/03/hero-616-d...
- cvs268 7y ago
  Found the original discussion! Let the Fountain Pens Flow (nytimes.com) 130 points by CaliforniaKarl | 8 months ago | 114 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18771984 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18771984
- tasogare 7y ago
  The first link is really interesting, thanks. Actually I'm not a fountain pen nerd. I use a €10 supermarket-sold Waterman for the last ten years. This pen in indestructible and really lightweight; best money spend in my life. In comparison I got a classy Parker as a Christmas gift but almost never use it because of its heaviness and the price of the proprietary ink cartridges.
jborichevskiy 7y ago
I can see what you mean - I love the feel of my favorite pen on paper. If it weren't for my typing speed + digitization I think I'd prefer writing as well. I've also considered perhaps typing allows too much freedom for re-phrasing things while pen is more permanent - requiring a bit more thought before you get it down.
- mettamage 7y ago
  There are products that digitize pen and paper right? [1] And then there probably are products that would be able to make your handwriting searchable. If not, you could make your own machine learning algo. as a side project and teach it to recognize your handwriting. I suppose that's a lot of work though :P [1]. E.g. See the section "Hybrid Tools" at this link: https://zapier.com/blog/digital-and-paper-note-taking-systems/ https://zapier.com/blog/digital-and-paper-note-taking-system...
- dorchadas 7y ago
  I think I like the fact that pen requires much more thought. Or, perhaps also the contrary: you don't think too much about it while writing, and you can write how you feel, without it later being edited to seem better when you're in a different mood (even if that's later in the writing). I've found that stream of conscienceness style writing is the best for me, as it allows me to more accurately reflect what I feel too. I think that having to type it would end that, and I'd be too apt to edit it later. As for digitization, there are likely ways you could go about doing that, but I'm not sure I want my journaling to be digitized to be honest. To me, there's something about keeping it in pen-and-paper that's appealing, even though it does lead to lots of things to keep up with.
criddell 7y ago
The problem with pen and paper is that after decades of journalling, you are going to have hundreds of notebooks to deal with. It feels like a burden and the value of the text at that point is pretty low.
- qzx_pierri 7y ago
  You’re right, but those notebooks don’t need backups, they can’t corrupt, and they can’t be hacked into. They work during power outages, when the internet goes down, etc.
  - criddell 7y ago
    A text file on a computer satisfies most of those constraints as well.
    - Aeolun 7y ago
      As far as I can see they meet only one of the described conditions? (E.g. working when disconnected from the internet)
      - 0xffff2 7y ago
        As far as I can see, the claims are so nonsensical as to be equally (non)applicable to a notebook or a text file. - Neither needs backups. In fact, a text file is much easier to back up if you want to. - Neither is particularly likely to be corrupted these days, but a notebook can just as easily grow moldy as a text file can be corrupted by a disk error. - A thief can just as well break into your house and steal your notebook as a hacker can break into your computer and steal your text file. - A pretty large chunk of computing is done on devices with a battery these days. Depending on the time of day, a notebook may not actually work well at all during a power outage.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  > the value of the text at that point is pretty low For you. But for your children or some future historian it may not be.
dorchadas 7y ago
I agree with this. I was never great with journaling (and have trailed off from my daily journal while I was abroad this summer), but I found something about writing with a fountain pen on paper to be extremely soothing, compared to typing it. It also means I don't have the problem that another user mentioned, with an app showing me how I felt X days/months/years ago; I can read over it myself to get the insight, but it's not forced on me. I really need to get back into the habit of that (and penmanship practice), but my life is kinda boring since I've come back and got back to work (I teach for 8 hours, and have an hour commute each way).

