Taking notes in a lecture setting, writing poetry on your back porch, and writing thank you letters to guests at your bridal shower are three very different writing occasions, each benefiting from different pen choices. Notice if your hand becomes sore after writing or if you have ink smudges on your hand or sleeves. Pay attention to your handwriting over the next few days. If you hold your pen in a nonstandard way, like between your pointer and middle fingers while resting your hand on the paper, a rollerball pen may leave you with an inky mess.Īnd, of course, if you are a lefty, you know that ink, smudge, and drip are your worst enemies! How you hold your pen will determine almost immediately what pens will and will not offer a pleasurable writing experience.įor those that are heavy-handed, holding the pen traditionally but angling the pen nearly perpendicular to the paper, a super fine-line felt tip pen will expire quickly and provide a scratchy, jagged drag.įor those that are delicate with their pens, flourishing their letters with an angled barrel and gentle pressure, a ballpoint pen may barely make a mark on your paper. The best pens for writing by hand cover a wide variety of types, and what works well for you always varies by person however, your selection can be narrowed down to find the perfect one for you by a few specific differentiators.
So how can you find the best pens for you without trying every single one? We borrow someone’s felt-tip and marvel at the inky beauty of its performance. We come across a rollerball that glides effortlessly across the page. This is usually the case when we discover there is a world beyond cheap, disposable pens or those with our dentist’s name monogrammed across the barrel. (Plus, writing by hand actually makes your notes more effective and helps you remember more of what you write down.)Ĭhoosing the best pen sometimes happens by accident. And why shouldn’t you have the very best pens for writing by hand? Handwriting can be a pleasure when you have the right tool for the job. If you need to do some fine precision writing, such as signing your name, you may want to look elsewhere.There comes a time when picking up a pack of cheap pens no longer satisfies our desire for an exemplary writing experience.Įven in the age of taking notes on tablets and rarely needing to sign anything beyond a screen, we all still need pens. The watery ink in a felt tip pen has a tendency to run and bleed on thinner paper types.
Felt tip pens may not be your go-to choice for a writing utensil, but they can come in handy if you're writing on an unusual surface or jotting down something you want to make sure will be seen.The conical shape of the tip allows the writer to form thin lines using the point, or bold, tapering strokes by brushing with one side.
Their tips come in a couple different sizes, the thinnest of which is best suited for most writing tasks, while thicker tips are often used for art, construction and crafting projects where large, bold, legible writing is a necessity. They make use of a spongy fabric tip to deliver dark (and usually permanent) ink that sets into the paper very quickly. Felt tip pens ride the line between traditional ink pens and markers.