(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!.)
I can’t believe that it’s been one year that I’ve been writing for The Pen Addict! I still remember when Brad asked me last year if I would be interested in writing for the blog. I also remember the shock, the excitement, the “Wait, what? Say that again?” moments of disbelief, followed by a LOT of doubt. Why me? I’m still a newbie! There are so many other great bloggers/writers/fountain pen people out there! What if I can’t write as well as them? What if readers don’t like my content? What if I do this for a few weeks and realize I can’t hack it or don’t like it? What if, and this was a big one, it makes me like pens less?
Thankfully, Brad told me that I wasn’t signing a contract for a set amount of articles or time period, which was a huge sigh of relief. If I was really bad, or if I didn’t enjoy it or if my love of fountain pens started to wane because of it, I could call it quits and that’s that. It definitely lifted a huge cloud that was in the way of doing this. I certainly didn’t want to quit after a few weeks but felt a lot better knowing that it was an option if things didn’t work out. After a year of doing this, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect and share some of my discoveries from this journey.
Imposter Syndrome is a thing
For starters, imposter syndrome is real and it can really get in the way of people starting new things, pushing themselves or even getting regular things done. Where you don’t feel like you’re qualified to do something, so you feel like an imposter, a poser, a phony. In this case, I felt like I was a newbie (heck, I still feel this way) and that there were others more deserving of this role. It also didn’t help that I’m also not a writer. Sure, I can be verbose in some of my IG posts, but that’s very different than writing an article! And every week, no less! Could I do it? Apparently, the answer is yes, but even after a year of writing for TPA, I still have a difficult time calling myself a writer/blogger/whatever. I’m still a fountain pen-crazed hobbyist who happens to write an article every week. While the imposter syndrome isn’t as strong as it was last year, it hasn’t disappeared entirely; I just try not to let it get the best of me.
So many words!
I remember asking Brad how long a typical article is and he said about 400-500 words (for context, I’ve already written 450+ at this point). I had no idea how long that really is (to this day, I still turn on word count, lol). Turns out, I can spew lots of words, especially when I’m talking about my favorite subject! So much so that I had to ask Brad if I was writing too many words; turns out that 400-500 is a good guideline for standard pens/pencils but not for fountain pens. There are a lot more variables with fountain pens, such as filling systems, nibs, materials, flow, writing experience, even packaging. Phew! I mean, I’m still verbose but at least some part of it is because fountain pens are more complicated. One of my longest articles is over 1700 words - can you guess which one it is?
I write like I speak
I don’t know if it’s proper to do so, but I like to write as though I’m having a conversation with you. A one-sided conversation, perhaps, but I want people to feel like this is what I’d be saying if I was sitting with you and talking about a pen or ink or paper. It’s also why I include “lol”, “haha” and also why there are so many parentheticals in my articles (I have a really hard time NOT doing this. See?!?) But at least I don’t swear as much when I write. ;-)
Freedom!!!
The Bossman gives his team the freedom to write about whatever topic they choose. It could be anything from a pen or ink review, pen show recap, or what stationery items they decide to bring with them on vacation. I really appreciate not having to do a specific topic on a given schedule because I can write about whatever and whenever. For me though, it means I have to be in the mood for a given topic. For example, I recently scrapped the idea of writing a pen/ink review because I was in such a sad and helpless mood that I had to write about how I use fountain pens to find some semblance of peace. While not always that heavy, sometimes, I just want to play with ink, or maybe I’ve been writing with a review pen for a few weeks and feel that “it’s time” to write the review. I thought that having a list of topics would make this easy, but I was surprised to discover how often the topic picks itself.
Pictures paint a thousand words but I hate painting, lol
Pictures are really important, but boy, I’ve discovered it is one of my least favorite parts about writing for TPA. But for you all, I want to make sure it’s as accurate as possible, that lighting is good, not a lot of shadows, etc. Aside from the actual picture taking, there’s uploading the pictures, renaming them to make it easier for the Bossman to figure out what is what and then figuring out which pictures work best in which part of the article. It’s not my favorite part, but it is a necessary part of all this. After all, this writing gig can’t be glamorous all the time, right?
This took considerably more effort than it looks!
Posting is for monsters
Just kidding! You may recall that I don’t post my pens, but I do it for you because I know some of you are pen posters! And everytime I post my pens to do a comparison photo, I cringe ever so slightly and then feel better knowing that maybe someone will find the posting picture useful. Then I unpost the pen and all is right again :-)
I only do this for you!
Favorite product that I’ve reviewed?
It is difficult to pick a favorite out of the products I’ve reviewed. Partly because I owned many of the items I reviewed but also because there were a lot of good products to play with! I absolutely fell in love with the Waldmann Tango Imagination that I had to ask the Bossman if there was a way for me to buy it!
Yes, this precious is mine, all mine!
Most difficult article to write?
The 2022 LA Pen Show Recap was probably the most difficult to write from an emotional standpoint. It requires a lot of context to explain why it is such a bizarrely run show. It got me frustrated as I wrote it and made me relive an experience that just doesn’t make any sense. From a content perspective, the most difficult article to write was the one I listed above, the Franklin-Christoph models article was the culmination of a lot of hours, text, and pictures. It was an absolute blast to make, one that I’m particularly proud of and also one where I’d never do anything like this again, lol.
This one was a doozy but worth it!
The best ideas come from you!
Well, not just you, the blog reader or podcast listener but from pen enthusiasts on IG, FB, Pen Addict Slack, etc. Questions that get asked a lot are often great ideas for blog topics, like how to travel with fountain pens, tips for going to a pen show, etc - those are all questions that come from folks like you. So, keep those questions coming, even if you feel like it’s been asked before, maybe it’ll make it into an article someday!
Still digging this rabbit hole
I cannot tell you how happy and relieved I am that doing reviews and writing for the past year has not diminished my love for fountain pens and all the related stationery madness. I was really worried about this turning my hobby into a job and thankfully, I am still as enamored with it all as I have ever been.
Pen people are (still) the best people
From the online communities to the folks at pen meetups and pen shows, I have known that pen people are the best people. And writing for TPA this past year has proven that again. From the moment the Bossman announced it on Twitch to my first article and beyond, people have reached out to me and have been so kind and encouraging. Y’all have helped me feel welcome, supported, encouraged and grateful, and for that, I cannot thank you enough!
Thank you for indulging me in sharing my journey during this past year. And thank you, Brad, for taking a chance on me and believing in me. It’s been quite a wonderful ride and I look forward to what the next year has in store!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you!!!
(P.S. - for those of you keeping count, this is over 1600 words ;-))
