(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
Holy frijoles, how has it been five years writing for The Pen Addict?!? On the one hand, it feels like just yesterday that the Bossman asked if I would be interested in writing for TPA, to which I responded, DUH! YEAH! I think? I dunno?!? I wrote about this at my one year anniversary with TPA. On the other hand, it definitely has felt like 5 years, especially when I count all those very late night submissions (but still on time and not late, Boss!) - time to look back at the past 5 years!
Some statistics:
241 articles written - I know there are 52 weeks in a year, but the Bossman does give time off for holidays, and I’ve had scheduled vacations, illness, etc. so it came out to 241 instead of 52 x 5 (don’t make me math). My first TPA article debuted on Friday of the 2021 DC Pen Show, and now this one makes 242!
50-ish show recaps - I can’t believe I’ve attended and written up 49 recaps for pen shows, stationery festivals, and store events! That’s an average of almost 10 per year!
Over 600,000 words - My longest articles have been around 7000 words, while my absolute shortest ones, barely make it to 1000. Most of them hover around 2000 words, so I multiplied that by 241 to get 482,000. And yes, the show recaps take up the rest of the word count, so, thank you for getting through them!
15 hours - On average, it takes me about 15 hours to write an article. It depends on whether I need to do prep work, like swatching inks/chromatography/etc, as well as photography, which is probably my least favorite part of this process. Uploading pictures, figuring out where to place them in the article, and what the captions should be, also take a fair amount of time. And of course, there’s the writing, and editing, and writing some more. I think it would take me less time if I didn’t have the attention span of a squirrel. I generally don’t have a schedule for what I want to write ahead of time (other than show recaps), so it takes me a while to figure out what I want to write about, which means I often don’t start until a day or two before it’s due. 🙂
Less than a handful scrapped - I think I’ve completely scrapped an article fewer than 5 times in the last 5 years. By this, I mean that I started writing the article and partway through, decided “nope” and either rewrote the whole thing or changed topics completely. One of them I was writing until 11pm the night before it’s due (my articles are technically not due until 4am Pacific Time) and finished it around 3:30am - close but still not late!
But numbers schmumbers, that’s not very interesting. How about some of my favorite articles from the past five years instead?
Pen Shows/Stationery Fests:
- Pen Shows Are Happening Again! Now what? - Not only was it my first TPA article, I spent a lot of time thinking about all the tips and tricks about navigating pen shows, especially since it was the first pen show since the pandemic shut them down. I’ve shared this one a lot whenever someone asks about what to do at their first show.
This picture from the 2019 DC Pen Show was one of many that I used in my first article for The Pen Addict.
- This has now been updated with the recent Pen Shows 101 article that goes into more detail, and includes stationery festivals too!
- Pen Show Report Card and Philly Pen Show Re-recap - Not my first show recap, but this was the birth of the pen show report card. Looking back, I probably should have put the categories in slightly different order, but c’est la vie. Not gonna lie, I’m pretty happy about coming up with a way to rank and compare pen shows.
- Having done a year’s worth of show recaps, this 2022 uber recap was very satisfying to make.
These numbers might not be accurate for many of the shows - might be time to revisit these scores?
- Honorable mention: Not my article but I’m proud to be a co-conspirator in the shenanigans from the 2024 Chicago Pen Show.
This will never get old.
Pen Comparisons/Reviews:
- Franklin-Christoph - So Many Models, So Little Time - Given how often I am working at the Franklin-Christoph tables at shows, writing this was a no-brainer. People often ask me what my favorite model is or what the differences are between the models and this article was the culmination of all those questions. This took a lot longer than the typical article because there were so many things to keep track of, so many pictures, so many pens to cap/uncap/post, etc. But it was a labor of love because I do love the brand so much (all F-C pens have been purchased by me at regular price, usual disclaimer applies).
Not gonna lie, I’m still super proud of this beast of an article about Franklin-Christophs!
- My Thoughts on the Lamy Studio - This was my first handwritten review! No idea why I thought it was a good idea, but why not?
I shudder at how quickly I must’ve written this article because oof, that cursive is kinda messy, lol.
Nib rankings - I really enjoyed playing with the nib offerings on 3 Pilot models as well as the Platinum 3776.
Wish I could keep all these pens/nibs!!
