Preferred writing utensil?

Started by starseed galaxy auticorn March 16th, 2016 3:26 PM
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starseed galaxy auticorn

PC's Resident Auticorn

Age 34
she/he/they
the land of magical unicorns
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Posted 1 Week Ago
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18.9 Years
Note to mods: This is for writing IN GENERAL, not for story writing.

So, what do you prefer? Pen or pencil? Do you have a certain one you write with for certain things? Or do you prefer one or the other for really anything?

For me, I prefer pencils all the way. The reason being that I make a muk ton of errors and typos when I write things. Pens always end up frustrating me because of that reason alone. However, if it's for a quick note or writing on the calendar, I will use a pen. I just don't like them when I'm having to write a long period of time. >< Yes, I know what white-out is too

What about you?

Arylett Charnoa

No one in particular.

Age 31
Female
Seen January 5th, 2023
Posted October 18th, 2017
1,130 posts
9.3 Years
I'm basically the exact same way.

Pencil for more long term use. The ability to remove errors is immensely valued. And I'm more comfortable with it in general because I sketch a lot for art. More specifically though, mechanical pencils because they are reusable and don't need to be sharpened. However, I prefer pens for quick things. Like writing an appointment date or something. Just because it's easier to see and there aren't many mistakes to be made there. I like being able to see these sorts of things from a distance and the boldness of a pen cannot be beaten by a pencil. I especially like space pens, because you can use them to write any time without having to worry about that ink backing up issue that is really annoying. You just pick it up and write! Simplifies the whole "need this pen to write something real quick" thing.

Charlie Brown

coolcoolcool

Age 28
Male
Melbourne, Australia
Seen December 22nd, 2019
Posted December 22nd, 2019
4,239 posts
11.1 Years
Pens of course. Easy to use and look ace as well. Crayons are pretty good as well for signing those important documents.

Jessie

Don't forget to be awesome.

Age 31
Female
Sinnoh
Seen June 29th, 2020
Posted December 17th, 2018
1,038 posts
15.5 Years
For most things I use a pencil, and it's always the Bic mechanical pencils with the grips. They have great erasers. {XD}

I do have this one green pen that's fine tipped and I'll use that every now and then, but I hate using white-out or scribbling out a mistake. I'd much rather just erase it.
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Seen July 29th, 2017
Posted July 4th, 2017
310 posts
10.5 Years
I'll take whatever I have available, but if I have an option I'll take a (preferably mechanical) pencil over a pen. I make a ton of mistakes when I write. Even without syntax errors, my handwriting is still chicken scratch, so I have to change letters just for legibility sometimes (my lowercase r's sometimes look more like v's, for instance). That changes a lot for more specific kinds of writing though. Like for hand lettering and typography I usually sketch out the letters in pencil and go over them with a micron pen.

starseed galaxy auticorn

PC's Resident Auticorn

Age 34
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the land of magical unicorns
Seen 1 Day Ago
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18.9 Years
I'll take whatever I have available, but if I have an option I'll take a (preferably mechanical) pencil over a pen. I make a ton of mistakes when I write. Even without syntax errors, my handwriting is still chicken scratch, so I have to change letters just for legibility sometimes (my lowercase r's sometimes look more like v's, for instance).
This is how I am. My 2's actually like look mirrored 6's. I do take whatever is available, but as you said, I prefer a mechanical pencil. I use them literally all the time. I also have to use pencil grips because I grip my pencils with so much force and also write with force. Without the grips, I would get a wicked cramp in my hand/wrist/fingers. :c The pencil grips somehow take the pressure off and make writing a little less painful for me.

For most things I use a pencil, and it's always the Bic mechanical pencils with the grips. They have great erasers. {XD
Bic is my go-to mechanical pencil. I bought a whole pack of them at Staples, but they don't have grips. So, I found an older one that was broken that had a grip on it and stole it's grip for the pack I got of them. Bic are the best kind for me. I also use 0.9 lead as well because again... I grip hard and write with a lot of force. I can't really help it. It's like some sort of odd impulsive I have or something. For pens though, I'll use basically anything as long as it's not papermate ones. They are far too cheap to me, and maybe I just have bad luck with them but... they always run out on me after writing a few words. ><

Here are some of my favorite pens/pencil:

Spoiler:


The first one: Again, as I said above... this is a Bic pencil with a thick, clear, glittery pencil grip (from another Bic one that had a grip, but it was broken). I have others like this as well. It's a 0.9 one, and I adore Bic for their mechanical pencils because I use them constantly!

Second one: This one is neat because it's made from recycled materials like plastic bottles. I have ones in blue, black and red too. I got them years ago at Walgreen's during the back to school sales. I don't use them much, but I just thought it was neat they were made from recycled materials. You don't see that everyday! This one is a Pilot pen, which in my opinion is a pretty good brand.

Third one: I LOVE LOVE LOVE these. I use these more for my VAs when they sign my autograph books. They are so fluid-like and come out extremely smooth and such. They are called Uni-ball. I seriously adore them. They hardly ever run dry halfway through writing things. I like having a bunch of these because of how smooth the ink is when you write!

Again, I'll use anything that's available in most cases. However, there's always the case where the pen I've grabbed has died. So, it's often frustrating to find one that actually works. There are ton of the lying around, and they die because they lose the caps and get really old I think.

