I have a whole box of pencils. Most of them are sharpened. There are a few pens trown in for fun. I say there is an upside and a downside to being a writer. Upside: あなた always have pencils. Downnside: they seem to vanish right when あなた need one. I spent hours searching for one pencil only to wake up the 次 morning and remember where I put the pencilbox.
I prefer 書く with #2s. The graphite seems to flow better. My お気に入り is a Mirado Black Warrior. I call it the Mirado. That pencil has helped spawn my first novel.
Ticonderogas write well, but they feel too……impersonal. They don't channel...