- Pilot Vanishing Point/Capless Fountain Pens - A Quick Comparison - One of the coolest fountain pens out there is the Pilot Vanishing Point but it isn’t for everyone. This article gives a quick run down of the different types of Pilot retractable fountain pens, as well as a simple hack to tell if the VP should be on your list.
I do love my VPs, but not everyone does, and that’s ok!
- Dippity doo dah, dippity yay - A Dip Nib Comparison - Not exactly a pen, but dip nibs have been increasing in popularity and it was fun (and not-so-fun) working on this comparison article.
I think I need to revisit this with more dip pens, what do you think?
With the Pelikan Hub coming up later this year, these next articles are some of my favorites, not just because they’re full of (hopefully) helpful information, but because I love Pelikan pens!
Love my flock of Pelikans!
Reflections:
- Writing for Memory’s Sake - This was a tough one to write as I was faced with the reality of how bad my mom’s dementia had progressed. It was a reminder that (1) life is short (she’s still around, and doing ok), (2) write down what you can, so you can remember, (3), it’s ok to distract yourself with pens/stationery, and (4) it’s ok if you don’t have the head/heart space to use your pens.
- Reflections on a Year of Journaling - I really learned a lot about how I approached journaling in 2024, and realized it didn’t have to “be perfect”, or aesthetic, or even daily, for it to still be journaling.
Journaling is about writing it down, however you choose to do it.
- Lessons Learned from The Little Prince - Getting to the end of copying The Little Prince was a big accomplishment for me and I loved thinking about all the little things I learned along the way.
- Looking Back to Go Forward - This was my first time trying to figure out goals and intentions for 2024 and I learned a lot about doing retrospectives, what was or wasn’t working, and seeing progress (or lack thereof).
Continuing to grow by figuring out what I want to accomplish/do in 2024, and learning about myself, and what worked/didn’t work.
Miscellaneous:
- Fountain Pen Companion - Not Just For Ink Addicts - I use FPC almost daily and have never regretted becoming a Patreon member. Having all my inks inventoried in one place is a no-brainer, but being able to see what others have that you don’t/vice versa for sharing purposes, or tracking currently inked & pen usage? Sign me up!
I use the “Currently Inked”/Usage feature of FPC every day that I write with my pens!
- Traveling with Fountain Pens - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - I particularly liked the title (rip John Candy), but given how often I traveled to shows and elsewhere with my pens, this article felt long overdue. TLDR: It’s not scary to travel with FPs. Just remember, nibs up, don’t use pens on ascent/descent, and be careful uncapping at elevation. (Caveats still apply for pens with sacs, etc.)
- Lamy Dark Lilac 2024 vs The Original Lamy Dark Lilac 2016 - Who knew that LDLgate would be a thing in 2024! One that would make it to the New York Times! My article didn’t make it there, but it was still fun to make and I still reference it when people mistake the two LDLs!
Lamy Dark Lilac OG and 2024. The crazy fountain pen ink drama of 2024, lol.
One of my biggest worries when taking on this role was whether I would still love pens and stationery once I had to “do this as a job”. I cannot tell you how happy and relieved I am that doing reviews and writing for the past 5 years has not diminished my love for fountain pens and stationery, in the least. It has certainly drained the bank account, and I’d like to think I’m a little more discerning with my spending, but my overflowing office doesn’t seem to think so. 🙂
I have always said that pen people are the best people, and of course, I also include stationery people in that statement as well. Writing for TPA for the past 5 years has been an incredible experience. From the moment the Bossman announced it on Twitch to my first article and for the past 5 years, people have been so kind and encouraging. I’ve been lucky to meet some of you at shows or online and everyone has made me feel welcome, supported, encouraged, and for that, I cannot thank you enough!
In making this article, I clicked through every article since my first one, copy/pasted them into Excel, and had a lovely stroll down memory lane. Some articles I almost forgot that I wrote (like the handwritten Lamy Studio article) and others jumped out to be included (F-C, nib rankings, how-to pen show, etc.). Thank you for indulging me in sharing my 5 year journey with TPA. And thank you, Brad, for taking a chance on me, believing in me, and not firing me (yet). It’s been an amazing ride and I look forward to what the next 5 years have in store!
I am truly grateful and humbled by your support. Thank you, thank you, thank you. ♥️
(PS - For those of you counting, this article is over 2000 words 🙂)
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