Writing supplies

[J. S.]

Hi everybody-

I wanted to start a thread where people could talk about writing supplies that they like to use- pencils, pens, paper, etc. I just got my first fountain pen and am having a great time writing with it. Usually, I use Uniball pens and Blackwing pencils. 

[B.]

Nothing specific, but for some reason, I only ever write in blue biro. This has been going on since I was about 17.

[Esmé's meme is meh]

Did you know that the inventor of the ballpoint pen was Argentinian?

[B.]

Jan 31, 2022 8:03:09 GMT -5 Esmé's meme is meh said:

Did you know that the inventor of the ballpoint pen was Argentinian?

Another reason to love Argentina

[Michelle Denouement]

Pilot G2 0.7 mm are my favorite pens.

[bear]

i've always used pencils because i love to erase. for creative writing, i always used to write on the computer. but looking at a screen has increasingly given me headache, so last year i changed to writing in a composition book that i bought at the supermarket for 75 cents.

[Skelly Craig]

I could talk for a bit about this topic because I was recently researching different inks and fountain pens. I have a great Rotring ArtPen that I've used since my mid-teens. It's fantastic for drawing and writing, but I've started to become concerned with permanence. Traditionally all ink fades over time; The exceptions are generally India ink or acrylic ink, which are lightfast, but you can't put that in a fountain pen. However, there are some specially made fountain pens that claim to be able to do so (haven't tried yet), and there's Rapidographs (not like a fountain pens and messy). There's also carbon ink which I think is used in Pentel Pocker Brush Pens, and I love the one I have (ink is very water-resistant, near waterproof, nice black... and it's an ink brush on the go!). I also use traditional nibs and brushes with India ink (drawing, not writing).

I also like a ballpoint pen (both for writing and occasional drawing), especially those with nicer thicker refills (not gel pens). I only use pencils for writing when there's nothing else (don't like the light shade of HB pencils and softer pencils tend to smudge).

I use whatever paper I have at hand, and to be honest, the cheaper the better - both for writing and quick sketching. Fancy expensive paper gives me writer's/artist's block more often than not, especially on the go.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I personally like notebooks with no handles. The lines block me because I remember school days, and they make me follow patterns that I don't want to have to think about as I write. When I write letters I like to use erasable pens, an invention I discovered last year, and I bought several of them online. (And yes, I still write letters, and I prefer to write them in my handwriting.) For work notes, I always use the notebook without a handle I described and the cheapest ballpoint pen I have available. That's because I have a bad habit of losing pens at work.

Creative writing comes along at any time (usually at work) so my work notebook is full of rough drafts of ideas so I can organize them later on the computer.

[Glittery666]

For creative writing I use a computer and for note taking and journaling I use pens or mechanical pencils. I've also tried calligraphy pens and quill pens,
which are really cool.
PS:The inventor of the ballpoint pen was Hungarian.

[Violent BUN Fortuna]

Technically the ballpoint pen was invented by an American; his version just wasn't very successful because it worked on rough surfaces like wood & leather, but not on paper. The man who created the first commercially successful ballpoint pen was both Hungarian and Argentinian.

From wikipedia: 'László József Bíró [...] was a Hungarian-Argentine inventor who patented the first commercially successful modern ballpoint pen. The first ballpoint pen had been invented roughly 50 years earlier by John J. Loud, but it was not a commercial success.'

[MisterM]

Hands help

[Esmé's meme is meh]

Nothing better than being Argentinian by choice

[Pumpka]

I used to like using a fountain pen, but I don't do stuff so I haven't really used one since I finished university. I used to hold it sideways/the wrong way round, because then the line was thinner which was better for my tiny handwriting. I always had ink on my fingers though.