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By Jackie Damrau, 2nd VP
My purple pen means a lot to me. I use purple because as I get older, it is harder to distinguish between black and blue. My purple pen adds color to the page and allows me to see the edits more easily. It helps add color to an otherwise drab black-and-white day of printed documentation.
A recent article in the September 2002 issue of the ASTD T+D magazine cites a study by Pilot, one of the largest pen manufacturers in the world. This study relates that to find a good employee, look at the color of pen that is kept on the desk. Pilot says that "85% of people who write with purple pens say their bosses are completely satisfied with their work." Can any purple pen users attest to this? With the downsizing that the American workforce is experiencing, is it any wonder that the Pilot study says, "Only 12% of people who had six or more pens at their desks said they were looking for another job, compared to 21% of the overall workforce." Can this be true? I always have five writing instruments on my desk: a red pen, a purple pen, a mechanical 0.5HB pencil, a click eraser (it happens that erasing a large amount of information does occur when using the long-hand method), and a yellow hi-liter.
The Pilot study also offered three interesting statistics from its telephone survey of 645 random U.S. workers:
I used to use green, but was never satisfied with the longevity of green pens. They seemed to dry up too quickly. Then we have the ill-fated red pen. Have you noticed any difference between one red pen and another red pen? A difference does exist in the type of ink that the pen manufacturers use.
Why am I talking about pens? As a technical communicator, we don't all use a computer to write down our thoughts. Some of us older writers default to the trusty pen (or pencil, in some cases) to write our documentation in long-hand. The thought processes seem to flow as the hand is writing and the brain is thinking. It is harder for this old dog to learn the new trick of composing at the computer. The computer seems to remove the thought process flow as I try to ensure that I hit the right keys. When I write in long-hand, I can regroup my thoughts by striking out or erasing words and phrases that I know are wrong.
Writing is our profession. How do you write your documentation? Your novel? Do you use a red, green, blue, black, pink, gold, silver, or some other pen color? Do you use a ballpoint pen? A felt-tip pen? A gel pen? A fountain pen? Is it a fine-tip or medium-tip pen? Do you use a standard wooden pencil? A mechanical pencil? An architectural pencil? Is your pencil a standard #2 pencil, or do you use 0.5HB or 0.7HB lead in your mechanical pencil?
We all have a reason and a story for using our writing instrument of choice. What is your story? I invite you to share your story.
Source: "Pen Is Mightier…," ASTD T+D, September 2002, p. 17.