If a fountain pen doesn't perform its job, a pencil will do. In fact, the lowly yellow pencil has several advantages. Besides being inexpensive, it never skips, never floods, and except for sharpening, doesn't require maintenance. It can be erased. Also, pencil marks last almost forever. On the other hand, fountain pen ink can be fugitive, not particularly light fast - especially colors on the warm side of the palette, red, yellow and orange.
       So just what are the properties of a fountain pen that makes it worth the effort?
       I know writers who say they prefer a fountain pen for the first draft, especially for thoughtful writing such as poetry or establishing the outline of a book or article. They tell me it has to do with the connection between the hand and the mind. Their thoughts flow more easily with a wet nib. The common metaphor, "the flow of thoughts" points up the comparison with writing using a fountain pen. When a fountain pen is adjusted properly, it requires no pressure. The ink runs onto the paper as the nib glides over the surface. (A pencil is hardly legible when used this way.
       I find it a big advantage, when I go back to typing words onto a keyboard, to be able to read what I have written. For those of us with aging eyes, this is even more important.