Pencil, from the Latin penicillus, meaning “little tail.” Little tail?
Not everyone writes even occasionally with the old fashioned yellow pencil with pink eraser top anymore. This astonishing fact came to my attention through a more newfangled way to communicate, the Facebook post. But the lowly pencil remains my writerly tool of choice. I use #2 lead, no doubt a holdover from my formative bubble-tests years. The lead isn’t really lead, either, but rather 
graphite mixed with clay; I’m okay with that.
I’m not exactly monogamous in my writing tool relationships. I write my novels (and everything else I write for publication, for that matter) primarily at a keyboard. When I journal I often use a pen, blue or black ink, I don’t much care. But there is nothing like the freedom of a pencil as I’m taking the muck that is first draft and trying to make something of it. Not quite right the first time? Erase and try again!
I keep a yellow Ticonderoga in a white marble pen holder my uncle gave me many, many years ago, so that I always have one handy. I carry them around by the ten-to-a-box in my backpack. I have an electric sharpener, and a tiny little manual one, and I sharpen far more often than I floss.
Still, I wear out the erasers long before I use up the pencil lead.
Like many a pencil-user before me, I struggle with the dilemma whether to toss a shot-eraser pencil or not. Such a waste of fine pencil lead (or graphite with clay, as the case may be), but the alternative is to be forever cringing at the scrape of eraserless metal pencil top over manuscript page.
Perhaps I erase with too much enthusiasm?
It turns out I’m in good company on the eraser-thing. Vladimir Nabokov, who wrote and rewrote everything in pencil, had this to say on the subject: “My pencils outlast their erasures.”
Great writers erase.
There is another downside to my pencil affection, or to my eraser addiction anyway: dirty pink pilly eraser detritus. On my manuscripts, my chair, my clothes, and sometimes even my dog. But I’m as okay with that as I am with the graphite and clay thing. All those pink pilly things filling up my world mean the writing is going well. That I’m open to change. That a few not-exactly-right words aren’t the end of anything, but rather the beginning of something else. – Meg
“…the beginning of something else.” Nice.
Mac Clayton recently posted..Golf Buddy
Great post, Meg. I only ever write on the keyboard these days.
I’m here for the blog hop – thanks for organizing it.
Helen Smith recently posted..She Writes – Blog Hop
I’m more a pen than a pencil person, but when I use a pencil (esp. for crosswords and other puzzles, or something I might want to erase) I definitely use #2. They’re the only way to go — either the mechanical or the old standard. (p.s. have you considered the non-pilling white magic erasers my engineer husband introduced me to? Less pilling AND keep your pencils in service longer!!
Julia recently posted..Borders: It’s Personal
Visiting from the blog hop. Love that you still use a pencil. I do as well when I journal or do “discovery writing.” For some reason it gives me more freedom, and my writing is less sloppy when I use a pencil.
Stacy Green recently posted..#Tempting Tuesday: Guest Post by Donna Galanti
Visiting from the bloggers ball. So funny. I used to be only able to write on a keyboard. Now I’ve started forcing myself to write in a notebook during my morning commute on the train and wherever I can get a bit of time just to try to fit it in. I do use pen though. May need to try it old school with the penil.
Thanks, everyone. Can you tell from this post that I’m in the editing stage?
A yellow pencil in a white marble pen holder is such an interesting visual
Shelley Workinger recently posted..Fortune or Fame? – BLOG HOP
Wish I could still just use a pencil. The last chapter of my book was actually written in pen because I ran out of typewriter ribbon! Lol! ; )
Sheri L. Swift recently posted..She Writes Bloggers Ball
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Love it. Both my son and I write everything longhand with pencils so we have a great # of pencils that have outlived their erasers. And those little erasers you can buy to stick on the end. They fall apart so easily. Lots of eraserless pencils in our drawers.
Robin McCormack recently posted..Sunday Salon: The blahs and row 80 check in
Hi, Meg. I’m here from the Blog Hop. I appreciate you organizing them.
I am mostly a pen person, but do enjoy editing with a pencil, contrary to the popular belief that all editors love using red pens.
Hi Meg. I’m visiting from the bloggers ball. Thanks for posting this.
You mean there is still such a thing as a “pencil?” Can you tell I do everything on the computer these days. However, I do remember starting a few stories with my pencil when I was too lazy to start up my computer. But that is very rare.
So glad to see I have so much great company!
Hi Meg,
Thank you for hosting another fabulous ball. Your hospitality is unparalleled.
Now as for that penicillus. . . . What’s a girl to do? It seems there is no way to completely avoid the phallic underwriting of the very act of writing.
I’m thankful for typing as an alternative, though I question what Freud would have to say about it all. ,)
Joanne Elizabeth Valin recently posted..Love Letter 2
I like my black Sharpie pens best for notes and first drafts of essays. But you have inspired me to give a nice sharp pencil another try. They are on sale everywhere this time a year too. By the way, I was at the public library yesterday and what should I see on the New in Fiction shelf but the “The Four Ms. Bradwells”. I checked it out and am looking forward to a good read. Thanks for hosting another great Blog Hop!
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