The Pen
By: Christine Hersom
(3 min read)
I have been writing my entire life. I have always dreamed of writing a novel someday. I remember that every Christmas, I would get a new “special” pen from my grandmother. Sometimes the pen was colorful. Other times it was fancy. Whatever it was, I was convinced I would become a New York Times bestselling author because of the pen. As a child dreaming of becoming a writer, my grandmother was my biggest supporter. My father felt I should get a “real” career that could pay the bills.
When I was about ten years old, my father took me to a Loretta Lynn concert. I had my “special” pen and my autograph book. I was praying that I could get an autograph. As fate would have it, I got lost in the crowd. Being so small, I was pushed around by the crowd until I ended up in front of the door of Loretta Lynn’s travel bus. She was sitting on the steps signing autographs. I couldn’t believe my luck. When she saw me standing there alone, she looked around for an adult who might be with me. I told her that I got separated in the crowd. Loretta Lynn invited me to sit with her on her bus steps until my father made it to the front. It was amazing. She was beautiful and so nice. She saw my autograph book and asked if I would like her to sign it.
I handed the book to her along with my “special” pen. She made a big deal about the beauty of my pen. I informed her it was my writing pen and that I wanted to write a novel. She reached behind her and grabbed her pen. I couldn’t believe it when Loretta Lynn said, “Sweetie, I will use my pen for the autograph. You should save your “special” pen to write that novel. I want you to sign my book, so I can look for your name in the bookstore when you are older.” From that point on, I only used my “special” pen when I was writing stories.
The gift of the “special” pen ended when my grandmother passed away. I always kept writing but just used any pen I could find. Eventually, the memory of the “special” pen faded away.
For the past few months, I have struggled a bit with my writing. I find it easy to write blogs, but I had put my novel away and not touched it for months. It was time to dust it off. I pulled it out and couldn’t write a thing. I sat back and thought about what was wrong. Then I remembered the pen. I’m not a superstitious person, but with the “special” pen, I wrote continuously—stories, poems, songs and notes for the future.
I decided this holiday to purchase myself a “special” pen. I looked at hundreds of pens. I finally decided on a Scrivener fountain pen. It is British Racing Green (green being my favorite color). While it is set up like a ballpoint pen with refills, it looks exactly like the old-fashioned fountain pen. I cannot wait to use it. I have wrapped it, addressed it to me, and put it under the Christmas Tree. I can hardly wait for Christmas to arrive. I look at the Christmas tree every day, thinking about that pen.
As I stated earlier, I am not superstitious. In the past few years, I have been a blogger on the All Things Wellness website, and I am a published contributing author in the book, “The Four-Fold Formula for All Things Wellness.” I have achieved this writing with a laptop and no “special” pen.
Whenever I have writer’s block, I try to think about how things were throughout my life of writing. What was I doing when my writing flowed out of me like lava? This year the pen came to mind.
I know many of you wonder if I write with a pen. I know this is the world of technology. I do write with a pen. I love the feeling of writing with a pen on paper. I carry my journal everywhere and take notes about people, places, and things. If I am inspired while out, I will stop and write in the journal. It’s all about getting it down when it wants to come.
To all the writers out there, what do you do to overcome writer’s block? Do you meditate, walk away, or use some other intriguing method to overcome? I don’t have the answers to everything, but have you thought about using a “special” pen?
Christine Marshall Hersom
All Things Wellness, LLC
christinehersom@yahoo.com
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