AIBU to write with a pencil instead of a pen?

[Goodybaddy]

I find writing with a pen difficult. I write neatly with a pencil but not a pen.

Is there an etiquette rule that says I can’t write cards etc with a pencil?

Problem with frixion pens is that you can't let whatever you write get hot or it disappears. I left a notebook in a hot car the other day and several pages are now blank!!

Fountain pens seem to have become a bit of a cult thing lately, with people collecting them.

I could never write neatly with one, and found them scratchy, probably because getting left handed nibs was difficult.

My favourite pen is the Bic Biro Crystal, in black or red (I am aware that it used to be the etiquette that using red ink in a letter was bad manners). The ink colour does make a difference, I guess it may be something to do with the different pigments used. I find a straight barrel more comfortable to hold, than a curved one, like the ubiquitous Parker pen that life insurance companies gave away when you signed up! My handwriting is fairly neat anyway, but it's even neater if I use a Bic.

There is more friction between the pencil and paper than between the pen and paper. Try writing using a fibre-tipped pen (like a Beryl School Handwriting pen).

If you have a bigger budget, you can get different ergonomically-designed pens; how the pen is weighted and slightly changing your grip can alter your pen-control and therefore the neatness of your writing. Go to a stationery shop and try out several to see what suits you.

Also, pencil is also more "forgiving" if you don't form your letters correctly, so if this is the case you'll notice this more when you use pen. The correct formations for left and right-handers will be online if you were never taught them or have forgotten.

Ooooh, I haven't used a fountain pen for about 40 years!!!

Of COURSE it's not 'the norm' to use one.

And writing in pencil is a bit odd, but as long as it's not official forms then why not?

Although, they do use pencils for voting forms... I wonder why???????

@Ravenblack I know the answer to pencils on voting forms (used to work for a council and knew a lot of people in Electoral Services). Apart from historical reasons, the reason I was given is that when the ballot paper is folded, there could be a risk that the ink could smudge and transfer a mark to another box, which would mean the ballot paper would be unintentionally spoiled and the vote not counted.

I think you'll find that hand-trimmed feather quills and ink you've made yourself are the norm actually.

Years ago when I did A levels and my degree I used to always take notes with a pencil, I also found it flowed better than a biro. Maybe try a fineliner if you want to use something else? DS seems to get on better with that sort of pen than any other. But I don't think there's any harm in writing cards with a pencil. As PP have said, though, don't fill in forms with one and I'd probably avoid writing envelopes in pencil if they're to be posted in case they smudge.

I love fountain pens - there are such lovely ones nowadays and amazing ink, however i’d never judge someone for using a pencil, or biro or maybe not even a stick dipped in mud.

Do what makes you happy. I bet people don’t notice.

I've recently switched to pencils as they are considered more eco-friendly than biros! No plastic :)

I like the stabilo handwriting pens and also the uniball air. Not fountains, and not biro either. We didn't get on with the Berol ones at all.

I recently bought myself a bamboo dip pen, to use in my art, and I fell in love with it. It glides across the paper. Only drawback is that you have to dip it after every couple of letters. Bargain at only £1.75!

I had to laugh at the assertion that fountain pens are "the norm" when writing cards. The only people I know who use them, are the arty types and hipsters on my social media channels.

Most of my friends use fountain pen in cards and aren't hipster, but I'm guessing most use their slightly worse for wear Vector/Jotter/Lamy Safari (although I know a lot of us were given a nice one for exams/18th/21st/graduation). We had to use fountain pen at school, and most of us have just carried on.

And no fancy inks, just blue or black Quink. Probably not as Insta-friendly.

Fountain pens are certainly not the norm. I love it when people make generalised ill-informed comments. 😂

Have you tried pens that are really similar to pencils like the finewriter or the ones that are like brush pens, or with the nib that's like almost like a tiny tiny felt tip (fineliner?).

My handwriting is much nicer in pencil too, OP.
I'd say for anything informal, use what you like!

There are no funnier posts on MN than the Hyacinths twisting their backs trying to get it “right”.

Fountain pen?! I demand all correspondence comes to me on quill and papyrus, and I “return to sender” anyone so infra dig as to use a biro.

For some reason all the RSVPs to my candlelight suppers are in pencil?

I love writing with a pencil and my handwriting looks its best.

I wouldn't write a card in pencil though.

Haven't used a fountain pen since it was compulsory at school. I like a gel pen.

I would definitely not mind you writing cards in pencil. I have a really soft one that makes my writing beautiful (and rubs off the kitchen calendar easily).

@TheChippendenSpook have a look on Cult Pens.

I use www.cultpens.com/i/q/PN05282/pentel-superb-ballpoint-pen-bk77-fine and really like them.

I'm an engineer and like a 0.7 HB pencil.

I would love to be the sort of person who always uses a vintage fountain pen or arty felt tip but I just find a biro so much easier to write with. Even a Bic.

I almost always use a (very sharp) pencil - trained in an accountancy firm where audit files could only be completed in pencil. I do find that the feedback from a fine fountain pen nib means my writing is nearly as good.

I love an ink pen but tend to use fine liners such as a Pilot as cartridge pens dry up too easily due to my lack of frequency. A thicker nib suits my writing as well as a bighter colour like blue or purple. Black isn't as neat for some reason. I hate biros, and it vexes me when DH calls any pen a biro, when he just needed a pen and not specifically a biro.

I wouldn't think anything of a card written in pencil. Pencils can smudge so aren't suitable for official documents or lengthy writing, but a card is fine.

Thank you QuestionableMouse I will definitely have a look

OP are you left handed? I am and find pencils much easier to write with.

Doesn’t matter what I write with. Any written communication I create looks like an epileptic ant has been stomped by a heard of elephants and the Grenadier Guards.
I got so sick of my my mother bitching about it I worked through a pack of cheap printer paper using big fat wax crayons and wrote one huge letter a sheet. It felt very cathartic if expensive to post.
Now I only write by printing as in typed on screen and then printed.

*A fountain pen would be the norm
*
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