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Awriting implement orwriting instrument is an object used to producewriting. Writing consists of different figures, lines, and or forms. Most of these items can be also used for other functions such aspainting,drawing andtechnical drawing, but writing instruments generally have the ordinary requirement to create a smooth, controllableline.
Another writing implement employed by a smaller population is the stylus used in conjunction with theslate for punching out the dots inBraille.[1]
An autonomous writing implement is one that cannot "run out"—the only way to render it useless is to destroy it.
The oldest known examples were created by incising a flat surface with a rigid tool rather than applying pigment with a secondary object, e.g., Chinesejiaguwen carved into turtle shells. However, this may simply represent the relative durability of such artifacts rather than truly representing the evolution of techniques, as the meaningful application of pigment is attested in prehistoric cave paintings such as the ones atLascaux.
The ancientSumerians and their successor cultures, such as theBabylonians, produced theircuneiform writing by pressing a triangularstylus into soft clay tablets, creating characteristic wedge-shaped marks. The clay tablets were then baked to harden them and permanently preserve the marks.
Several other ancient cultures such asMycenaean Greece also inscribed their records into clay tablets but did not routinely bake them; much of theLinear B corpus fromMinoan Crete was accidentally preserved by a catastrophic fire which hard-baked those tablets. TheRomans usedleadstyli withwax tablets which could be "erased" by rubbing thebeeswax surface smooth again.
In the modern era,hand held computers and certain other computerinput devices use a stylus to enter information onto a screen by applying pressure rather than by depositing pigment.
Words and names are still commonly inscribed into commemorative objects, such as theengraved winners' names on thesilverStanley Cup or theGettysburg Address carved into the stone wall of theLincoln Memorial, but the requisite tools are not exclusively considered to be writing instruments.
The original form of "leadpencil" was theleaden stylus used by the ancient Romans, who also used it to write on wood or papyrus by leaving dark streaks where the soft metal rubbed off onto the surface.
The concept has been revived in recent times as the core of theinkless pen: a lead-based metal alloy that leaves dark markings on paper by abrading small pieces of core onto the surface.[2]
However, most modern "leadpencils" have a nonpoisonous core of greyish-blackgraphite mixed with various proportions ofclay for consistency, enclosed within an outer wooden casing to protect the fragile graphite from being snapped apart or from leaving marks on the user's hand.
Whitechalk has been traditionally used inschoolrooms to write on a mainblackboard at the front of the room. In the 19th century, and indeed well into the 20th century, when paper was less readily available, individual students also wrote with chalk on their own smallslates.
Both pencils and chalk exist in variants which can create marks in other colors, but colored pencils and colored chalk are generally considered to beart supplies rather than writing instruments. Similarly, although very young children may use colorful waxcrayons to write words into their pictures, writing is not considered to be the primary use of crayons.
Awax pencil resembles both a crayon and a pencil in that it contains a brightly colored wax core within a protective paper casing, but its proportions are closer to that of a standard pencil. Wax pencils are primarily used to write onto nonporous surfaces such asporcelain orglass.
Normal pencils, chalk, and crayons all share the characteristic that they cannot "run out". The useful life of these implements is closely linked to their physical existence. However, specialized accessories such aspencil sharpeners may be required to reshape the working end of the pigment core or to remove the outer casing from around the tip.
These require the presence of an added pigment in order to write, and are useless when "empty".
Thepen is the most common form of writing implement. It has a hard tip which applies ink to a surface.
Initially, pens were made by slicing a suitablenib point from the end of a thin, hollow natural material which could retain a small reservoir of ink bycapillary action. However, these ink reservoirs were relatively small, requiring the pen to be periodically dipped back into an externalinkwell for replenishing.
Reed pens were used by the ancient Egyptians to write onpapyrus.Quill pens were standard in Europe and the United States up through the 18th and 19th centuries, and are still used in various contexts, such ascalligraphy and formal settings such as majorbank transactions. The most common quills were taken from the wings ofgeese orravens, although the feathers ofswans andpeacocks were sometimes favored for prestige.