Luckily, I take pretty good care of my pens/pencils in a Death Note pouch. :3 Well, at least I have been recently. XD I figure if I keep them in this pouch that I'll know where exactly they are. So, if I need one of them... I can just access them in my little pencil bag. ^^ To Death Note fans who ask: I got the pouch at Saboten, my anime convention. Unfortunately, it was a long time ago though. I'm not sure it can be found again sorry.

Sylphiel

Between your fantasy and my reality
Seen March 28th, 2023
Posted January 9th, 2023
13,114 posts
18.5 Years
Pens all the way. Pencils are for drawing. :P But no, I actually keep around a small collection of pens of various colors for the sole purpose of writing things down. Color picked is whatever I feel like at the moment, and yeah I do make plenty of mistakes with the pens, but I'm usually jotting things down to remind myself later so I don't care about how neat things end up being.

Bay

She/They
Dani California
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Posted 4 Days Ago
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17 Years
Pens for me as it feels more nice to me. Unless I'm writing an essay for school, I don't like how with pencils the writing would fade overtime. I tend to make mistakes too and cross out things, but a lot of times that's when I'm writing something else like a list.
Miles Edgeworth
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Her

Age 29
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Posted 4 Days Ago
literally who writes anything nowadays

if I'm using a pen or pencil for something, it's to sign my signature or write a quick note for someone to read
anything & everything else is left to more advanced technology

Nolafus

Aspiring something

Age 27
Male
Lost in thought... again
Seen March 3rd, 2018
Posted March 11th, 2017
5,722 posts
10.9 Years
I love mechanical pencils. They're always sharp and really easy to write with. You can erase things easily, and the only con is that pencil fades over time. I tend to do a lot of writing, since I'm handwriting my next novel attempt, and I always reach for one of my mechanical pencils.
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Palamon

Silence is Purple.

Age 26
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14.3 Years
I was gonna be facetious and give a really terrifying answer, but decided against it. Anyway, I use pens usually, as a writing utensil. Pencils, if I'm feeling lucky and wanna make more mistakes.

gimmepie

Age 27
Male
Australia
Seen 10 Hours Ago
Posted 13 Hours Ago
24,970 posts
11.1 Years
I have terrible fine motor control that results in terrible, terrible handwriting. So I prefer to type over write by hand whenever I can get away with it.
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Brendino

The Ruins of Alph
Seen 5 Days Ago
Posted April 6th, 2023
8,567 posts
13.5 Years
I think I've got maybe one or two pencils in my entire house, haha.

Pretty much since middle school, I've preferred pens over pencils if I'm writing anything. And if I get the choice, a nice black, gel based pen is my go to writing utensil. Though, I actually have an erasable pen at work that's really good, and I'm always surprised at how well it erases.

Fannie

Don't let my milk go lumpy

Age 31
Female
UK
Seen December 31st, 2016
Posted May 14th, 2016
552 posts
7.5 Years
My handwriting looks awful if I use anything other than a pencil. Work is the only place I have to write anything anymore and colleagues sometimes have a hard time reading it because it'll be in biro.
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Toweleeeie

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Seen April 4th, 2016
Posted March 21st, 2016
5 posts
7.2 Years
I guess I prefer pens > pencils... But I think what's worth more adding is that ever since 9th grade I have only used Zebra F-301 pens (and pencils, M-301). Just something I love about writing with them. Any other Zebra fans out there?? haha

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I always hear a lot of good about the Zebra brand, but I've never liked the pens that I've used from them. Looking at my giant cup of pens, I apparently prefer BIC. Although, that's what we mostly use in my workplace and I have a terrible habit of stealing everyone's pens.

Pens just look better when used compared to pencils. They flow better, even when they leak and I wind up with smudged ink on my hands. Also, I don't often make a mistake while writing, so I don't need an eraser.

And my handwriting looks horrible no matter what I use.

an illegible mess.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

he/him
buffalo, ny.
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted 3 Weeks Ago
592 posts
11.7 Years
i use pens a lot more than i do pencils. i'm very picky with pens... i like a lot of the expensive ones that write really smoothly lol.

if i do use pencils, i usually use mechanical pencils. i find it annoying to constantly sharpen regular number 2 pencils.
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いかないで

Age 27
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Seen June 17th, 2020
Posted November 19th, 2019
274 posts
7.3 Years
One of those sparkly bic mechanical pencils, or a fountain pen if I'm feeling fancy.

NightKrow

staying up all night

Age 25
Female
The Land of Tea
Seen March 1st, 2018
Posted December 17th, 2017
838 posts
7.3 Years
Given the choice, I would always take pen over pencil for writing, as long as the pen works okay. Pens that only work half the time are the worst DX.

I only ever use pencils for drawing. Some people in my Maths class use pens for drawing graphs in lessons, but I think they're a bit silly for doing that. When it comes to pencils, though, I do prefer the mechanical ones. I do get through them quite quickly sometimes though because I sometimes apply a bit too much pressure when using them :/

The pen I have in front of me right now is a Zebra pen. I like them, but I sometimes find they run out a bit quickly when I use them at school. I use Stabilo coloured pens for my notes too.