Pens and Ink

(Another marvel written for school.)              

  The scratching of the pen contrasts with the smoothness of the ink gliding over the page.  The strokes, both dramatic and detailed, slowly grow fainter as the end of the line is reached.  The pen is dipped into the inkwell, renewing its supply for the next line.

                In their original context of the Victorian Era, being wielded by a dapper gentleman in a tailored suit to write letters of great import in a grand and tastefully decorated study, dip pens seem elegant and dignified.  Their continued use in this modern age, though, seems old fashioned and perhaps even a bit pretentious.  To me, however, dip pens represent so much more what a writing instrument is meant to be than a fountain pen or (the horror!) a ballpoint pen.  A writing instrument is the extension of the writer that makes their internal state visible.

                A dip pen can be used with several different kinds of ink – waterproof ink, pigmented ink, acrylic ink, among others.  When an author of any kind places pen to paper, they bring their own individual experiences, writing with whatever they have inside them.  There are different nibs to be used on the tips of the pens as well, representing the uniqueness of each writer.  Most interestingly, dip pen nibs are sensitive to the speed and pressure applied while writing.  Many factors can affect an author’s writing, and all are affected in some way or another to the pressures and events of life.

                But even more than representing merely the life of an author, the dip pen symbolizes the story of life everyone is writing.  All people write their life story out of their own experiences, reacting in their own way.  They pour everything out of themselves that they can, until the ink runs out.