Surprisingly, I've gone back to wooden pencils

[GeronimoWSB]

A pack of palomino forest choice I think will be in my future. Going to see if any local places have a selection before ordering online.

 

[Tirvine]

Although I have been writing pretty much with either a Pelikan or a Mont Blanc since the late 1960s, I worked for a large bank holding company that was serious about cost control. They bought only one kind of pencils, made by the Blackfeet, and they were pennies. They said they were no. 2, but I always suspected them of being 2 1/2s. We were free to buy other pencils with our own funds. As the GC I spent a lot of time editing things like securities filings, I and used pencils for that work. I kept a jar of sharp Ticonderoga no. 1s on my desk. They were wonderful. Later I found an inexpensive fine point Waterman and loaded it with red ink for editing. Now that I am retired I have a pack of sharp "no name" no. 2s in the kitchen for grocery lists, but my old Pelikan still gets used a lot. A good pencil is fun to use. I miss having a stationer who carried no. 1s.

 

[Lad]

I've been having a go at writing a novel, on and off. It stalled a few times due to life issues and health challenges, but recently I decided to give the ball another kick.

I'd written it all on a lap top, and reading it back to reorientate myself, I found the wording cold. It lacked passion and texture somewhat, and was a rather mechanical point to point navigation through the storyline, devoid of thoughtful prose. I didn't mind, as I can put flesh on the bones later. I'm just slamming down a first draft.

I'd also taken to leaving a notepad around, in case ideas or phrasing came to mind, when the laptop wasn't on. Fountain pens were tools of choice, as they so often are for my incidental scrawl, but yesterday I picked up a pencil instead, for no reason other than variety.

Four A4 pages happened. Not just notes, but a good hearty structure, with more feeling than had previously been typed. I hadn't realised how much fountain pens slowed me down. With the pencil, I could follow the train of thought, and the fingers could keep up. Throwing words down that quick with a fountain pen would skip, or smear as I made impromptu attonations along the way, in text that hadn't fully set.

There's something beneficial about the sharpening too. Rather than just pausing, and staring at a part filled page, whittling a point back on with my penknife, seemed to somehow keep the old grey cells jostling in the right direction.

I had to knock off after those four pages, to do some cross referral, and check my structure notes, but I was really impressed at how much more productive I felt with a humble wooden pencil, than a fountain pen or keyboard. I think I might be onto a new process. Maybe, I'll even catch a second wind with it as I shift format to get it on the laptop, and add in a little more colour along the way.

Sounds very writerly of you. I think they're great- you can chew on them, put them behind your ear, twiddle them, snap them in anger, etc.

 

[Basil]

I find myself writing more in pencil these days too. I have a few black wings that I go through but these days I usually just go through a pack of the Mars lumograph in a B

 

[12stones]

I love my blackwings. I use them exclusively for my woodworking as they bring me much joy when marking out measurements. I'm also a mechanical pencil fan when it comes to writing. I use a TŪL 0.7 for all of my note taking and checklist making at work. That drives my colleagues crazy because we're required to use pen exclusively for official documents and they're worried I'll forget.

 

[Basil]

I love my blackwings. I use them exclusively for my woodworking as they bring me much joy when marking out measurements. I'm also a mechanical pencil fan when it comes to writing. I use a TŪL 0.7 for all of my note taking and checklist making at work. That drives my colleagues crazy because we're required to use pen exclusively for official documents and they're worried I'll forget.

I keep breaking the small lead pencils I’ve switched to a 2mm lead holder but I do miss the small thin lines. Might have to switch back and be more careful with pressure on the lead

 

[bach_rocks]

Pencils worked for Steinbeck and Hemingway. Glad you found your muse. Happy writing!

Let's not forget Sondheim and his Blackwings.

 

[Basil]

Been writing with pencils lot more so I had to get a refill. I couldn’t resist a Bruce lee special edition though.

 

[SterFry]

My handwriting is horrible with a cheap pen, but for some reason a pencil makes me write better. My favorite was always the wood looking ones. Not sure why lol. I've realized it's what makes you happy is the key.

Me, too. I'm pretty sure it's because the pencil resists movement therefore slowing down the writing. The faster the pen moves over paper the worse my handwriting

 

[ajkel64]

I am the same, when using a ball point pen or pencil my handwriting is okay, when I use a fountain pen my handwriting to me is terrible. Much more practice is needed. I quite often write in capital letters these days so everyone can read what I am writing down.

 

[DougK]

I love writing implements of all kinds and I want to be the kind of writer who cranks out words with fountain pens and wooden pencils, but the truth is that I gravitate towards mechanical pencils with HB lead when it's time to GSD (get s*** done). My favorite is a Pentel Sharp Kerry 0.5mm, but I have a Zebra 0.7mm that's also quite lovely to use.

 

[Lazarus Long]

It's a challenge to find good quality pencils. I've only been able to find HB/#2, which are too hard. I prefer 2B.

The real tragedy is the extremely poor quality paper that is available today. On just about every new production paper I've tried, my fountain pen feathers/bleeds like a sharpie.

I recently went digging through some old college notebooks and found I have some spares. These were just whatever the cheap notebook paper was at the time, it is far higher quality than anything made now. No woolly lines or bleed through.

 

[steveclarkus]

I've been having a go at writing a novel, on and off. It stalled a few times due to life issues and health challenges, but recently I decided to give the ball another kick.

I'd written it all on a lap top, and reading it back to reorientate myself, I found the wording cold. It lacked passion and texture somewhat, and was a rather mechanical point to point navigation through the storyline, devoid of thoughtful prose. I didn't mind, as I can put flesh on the bones later. I'm just slamming down a first draft.

I'd also taken to leaving a notepad around, in case ideas or phrasing came to mind, when the laptop wasn't on. Fountain pens were tools of choice, as they so often are for my incidental scrawl, but yesterday I picked up a pencil instead, for no reason other than variety.

Four A4 pages happened. Not just notes, but a good hearty structure, with more feeling than had previously been typed. I hadn't realised how much fountain pens slowed me down. With the pencil, I could follow the train of thought, and the fingers could keep up. Throwing words down that quick with a fountain pen would skip, or smear as I made impromptu attonations along the way, in text that hadn't fully set.

There's something beneficial about the sharpening too. Rather than just pausing, and staring at a part filled page, whittling a point back on with my penknife, seemed to somehow keep the old grey cells jostling in the right direction.

I had to knock off after those four pages, to do some cross referral, and check my structure notes, but I was really impressed at how much more productive I felt with a humble wooden pencil, than a fountain pen or keyboard. I think I might be onto a new process. Maybe, I'll even catch a second wind with it as I shift format to get it on the laptop, and add in a little more colour along the way.

My handwriting, spoiled enough by being left handed, is better with a common pencil than any other writing instrument. I love wooden pencils. A pencil becomes an extension of you where a computer seems to stand between you and what you are writing. Unfortunately, a pencil has no spell check.