Writing utensils.

[Kugetsu]

Heh, I have a huge smudging problem and I'm right-handed (for writing at least). I always have words imprinted on my hand and wrist afer I'm done writing a large paper. Probably because the way I hold a pencil is unusual, I guess (and hence terrible hand-writing. >_>)

[Kuri]

I like black pens. Unless I'm working in math or something where I make a lot of mistakes, then mechanical pencils.

[Combusken BG]

When need to write something on paper I use a black pen.

[mazil]

Blue blue blue! (pen)

I have a strange aversion to using black pens. I think I've just always used blue pens at school, and when I write with black it always seems to me that it looks messier... or something :| Maybe it's as shapu says, about the black looking more like a photocopy. Or maybe I'm just strange!

[Cerise]

Black pens. I write a lot, and theres nothing worse than looking through an old notebook only to find the pencil near faded. Blue pens dont look as efficient and easy to read as black to me either, and since it bothers me beyond belief to have a notebook done in different colors, I stick to black.

[Cassi]

Mainly cheap blue biro. Sometimes I get bored and switch to black for a while, but it seems a bit too harsh to me.

[Alex]

Normally I write in blue or black, whatever's around.

I use mechanical pencils a lot of the time, although I do sudoku in normal pencils, go figure.

[Xandra]

Oh, and I draw with different drawing pencils- aka the wide range of 9H to 6B. Because it's unbelievably annoying to have to draw with a pen.

[Rachel]

GREEN PENS FTW!

[Tymaporer]

In order of least favorite to favorite:

Mechanical pencil - I hate those things. They run out of lead faster than a regular pencil dulls (which is really saying something.) A lot of times, after I've used it a few times, it won't write anymore. The point comes out, but then it pushes back in when I put it to the paper. And a lot of the time, the eraser is where you push to get the point, so erasing uses up twenty times more lead than writing.

Pencil - Where should I begin? It gets dull so quickly, and it fades within weeks, so when I take notes with a pencil (which is what I usually use when I take notes), I can barely read it by the time I need it. The point can break off easily. It may be eraseable, but it's really hard to erase well (I much prefer white-out), and I don't know about other people, but with me, the eraser runs out before I've sharpened the pencil three times, and then I can't use it, and it's such a waste. (Those ones you put on the end are terrible for many reasons, and I don't like using erasers that aren't on the end of the pencil I'm using.)

Red pen - I'm not a big fan of the color red in the first place. And when I use a red pen, it looks like I'm correcting a test that has all the wrong answers (I also hate when teachers use red.)

Other pen - You mean other colors? Some of them are pretty.

Blue pen - Blue pens are good. Nothing much wrong with them. I just prefer black. It's weird seeing a lot of it in the same place, like something written in blue pen. I just prefer black. (I usually can't use blue to write with anyway, because they insist on using different colors to correct, and since I hate red, I use blue.)

Black pen - Black pen is the best writing utensil around (well, for me.) Pens don't fade (some kinds do smudge a little sometimes, but I don't mind smudging nearly as much as fading, because it remains legible.) Pens may not be eraseable, but as I just said, I like white-out. And I guess I just like it a whole lot.

Other - Word processor, anyone? Computers are my favorite way to write, especially for anything longer than a sentence. They don't hurt my hand, they don't make a mess, they're easy to erase (and I can move stuff around and insert more stuff too; space is not an issue), and they don't need to be sharpened or anything.

[Yoshi]

There's a way to write lefthanded without smudging - point the pen down and backwards (point back towards your wrist and elbow), rather than top of pen pointed back towards your wrist. It's hard to describe, but it's how my mother writes.

Hm, I think I know what you're talking about. It's a little too late for that now, after writing the way I have for all these years. Seems a little uncomfortable too, but to each their own.

[shapu]

There's a way to write lefthanded without smudging - point the pen down and backwards (point back towards your wrist and elbow), rather than top of pen pointed back towards your wrist. It's hard to describe, but it's how my mother writes.

Hm, I think I know what you're talking about. It's a little too late for that now, after writing the way I have for all these years. Seems a little uncomfortable too, but to each their own.

It's a bit of exercise, I'll grant you that. I do it every so often just to see if I can (righty, though). It takes some getting used to, but that's what you get for being evil. I mean, lefthanded.

Random fact: The word "sinister" comes from the latin word for left, because it used to be believed that lefthanded people were in fact quite evil. Now we know better, of course.

Or DO we? Dun-dun-DUUNNNNNNN!!

[May]

I normally write with black pens. I find that blue pens never write as smooth as black ones. When it comes to pencils, I've gone back to my childhood and am using regular pencils. Mechanical pencils are too small and break too easily these days. I only really use them when I have to write something small for my music theory classes.

[Twizzler0171]

I do like to use mechanical pencils. My major problem with them is that I never have them and the lead runs out, or I use up the eraser and can't use it/change the lead. For some reason, I run out of eraser faster with mechanical pencils than I do with regular pencils, lol. However, I do think they make my writing the neatest, as well as keeping it pretty much the same size.

Otherwise, I usually use a regular pencil. But it makes my writing uneven as the lead goes from sharp to dull, so half of my papers will usually be really neat while the other half is sloppy. Most of the time, I don't really use the eraser all that much and I refuse to change a pencil (unless I lose it, of course) until the eraser is gone. Also, I'm really picky on the types of eraser it has -- I've figured out textures that work better and don't smudge the lead and if it doesn't have the right texture, I'll usually refuse to use the pencil. Or I'll put on one of the erasers that attach to the back of the pencil (I don't like the ones that are separate from it). Despite this, however, it is the writing utensil that I most commonly use.

As for pens... Blue and Black are both usually used for correcting, if I even have one with me. I don't like to write with them for some reason -- maybe it's the feel of it against my fingers? (I doubt it, though -- it's the pencils that have given me writer's callous, I believe...) I also tend to smudge them a lot, and if I make a mistake I can't get rid of it because I never have white-out with me and I don't like having to borrow it. And I don't like red pens because teachers use it for grading and so I guess I've marked it as a "Teacher pen" or something. Oh! I do like gel pens however. And I've been meaning to get a purple pen of any sort just for my own amusement, hehe.

Other? Umm. Word processing. I type quickly so I can get the assignment done fairly fast, mistakes are easy to correct and I don't have to worry about running out of room or having to squeeze in a word I forgot to use previously. Oddly enough, I rarely use it for my assignments. Hmm.

[Pink]

I like mechanical pencils. It gives me a nice, smooth, thin line and it's erasable. It looks clean and is necessary for a lot of documentation in our school.