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Don’t let fear of grammar errors or style “don’ts” stop you.

The landmine problem kept me from writing for decades.

Yes. Decades.

I didn’t write because I was worried about the landmines of grammar, prose style, adverbs, tropes, clichés, passive verbs, and on and on.

I didn’t want to embarrass myself. I didn’t want to write a whole novel just to have some editor laugh at me, or worse, dismiss my work entirely.

I gained this fear by reading about all the mistakes beginning writers make. It was so overwhelming, I simply gave up before starting.

But here’s the truth: fiction does not require us to obey the textbook. Artistic license allows us to punctuate according to our own style.

Grammar is a convention. And following those conventions is good, because it helps the reader understand. But read any popular thriller. They are filled with fragmentary sentences. It’s is a stylistic choice, to create a specific effect.

So let the words flow how they will. Allow them to cast their spell, to manifest your story in your own mind. If you’re not confident with commas, don’t worry too much about them. An editor will suggest changes later to make sure you’re achieving your goal.

Write by ear. Cormac McCarthy rarely uses commas at all, and he doesn’t even put quote marks around dialogue. I don’t reccomend that, but it’s a valid choice.

Your prose style will develop over time. And you will learn the fundamentals of grammar by having your manuscript edited by a copyeditor.

Never stop writing just to look up a grammar rule.

Why do I say this?

The most important thing is the story, not the manuscript.

You are going to revise your manuscript later. You will take care of punctuation; you will trim the excess and add in details as you shape your story. You can study grammar rules at a different time.

Writing should be discovery. When you begin tinkering with the buts and bolts of a manuscript you switch over to inventing. That sort of thinking sees errors and mistakes where there aren’t any. Pretty soon you’ve broken a story that was working just fine.

The first thing writers break is their own unique voice. They apply The Elements of Style like an Instagram filter and suddenly their writing begins to sound “professional.” That’s not good. Because “professional” means boring.

So go onward bravely. The landmines are not real.

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I’m not even ashamed of it. I love pens and pencils and empty journals and planners and pretty much anything that involves putting words onto paper. (Typewriters? Oh, yes indeed!)

If you get the pen bug, you might start getting pulled into ever more expensive and exotic choices. But if you simply want really good inking experience, here are my recommendations.

The Pilot G2 Shown here in a variety pack of colors. My favorite version of this one is the black ink. These provide a silky smooth writing experience, with good coverage and no skips.

I tell you a secret: I hate the red one. Not because there’s anything wrong with the way it performs. I just hate red ink. It means I made a mistake or I wrote a typo or a grammatical error. Or that I did any math assignment ever. 😛

The G2 also come as refills that can go into many other pen bodies.

Rotring 600 is my choice for a pen on the go.

The metal body and knurgled (I know it’s “knurled”, but I like my typo better) grip makes it the perfect field pen. It won’t slip out of your hand. It’s also fairly small in the pocket. The cartridge it comes with is good, but when used up, replace it with any standard Parker refill (like the Polot G2!)

Lamy Safari Fountain Pen: This is always my recommendation for fountain pen newbies. They are affordable and the cartrdiges have decent ink in them. Once you get used to a good fountain pen, watch out. It can lead to a deranged obsession. I had to put a moratorium on new fountain pens several years ago because it was getting out of control.

These come in several colors if you don’t like charcoal. Like red, white, and blue.

If you don’t know what size nib to try, I recommend choosing a medium at first. If you like your pens to be very fine, then go ahead and try the fine. I can’t write with larger nibs because my handwriting is fairly cramped and my letters all blob together.

Fountain pen ink is another huge adventure. There are so many colors and sheens. If you want to dive off the deep end, go to Goulet Pen Company’s website and try their “ink drops.” They send little sample vials of different colors to try out before you invest in a whole bottle.

Skilcraft Ballpoint Pens are the official pens of the US Government and manufactured in the US by Nation Industries for the Blind.

Check out this infographic from their website. I have a box of these and they feel fairly cheap in the hand but they do perform way better than the Fisher Space Pen, in my opinion (although I have a couple of those as well because they are “dope” too.)