Wednesday, February 4

Pens ’n Prose

Pens ’n Prose

I’m always looking for a new, better, kind of pen. Perhaps you’ve heard the quip about the writer who owns enough pens and journals to open their own stationery store. That’s me.

I’ve written about how I began my practice of writing all first drafts longhand as a way to defeat writer’s block. I’m not sure why this works for me, perhaps a different part of the brain is engaged while writing longhand versus typing? Or perhaps it’s simple association: I write my first drafts longhand therefore I feel more comfortable doing so.

As a result, I’m always looking for new and better pens! I’ve tried pricey pens (Montblanc, etc) but find them too heavy. After even 20 or 30 minutes of writing, my hand begins to cramp. Gel pens write well, but I’ve found—while they start off gloriously smooth—the ink jams while the cartridge is less than halfway used. (Grrrrr!)

After years of buying and using just about every kind of pen known to humankind, I’ve found one that is, unambiguously, hands down, my favorite:


I swear to you, I don’t have an affiliate deal with Bic! This is the smoothest writing, most comfortable pen I’ve ever used.

Now, I do realize my love affair with this particular Bic could be the result of some quirk of my temperament. Your taste in pens could be completely different. That said, if you’re at a stationary store, and you have the opportunity to try one out, I encourage you to. 

Well, that’s it for today! An oddly practical blog post, especially if you’re a scribbler, like me, who fills up her journals with rough drafts. (And, yes, this blog post began its life as scribblings in my journal.)

I’ll leave you with a link to something else practical, Joanna Penn’s excellent blog post: Productivity For Writers: 5 Ways To Become More Productive.

Good writing! I’ll see you on Friday.

Photo credit: Original picture: "Miss Omija writing time" by Raheel Shahid, CC BY 2.0.

5 comments:

  1. You might want to check out Rhonda Eudaly's blog. She's also a fiction writer, but once a week, she reviews a pen or pencil in good detail.

    Check out her most recent review of a red pen for editing:
    http://www.rhondaeudaly.com/2015/02/02/penpencil-review-pentel-vicuna-retractable-0-5mm-pen-red-ink/

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    1. Thanks for the link, Dan! Good review. I'll have to pick up a Pentel Vicuna and give it a try.

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  2. Hi Karen, I also LOVE the Bic Velocity pens. But I've noticed that the gel ink in them doesn't last very long. I don't write my entire books longhand, but do a lot of note-taking and have noticed that the Velocity pens only last a week or so. I wondered if it was because of the gel ink. Anyway, I use them occasionally, but have gone back to the good ol' cheap Bic "stick" pens that I used waaaay back when I was a teenager. :-)

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    1. Yes, I've noticed that as well. The Bic Velocity pens don't last very long, a definite minus. The cheap pens last a long time and are dirt cheap. Hard to beat!

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  3. I do most of my work on the computer (I used to work as a production typist, and I can type FAST) but when I want to write things out in longhand for an extended time I get cramps.

    I like the PenAgain, which I can grip in a natural manner for extended periods without soreness. It does look kind of odd.

    http://penagain.net

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