Steampunk Writing Accessories

If it gets you in the mood to write use accessories. You don’t need accessories, but anything that helps you write go for it.

You can write with nothing more than a pencil or pen handed out by your local insurance agent or you scarfed at a writers convention and on a brown paper trash bag. Better yet you can write on a computer at the local library and save stuff on a free Drop Box or Evernote account.

More writers should write at libraries. It’s quiet and there’s plenty of reference material at hand. The big draw back is they won’t let you bring coffee into the library.

A fountain pen. What’s more 1880s than a fountain pen? What’s more Steampunk than to sign your book than with a fountain pen? I use a Pilot brand Metropolitain fountain pen with a fine or medium nib. Well made, you can get pre-filled ink cartridges or a fountain pen converter to load ink from a bottle. The pen cost $11.00 to &20.00. See the YouTube videos by the Goullet Pen company. Mine is a Black Plain pen although I liked the Gold Zig-Zang one. I thought a gold colored outside was too flamboyant for a serious writer like I am. Checkout The Goulet Pen company and give Mr. Goulet a call and ask him what he thinks is the most steampunk pen he sells.

I use Noodler’s No Feather ink. Feather is where the ink bleeds away form the line you drew. The Pilot ink is good too. If you buy enough ink from Noodler’s you get a free pen, but a 4.5 ounce bottle will last a long (years and years) time.

The one draw back with the Metropolitain fountain pen is that you can not see how much ink you have left. Other pens have clear windows or clear bodies that show how much ink is left. They don’t look steam punk.

Another steampunk writing accessories is a roll top desk. I just got one. Get a solid wood one, not one made from particle board. Do I need a roll top desk? NO. But it sets the mood for writing steampunk and I wanted one since I read a story that featured one in Analog Science Fiction magazine when I was in high school.

Surrounded by real, dark stained, oak. This is better than the old door held up by two, two drawer file cabinets it replaces. I typed on that lash-up for years and years. This desk has class. The desk is not new and I saw a blog where that author also got a roll top desk too. Must be something going around.

If it helps you write and doesn’t hurt anyone then do it.

Stray strong, write on.      Professor Hyram Voltage