Adip pen has a steel nib (the pen proper) and a pen-holder. Dip pens are very versatile, as the pen-holder can accommodate a wide variety of nibs that are specialized for different purposes:copperplate writing, mapping pens, and five-pointed nibs for drawingmusic staves. They can be used with most types of ink, some of which are incompatible with other types of pen. Automatic pens are a category of dip pen, in which the nib is in two parts and can hold a larger quantity of ink. However, like all of its precursors, the steel-nibbed dip pens had a limited ink reservoir and a tendency to drip inkblots on the page.
The first modernfountain pens were developed in the 19th century, with functionally similar designs appearing as early as the 10th century. These consist of the nib unit, an ink reservoir chamber, and an external casing. The casing usually includes a cover for the nib, in order to protect its shape and keep the ink from evaporating dry or wicking into the user's pocket. Depending on the design of the pen, the ink reservoir can be filled in several different ways: direct addition by eyedropper, suction from an internal mechanism, or disposable pre-filled cartridges. Some cartridge-based fountain pens can be fitted with "converters", which are separate piston/suction reservoirs of the same dimensions as the pen's usual refill cartridge; these allow the pen to refill from bottled ink.
Only certain types of ink can be used in a fountain pen, to avoid clogging up the nib unit mechanism. Although the larger reservoir of fountain pens requires less frequent ink replenishment, the ink may inconveniently spill out in certain contexts to stain the paper, fingers, or clothing of an unwary writer. Differences in air pressure may cause the ink to leak when travelling by airplane.
A large number of new pen types were popularized in the 20th century. Some of them are not constructed to be refilled with ink after they run dry; although others can theoretically have their internal ink compartment replaced, the widespread custom is to simply throw away the entire pen when its ink is no longer accessible.
These types include theballpoint pen (often called abiro in many Commonwealth countries) and thefelt tip pen. Both of these have subtypes which are popularly called by their own specific names, usually based on the type of their ink, such as the fluorescenthighlighter, therollerball pen, and thegel pen.
Unlike the construction of a traditional wooden pencil around a solid graphite core, amechanical pencil feeds a small, mobile piece of graphite through its tip. An internal mechanism controls the position of the graphite by friction, so that although it remains steady while writing, the graphite can be advanced forward to compensate for gradual wear or retracted to protect it when not in use. The graphite in mechanical pencils is typically much narrower than in wooden pencils, frequently in sub-millimeter diameters. This makes them particularly useful for fine diagrams or small handwriting, although different sizes of refill leads cannot be interchanged in the same pencil unless it has been specially designed for that purpose.
Although in Western civilization writing is usually done with some form ofpencil orpen, other cultures have used other instruments.Chinese characters are traditionally written with abrush, which is perceived as lending itself to a graceful, flowing stroke.
A brush differs from a pen in that instead of a rigid nib, the brush is tipped with soft bristles. The bristles are gently swept across the paper with just enough pressure to allow ink to wick onto the surface, rather than mashing down the brush to the extent of substantial friction resistance. Although pens with semi-flexible nibs and liquid ink can also vary their stroke width depending on the degree of applied pressure, their variation range is far less obvious.
Traditionally, brushes have been loaded with ink by dipping the bristles into an external pool of ink on aninkstone, analogous to a traditional dip pen with an inkwell. Some companies now make "brush pens" which in that regard resemble a fountain pen, with an internal ink reservoir built into the handle which can be refilled with preloaded cartridges or a bottle-fill converter.
Other implements indirectly associated with writing includeerasers for pen and pencil,pencil sharpeners,pencil extenders,inkwells,blotter paper, andrulers and relateddrawing instruments.Pounce pots were a precursor of blotting paper, being a dispenser for powdery material for drying the paper.Stencils can be used to create standardised letters, patterns or signatures. There are also pencil sharpeners that can exclusively be used with wooden pencils.
