TIL I was overthinking my pen choice for drafting markups

Had a senior drafter at lunch last Tuesday show me he just uses a plain red Bic ballpoint for revisions and it clicked - I've been wasting time picking fancy micron pens when the markup clarity is what matters. Anyone else ever get humbled by a simple tool reveal?

3 comments

3 Comments

williamb2922d agoMost Upvoted

Red Bic gang for life, never going back.

juliashah22d ago

Oh man @williamb29, same here. I tried a black Bic once and it just felt wrong, like the ink flow was totally different. Red Bic pens are the only ones that write smooth for me, especially on those cheap notebook pages that feather everything else. I've got a whole stash in my bag just in case.

alice_hart22d ago

My desk drawer at home has at least forty red Bics in it right now. I'm almost embarrassed to say I've hoarded them for years because I'm convinced they'll discontinue the color someday. Then I'd be stuck using black or blue and probably fail at writing entirely. Honestly my handwriting is so bad that even the red ink can't save it, but at least it feels like I'm trying. The cheap paper feathering issue is real too, red ink somehow bonds better to those awful recycled notebooks. So yeah, I've accepted I'm a pen snob with a specific color addiction.