Pencils, hands down. I guess I should get more specific because I really do actually hate those mass produced #2 pencils with the hard lead. You don't get a good line out of them - they drive me nuts. So soft lead pencils were my heroes - even more so when I found a really awesome pencil sharpener and then they would be nice and pointy and last for a while.
Then sometime during my high school career I discovered the joy of mechanical pencils. Not those little flimsy ones that have lead that breaks all the time and you have to buy a new pencil every month or so. No, these are Techniclick pencils. Though they're a little thicker than a normal pencil, I got used to them fast and now they're my best friends. Good erasing capability, soft lead (either .5 or .7 works), and they're hard to break. Heck, even the lead is hard to break - even when dropped. I've dropped these pencils several times but can only remember maybe 5 instances of the lead breaking. They rock my socks.
So why pencils? Easy. Well, for me anyway. Until rather recently (which will be explained in a moment), I found that if I sat down at a computer to write a serious piece (things like this don't count) my mind goes blank. I can't think of anything. I don't think my muse likes electronics. And pens? Good gravy - you can't erase with one of those things unless you get an erasable pen and those are just icky. There are one or two pens I like, but still, I won't write with them unless I have to (i.e. I can't find a pencil...dammit). Besides, my favorite pen is reserved for drawing maps. Pencil first, of course. But lovely black ink later. Besides, I love the texture of pencils; the
smooth feeling of the pencil sliding over the paper. I'm the one making the symbols that ultimately make up my story. If people say that typewriters make them feel more connected to their writing, then the pencil is the ultimate way to do so. Besides, I always get excited when I hear things like how J.K. Rowling wrote longhand.
The exception I mentioned earlier was this summer when I woke up one morning at somewhere before 10am and laid in bed until 11, my mind just running through the longest thought ever and I realized I had to put it down somewhere - I couldn't let it get away, as ridiculous as it was. So I got up and for 3-4 days straight (with breaks of course) I wrote everything possible on the computer. I think my muse had hit me so hard she allowed me to work on the computer without any real difficulty. Naturally I plan to rewrite it, longhand of course, and fill in details (which is what it needs the most). But either way, it all comes back to a piece of lead...or rather graphite .
Additional Note: Am I the only one not afraid of blogging? After looking around at the others I see everyone writing in Word. Do they fear the outside world looking in? Hahaha. Well, to each his own. When it comes to my thoughts, I will admit I like a computer over pencil and paper - there's no need for my muse here because things are more train of thought and the computer allows me to put them down much quicker.
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