[rchowe]

When I was in school, I wondered why my hand hurt from writing so much. I switched to gel pens and my hand fatigue went way down.

We put up with a lot in the name of cost. The thin blue Bic pens are much cheaper, but when I have to use one I really hate it.

[LorenPechtel]

Yeah, gel pens are vastly superior to standard ball points.

However, the fundamental issue of not needing to write as much as we used to I believe is dominant. I have abandoned using cursive because it takes practice to keep it readable--and I simply don't write enough. I can type faster on a keyboard than I can write with a pen and what's in the computer is more useful--paper is only of value when you need to do something other than make letters. At this point most of my use of a pen is filling out forms.

[syntheweave]

I've been spending time drawing and invested in an angled desk surface(a Saiji portable floor desk) and I've found that when I use this surface, at the proper height, with the proper grip for inking(which is relatively relaxed and avoids contact with the bones of the knuckles), and using fineliner pens, I can write some fantastic cursive letters, despite not having practiced it in decades. I don't even remember all the letter forms.

So I think the story we face is one of gradual degradation of the average condition in which writing is done: the pens are part of it because ballpoints train you into a tighter grip with more pressure. But equally as important is that we've moved away from desks specifically for writing and drawing towards generic flat surfaces, so nobody realizes what they lose by not having such a surface or what kinds of compensations they are making. If you have the height and angle correct, a relaxed grip is easier and you can make more accurate marks from the shoulder, with decent control over swooping curves. It's the single easiest way to boost your draftsmanship and penmanship.

[usrn]

I really think ball point pens are the worst. Personally I like mechanical pencils but I would even prefer crayons. At least crayons work reliably.