Today is National Pencil Day, which got me to thinking about how my preferences in writing implements have changed over the years.
When I first joined RWA, I ordered something called The Prescription for Plotting by Carolyn Greene. (Unfortunately, I can’t find a working link to share here.) It was a 3-ring binder with lots of pre-printed forms, a mechanical pencil, and a Clic eraser. That’s when I came to truly appreciate a good mechanical pencil and learned that I will never ever ever again be without a Clic eraser.
Being an organic kind of writer (some people call us pantsers), I never did fill out all of the forms, although I did give it my best shot. The beauty of using a pencil was the ability to erase something that wasn’t working. Making notes in pencil makes plot point more fluid than writing in ink.
Pencils are for pantsers.
Two of my critique partners are organized writers (some people call them plotters). They fill out index cards by the thousands. Color coded. In ink. And the process works very well for them.
Pens are for plotters.
When I wrote in long-hand, I used a fountain pen. Then I switched to an Alphasmart. To a laptop computer. But sometimes, when I want to fill out those charts to try to get a handle on a plot point, a character, or just to “think on paper,” I use a pencil.
Do you prefer a pen or a pencil? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
