"The Best Pencil in the World" -Joseph Finder

I’m often asked how I write — do I use a computer, when do I write, do I have an office, and so on. These are natural questions, actually, since they concern the mysterious alchemy of the creative process. And truth is, most writers I know ask each other the same sorts of questions.

Of course I wrote on a computer (a Mac, naturally — a G5 tower with an immense flat-screen monitor, and a Macbook Air at home). But it surprises a lot of people to hear that certain scenes (the more meditative ones) I write with a pencil. And I almost always edit pages, in hard copy, with a pencil.

So the right pencil is important to me. Years ago, at a stationery store in Harvard Square called Bob Slate’s, I discovered the best pencil ever. It was called the Blackwing 602, made by Eberhard Faber. It was perfectly designed, hexagonal so it wouldn’t roll off your desk, with lead that was creamy soft but not too soft. A great oblong eraser you could pull out to extend its use. Its embossed motto: “Half the pressure, twice the speed.” (Who wouldn’t want half the pressure and twice the speed?) In a world of yellow pencils it was silvery gray. Several times a year I’d stop into Bob Slate’s to buy a box.

Turned out there was a whole underground fraternity of Blackwing-obsessives. Stephen Sondheim told the New York Times he’d use nothing else: “They wear down quickly, so I feel like I’m getting a lot done.” Writers like Thomas Wolfe and Archibald MacLeish loved them. The late John Steinbeck, ever in search of the perfect pencil, thought the Blackwing “floated over the paper just wonderfully.”

Then one day I went into Slate’s and learned, to my horror, that the Blackwing 602 was no more. It had been discontinued. Frantic, I launched into action. I enlisted my assistant to call every stationery distributor, every mom-and-pop stationery store in the country, and buy up as many boxes of Blackwings as we could find. In time, we’d amassed a closet full of them.

When the terrible news spread throughout the Blackwing Underground, my fellow obsessives began buying them up too. Writer friends of mine who learned of my stockpile — Andre Gregory (of “My Dinner With Andre”) and Roger Rosenblatt — began calling me to ask if I could spare one . . . or a box. Soon, Blackwings began popping up on eBay for $20 each. In fact, I just checked eBay and found one for $38.99 — for a single pencil.

Still, I won’t sell mine, and I only give them away to my closest friends who will make good use of them. I figure that as long as I have them around, I’ll keep writing my novels with half the pressure and twice the speed.

View Joseph Finder’s ‘Featured Writer’ page here. He also has a few ‘Writer Tips’ that can be very insightful for various writers…or you can check out his personal site here.

At pencils.com, we are pleased to say that we will be re-releasing the Blackwing in the coming months! We now own the rights to ‘The Best Pencil in the World’ and plan on making Joseph Finder a very happy writer. If you would like more information on our Blackwing plans, visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates. You can also e-mail me at jcentanni@pencils.com.

Back-to-School Bundles are Here!

It’s that time of year to head to the store and get all of your Back-to-School needs! Why go to the store when you can get everything you need online here at the new and improved pencils.com shop? We offer a wide range of school products that are sold at competitive prices. Check out our ‘Shop’ tab and find the supplies you need. Pencils, rulers, erasers, glue, sharpeners, notebooks…we have the highest quality products that would be perfect for every kind of student. For those students that love the feel and smell of a pencil, try out our ‘Scented Pencils’. We also offer some cool ‘Touch-color Change’ pencils in a variety of colors! Need a place to write down all of your assignments? Our ‘Planners & Notebooks’ would be a great section for you to look through.

Also…to help you save money on school supplies this year, pencils.com is offering a great money-saving option! We have ‘Classroom Bundles’ for teachers and administrators as well as ‘Student Bundles’ for kids and parents!

I’m sure we have some art lovers out there…instead of using what is available in the classroom, why don’t you prepare yourself with the extremely popular art supplies on pencils.com. We have various types of ‘Children’s Coloring Pencils’, ‘Drawing & Sketching Pencils’, ‘Testing Pencils’, ‘Carpenter Pencils’…we got it all! Make it easy on yourself and impress your teachers with the best art products money can buy.

Secretaries, Teachers, and Principals…take a look at the ‘Teachers and Educators’ section where you can purchase some great products to motivate your students. We offer several ‘Bulk Pencils’ that when purchased in high quantities become more and more cost efficient! Keep your students wanting more by rewarding them with various ‘Sports Pencils’ and other types of ‘Motivational Pencils’. Our wide range of pencils and other school supplies will make it easy to get all of your shopping done. Enjoy your shopping experience with pencils.com and we hope you come back to visit our store whenever you need to re-stock on school supplies!

20% General's "How To..." Books Through 8/20!

Dr. Toy’s announced that General’s® has won the award for ‘Best Green Product’. From now through Friday, August 20, 2010, you have the opportunity of improving your drawing abilities with these books at a discounted price. Buy either the ‘How to Draw Cartoon Flip Books’ or ‘How to Draw Cartoons’ Kit for 20% off! Matthew Luhn, a Story Artist/Animator from PIXAR Animation Studios, created these great books to help aspiring artists and animators improve their drawing skills. Give it a try and you will see how easy it can be to make fun cartoons for family and friends! ***Enter Promotional Code: GENERAL20 at the Checkout to get your discount!

