Top Authors and their iconic writing instruments

Artists have their own eccentricities when they're working their skill. Some like to work in a special area and some find they can work at a specific time. Many are fussy about their tools and while one would think writers are exempt from that, many have quite ritualised their act of writing and can be quite fussy if their routine is disturbed. Some writers don't care for the medium and are more than happy to scribble thoughts on napkins with a ball pen or jot down ideas or paragraphs on the notes app of thier phone while others have one or more things they need to get into their creative zone.

It's not surprising that many are attached to pens. Pens have historically represented writers just as much as books have and most authors are in love with metaphors and possibly see their pen as something more than a tool. It is but human nature to get attached to something that brings you so much joy.

Here are some authors and the pen they used to create the beautiful art we know them for:

The famous teenage diarist wrote a lot of entries with a fountain pen. In the published diary there is a chapter where she mourns it's loss after it gets accidentally burnt in a fire. It was a gift from her grandmother and came in a red leather case when she was nine. She was upset to lose it.

It is rumoured to be a Montblanc Meisterstück, for that was a popular and common pen of that time.

Photo: Wikipedia

This classic author had a fondness for writing in pencil. In his Paris memoir, 'A Moveable Feast' he said, “The blue-backed notebooks, the two pencils and the pencil sharpener (a pocket knife was too wasteful), the marble-topped tables, the smell of cafe cremes, the smell of early morning sweeping out and mopping and luck were all you needed.

He is also said to have carried his ELMO fountain pen throughout the Great War. The company is now called Montegrappa.

Photo: Wikipedia

The much loved Sherlock Holmes author was known for writing with a Parker Duofold fountain pen. The pen, much like the Sherlock Holmes tales, is still popular today.

Photo: arthur-conan-doyle.com

The famous author didn't have a fountain pen, it was after her time, but used a quill pen dipped in iron gall ink to write. She had a complicated recipe to her ink and a special type of paper, however. She described her notebook as a quarto stationer’s notebook bound with “quarter tanned sheep over boards sided with marble paper. The edges of the leaves [were] plain cut and sprinkled red.”

Photo: Wikipedia

The renowned and slightly controversial author Mark Twain loved his fountain pen so much he even promoted it! He used Conklin Crescent Filler and loved how it was self-filling. That technology was a step up from the days of filling a pen with an eyedropper and he truly appreciated it.

Photo: Wikipedia

The novelist, mathematician, philosopher, and feminist Simone de Beauvoir spent a lot of time writing. She didn't favour just one pen or brand but often used a Sheaffer Snorkel and Esterbrook J.

Photo: Wikipedia

Not all writers who use fountain pens are dead, though this one seems to enjoy writing about the dead in his horror books. Stephen King often advises new writers to forgo digital distractions by writing physically as it forces the writer to slow down and focus on the writing process. He admitted many novels including 'Carrie' and 'It' were written with a Waterman Hémisphere pen.

Photo: stephenking.com

He is another horror writer who loves fountain pens. He said once in an interview that he enjoys the whole ceremony of using and writing with a fountain pen. He found it makes the writing process enjoyable and removes the pressure of writing.

He has a collection of fountain pens and across interviews he has mentioned a TWSBI Diamond 540, Visconti, Pilot Custom 823 Amber, Delta Fluida, Lepine Indigo Classic, Namiki Flexinib. He wrote his novel 'Stardust' with a Waterman pen, which was the start of his fountain pen writing habit.

Photo: twitter.com/neilhimself

This internationally acclaimed author admits his love for fountain pens. He bought his first one for approximately $5 along with some manuscript paper and he loves such pens so much he even specifies the brand of fountain pen some of his characters use! The pen he bought was by Sailor, an internationally acclaimed Japanese fountain pen company.

Photo: Wikipedia

The TOI Write India author collects vintage writing instruments. He got the passion from his father. He wrote with a Montblanc Meisterstück Classique Fountain Pen. He said, "What’s great about the Montblanc is that it’s so fluid. Some pen nibs are so fine-pointed that they’re scratchy to write with, but the Montblanc just flows," as reported by NYMag.com

Photo: Wikipedia