It’s great, right? Did you manage to read the full colour edition?

Beautiful. I had a rat for a while. She was awesome.

Thomas Jane, easily. If he was alive in the 40s and 50s, he would have surpassed Bogart as the king of noir.

Right? It just slaps so hard.

Sayles is great, especially his dialogue. He is a pretty compelling filmmaker as well.

If that’s your vibe, try Blindsight by Peter Watts. It’s a very technical examination of the phenomenon of consciousness which isn’t afraid to get into the weeds, but never quite gets lost in them.

I’m reading a book of short stories by John Sayles, called The Anarchists’ Convention. There have been some absolute bangers so far.

One of my favourite books of all time. Do you have the full colour edition?

Hi, I’m four babies in a trenchcoat. My interests include grown-up things like businessing and adulting. I am definitely an adult. Ignore the first sentence.

If you must.

Well done. Set yourself free.

I am so happy for you. Welcome to the club. I really hope you enjoy it.

That’s the one. I’ll see you over there. Good luck; I hope you find some good advice.

The Gospel Singer by Harry Crews. It’s a masterpiece of grit lit. If you’re not one to shy away from themes like religious obsession, violence and racism, I can highly recommend it.

Looks great. Happy writing.

No worries. And sorry for the wall of text in my previous comment. I get excited sometimes.

Get yourself a Platinum Preppy, with a Fine nib. You can get them on Amazon (or, preferrably, a more ethical site like Goulet Pens) for under $10. It’s not a mortgage payment, but it writes really well, and the Fine nib is good for many people’s handwriting. I would also suggest you start with ink cartridges rather than bottled ink. The cartridges are more expensive for less choice in terms of colour, but bottled ink is a whole world on its own. You do not want to dive into that unless you feel ready.

Also, there is now a fountain pen community on Lemmy. I am not sure what the URL is, but it should pop up in a search. You can make a post there to get some more input from people who probably know better than me.

My handwriting is barely legible, especially when I get excited. But I’m the only one who needs to read it, because I type it up before showing it to anyone. If you do try it, I would suggest getting a nice pen. It really makes a difference; trust me. Fountain pens are a whole rabbithole, so that might be a bit daunting. But a rollerball pen is a great alternative to ballpoints that doesn’t break the bank but writes so much more nicely.

To a certain extent, yes. I just find that the pacing works well for me. I think of a sentence, and I can edit it as I write, trying to balance the words properly. I find that I do less editing overall if I write more slowly the first time.

Fountain pen on paper is my preference. At least for the first draft. I edit as I transcribe.