In this image, the top five pens are examples of women’s pens while the bottom, slightly bulkier pen was for a man. Courtesy of Ray Rieser An example of a quill pen made from a goose feather.

Remove the barbs and trim the length.The quill of the feather is flanked by “barbs,” the technical term for the feathery part. You can leave the barbs on your pen as adornment, but now’s the ...