Pencilmania

Suquamish, WA - 9 Oct 2022

     Yesterday I got a letter from a friend who has fallen victim to the cult of writing in pencil. Now I should mention that I have written in pencil as a preferred medium ever since grade school in the early sixties. Even when we were taught to use a pen, I preferred the pencil. But the cult, that is quite another thing.
     So I should clarify. It wasn’t actually a letter, it was a hand crafted postcard. On the front was a nice photograph of my friend’s preferred styli lined up horizontally like a barrier fence. On the reverse side he wrote his note to me in pencil. There was enough information there that it was for all intents and purposes a letter. He mentioned that he had settled on a much smaller list of preferred pencils and will be limiting his collection to a few makes/models. The rest he will write through or give away.
     The cult of anything, whether it be fountain pens, inks, pencils or typewriters can be alluring and it is easy to start accumulating a mammoth stockpile of instruments. I was happy to learn that he found a way out and is returning home. Of course, he is still writing with a pencil - that’s okay - but he no longer requires a warehouse to store his amassed collection of wooden writing utensils. This got me thinking about my own preference to pencils and how I nearly fell into the same cultist trap he did.
     I like to write. I am not very good at it, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Because of that I tend to do research on various writers and how they do what they do and what they use to make it work for them. That’s when I learned about John Steinbeck and his ritual of having a dozen sharpened Blackwing pencils at the ready. He would take a fresh pencil from one container and commence to writing. When the pencil was too dull for him to use, he placed it point end down in an adjacent container. He continued this process until all the pencils were expended. That’s where he stopped writing. The pencils were then sharpened and returned point end up to the original container and the writing session ended.
     I got the bright idea to give this a shot and went to get me some Blackwing pencils only to discover the company went out of business. There were some available online and could be got at a ridiculous price for those who wanted to do the same thing. This reminds me of the Hermes 3000 cult of typists. Anyway, I learned that the Palomino company began to manufacture pencils of a similar composition. The wood is incense cedar which is the best material because of its sustainability, softness for sharpening and, for me, that great pencil aroma. The graphite is of a different sort in that it is mixed with wax rather than clay. This allows for a darker line, smoother writing experience demanding less pressure leading to faster writing. They are manufactured by the same company and deliver a nice writing experience. Best of all, they have the great aroma of incense cedar.
     Other alternatives that don’t use cedar, but have similar properties are Mitsubishi 9800/9850 pencils which are essentially the same thing except they are of different colors and one has an eraser and the other doesn’t. I don’t use an eraser so go with the less expensive 9800. The Tombow mono is another less expensive choice with a similar feel to the Blackwing. I find them a little harder to find and sort of expensive. Remember, I am frugal. The ForestChoice and Mitsubishi pencils run about 50 cents each which is a reasonable price for a high quality writing instrument.
     To wrap this up and make some sort of point to all of this is that one doesn”t have to join a cult to be a pencil twirling nerd like my friend or me. Do some research and see what works best for you. Incidentally, I am much happier drinking a nice glass of three buck Chuck any night of the week.