cvs268 7y ago

> I feel writing notes on paper with my fountain pen really different from typing on a computer. > Only the former give me the feeling of work well done and some relaxed mind. Maybe you need to switch to a font with cursive-letters/extended ligatures :-) On a serious note, this reminds me of my school-days. At my school, a "Hero-pen" was all the rage; All the "cool" kids had one. Recently found out (i think from some random HN comment!) that the prized-possession of my childhood - The "Hero pen" was "inspired" by the Parker 51! Not able to find the HN comment, but here are some links from my browser history for some fountain-pen nostalgia :-) :-) https://frankunderwater.com/2017/02/20/remaking-parker-45-a-cooperation-between-hero-parker/ https://frankunderwater.com/2017/02/20/remaking-parker-45-a-... https://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2014/03/hero-616-doctor-review.html https://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2014/03/hero-616-d...

cvs268 7y ago
Found the original discussion! Let the Fountain Pens Flow (nytimes.com) 130 points by CaliforniaKarl | 8 months ago | 114 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18771984 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18771984
tasogare 7y ago
The first link is really interesting, thanks. Actually I'm not a fountain pen nerd. I use a €10 supermarket-sold Waterman for the last ten years. This pen in indestructible and really lightweight; best money spend in my life. In comparison I got a classy Parker as a Christmas gift but almost never use it because of its heaviness and the price of the proprietary ink cartridges.

jborichevskiy 7y ago

I can see what you mean - I love the feel of my favorite pen on paper. If it weren't for my typing speed + digitization I think I'd prefer writing as well. I've also considered perhaps typing allows too much freedom for re-phrasing things while pen is more permanent - requiring a bit more thought before you get it down.

mettamage 7y ago
There are products that digitize pen and paper right? [1] And then there probably are products that would be able to make your handwriting searchable. If not, you could make your own machine learning algo. as a side project and teach it to recognize your handwriting. I suppose that's a lot of work though :P [1]. E.g. See the section "Hybrid Tools" at this link: https://zapier.com/blog/digital-and-paper-note-taking-systems/ https://zapier.com/blog/digital-and-paper-note-taking-system...
dorchadas 7y ago
I think I like the fact that pen requires much more thought. Or, perhaps also the contrary: you don't think too much about it while writing, and you can write how you feel, without it later being edited to seem better when you're in a different mood (even if that's later in the writing). I've found that stream of conscienceness style writing is the best for me, as it allows me to more accurately reflect what I feel too. I think that having to type it would end that, and I'd be too apt to edit it later. As for digitization, there are likely ways you could go about doing that, but I'm not sure I want my journaling to be digitized to be honest. To me, there's something about keeping it in pen-and-paper that's appealing, even though it does lead to lots of things to keep up with.

criddell 7y ago

The problem with pen and paper is that after decades of journalling, you are going to have hundreds of notebooks to deal with. It feels like a burden and the value of the text at that point is pretty low.

qzx_pierri 7y ago
You’re right, but those notebooks don’t need backups, they can’t corrupt, and they can’t be hacked into. They work during power outages, when the internet goes down, etc.
- criddell 7y ago
  A text file on a computer satisfies most of those constraints as well.
  - Aeolun 7y ago
    As far as I can see they meet only one of the described conditions? (E.g. working when disconnected from the internet)
    - 0xffff2 7y ago
      As far as I can see, the claims are so nonsensical as to be equally (non)applicable to a notebook or a text file. - Neither needs backups. In fact, a text file is much easier to back up if you want to. - Neither is particularly likely to be corrupted these days, but a notebook can just as easily grow moldy as a text file can be corrupted by a disk error. - A thief can just as well break into your house and steal your notebook as a hacker can break into your computer and steal your text file. - A pretty large chunk of computing is done on devices with a battery these days. Depending on the time of day, a notebook may not actually work well at all during a power outage.
jacquesm 7y ago
> the value of the text at that point is pretty low For you. But for your children or some future historian it may not be.

dorchadas 7y ago

I agree with this. I was never great with journaling (and have trailed off from my daily journal while I was abroad this summer), but I found something about writing with a fountain pen on paper to be extremely soothing, compared to typing it. It also means I don't have the problem that another user mentioned, with an app showing me how I felt X days/months/years ago; I can read over it myself to get the insight, but it's not forced on me. I really need to get back into the habit of that (and penmanship practice), but my life is kinda boring since I've come back and got back to work (I teach for 8 hours, and have an hour commute each way).