I got a new pen yesterday – look at it, isn’t it gorgeous?  It perfectly matches the bottle of ink that was patiently waiting for it in the cupboard.

What is it about having a new pen that immediately makes you want to write?  Do you need to see if the ink is the colour you were expecting?  Do you want to know if the pen is well balanced and fits in your hand as if it belongs, or will it make your fingers cramp?  Will the nib be silky smooth across the page or will it scratch and splutter?  I’m certain all those things play their part, but I think there is something else.  Something stronger.  It’s the potential that the pen embodies.

With this pen, you could at last, express your true feelings about your family, your lover, your job, your friend, your life.  With this pen you could write out the detailed plan that will help you resolve all those nagging fears and worries that are constantly at your back.  With this pen you could write your brilliant novel, or epic poem, or incisive work of non-fiction – the jewel like piece of writing that will at last bring your talents to the notice of the publishing world.  Words will drop from the nib of this pen in a perfect flow of erudition that will totally change your life.

And if it doesn’t?  Well, obviously, it was the pen’s fault – not yours.