Mightier Than The Sword

I love pencils. The smell of them. Their smooth roughness. The way you can really see when one's been working hard, because a stub is all that's left of it.
 
When i sit down to write i usually write in pencil first. A pencil makes me feel creative. A pencil gets my mind rolling and wandering. I can doodle in pencil. I can draw in pencil. I can scribble and scratch and sketch in pencil.

And it's not about the flexibility – i don't user erasers. There's nothing more gratifying than seeing a pencil-filled page with scratched out lines and circled lines and lines with arrows directing them to a different paragraph. It's the mark of a job well done.

I love pencils so much, even my name is darylhb!

Some of the wisest advice i've ever heard is that if you want to have a day of rest, do only what you love and nothing that riles you up.

I love writing, but the minute i switch a laptop on, my mind shifts to work mode. Pens induce exam stress. But pencils. Pencils get me in touch with my inner child. My alter artiste. My hidden bard.

And a sharp-pointed pencil is the clearest metaphor for the power and frailty of words.