PRESS RELEASE:
General’s® How to Draw Cartoon Flipbooks Kit Wins “Best Green Product” from Dr. Toy’s “Best Green Toy Company Awards”

In July 2010, Stevanne Auerbach, PhD/ “Dr. Toy” recognized the Best Green Toys and Children’s products for the fourth year. The award recognizes innovative products and companies that are working toward making a difference in playthings and reducing environmental the impact of production. This year, General Pencil Company’s “How to Draw Cartoon Flipbooks!” has been recognized as one of the “Best Green Toys”!

General Pencil Company and Matthew Luhn, Story Artist/Animator from PIXAR Animation Studios, partnered to create a one of a kind series of How To Draw Cartoons Kits: How to Draw Cartoons and How to Draw Cartoon Flip Books.

How to Draw Cartoon Flipbooks is a unique kit that includes all the GENERAL'S® Drawing Tools needed, and each kit contains 2 easy to follow books created by Matthew Luhn. The books are filled with techniques and lessons including shapes, shading, perspective, dimension, developing style, writing stories, and creating morphing effects in flipbooks, these books and kits are ideal for teachers, students, aspiring cartoonists, and people of all ages wanting to brush up on drawing and cartooning skills.

About Dr. Toy’s “Best Green Products”

Dr. Toy recognizes these Best GREEN Products and the astute companies making these products. They are each making a difference in their own way and making important contributions. Each step helps. Each step moves us towards a healthier home and community.

Dr. Toy has identified products that help children learn more about their world. She found products made from organic materials, or produced in ways that are healthier. Consumers are encouraged to consider these products for home or school or as gifts. Dr. Toy is glad to recognize the companies and products that are helping to create a healthier place for everyone to live.

About General Pencil Company

General’s® art and craft pencils come to you from our factory in Jersey City, New Jersey. We believe in quality, tradition, value, and the fun of creating. We take pride in handcrafting quality pencils and artist materials using traditional methods passed down for five generations. Our history dates back to 1864 when Edward Weissenborn began the first pencil factory in the USA. In 1889, Edward and his son, Oscar A., began what is now General Pencil Company. Still family owned and operated, our goal is to create consistent, quality products in a sustainable manner for artists of all levels.

General Pencil Company has been manufacturing drawing materials in the USA for over 121 years. Green initiatives have contributed to General Pencil thriving for six generations. Packaging is made with recycled materials; books are printed on FSC certified paper; pencils and erasers are pthalate free; AP and PMA approved for safety and have always been lead free. Products conform to ASTM-D4236 and are tested for safety and quality.

For fun drawing projects, tips, & techniques, visit us at: General Pencil

8/12 'Just Because' SALE!!!

‘Just Because’ will be random, 24-hour sales on Pencils.com…there is no telling when they will happen, or what will be on sale; but once a week we are going to put one or more of our products on sale simply because we feel like helping you out! Make sure you check back regularly to see if we are having a ‘Just Because’ sale. Don’t ask why…it’s ‘Just Because’. Don’t miss out! Take advantage of unbelievable deals throughout the Pencils.com site!

Today's sale: Buy 2/12 packs (banded dzns) of any Palomino Graphite HB pencils - with or without erasers - and automatically receive our popular Palomino-KUM Long Point Pencil Sharpener FREE! (Limit 1 sharpener per purchase.) You do not need to add the sharpener to your cart, it will automatically be shipped with your order.

Bulk Pencils...A Huge Money Saver!

Our new Bulk Pencils purchasing option offers our most favorable everyday pricing on a wide variety of our most popular pencils. Buy your favorite pencils in multiples of full one gross boxes (144 pencils per item) and take advantage of our greatest volume discounts. (Note: There remains a 3 gross minimum for all Custom Imprint Pencils)

Bulk items are an ideal choice for school pencils and office pencils; or perfect for large charitable organizations, builders looking for Carpenter Pencils and more. Great for back-to-school savings; combine 6 or more items to fit your needs for Motivational Pencils, Testing Pencils, or any other quality pencils to take advantage of additional quantity discounts applicable to bulk item purchasing. In the near future, most of our bulk items will come with an added option of pre-sharpening so the pencils are ready to go out of the box. Many exciting new pencil designs are available that we do not offer under our 12 pencil pack option, so browse our Bulk pencil selection today and stock up for the months ahead.

Welcome to the NEW pencils.com!

Welcome to the NEW pencils.com where Freedom of Expression is right around the corner! Check out our new SHOP tab where you can purchase a growing variety of pencils, school and art supplies. We’ve made the new site extremely easy to navigate and coupled exciting new design with more information, and a plethora of products! We have added new features to help you find just the right product whether you are an artist, writer, student, parent, teacher, school, business or simply pencil crazy. After centuries pencils remain the world’s most common and well loved instrument of expression; whether doodling, note taking, drawing, animating, test taking, keeping a journal or many more uses. Along with this new site we’re stepping up and devoting our creative energy to many exciting new developments of our pencil business.

We know that combining great savings and great customer service are very important to you and are committed to an improved focus on special promotions as well as great every day buys. One important new cost saving option is the ability to easily and simply purchase bulk pencil items in a much wider variety of products and styles. Purchase in one gross (144 pencil) multiples to take advantage of our best everyday savings. Ideal for school and business needs whether purchasing motivational pencils to reward your students, testing pencils or everyday writing pencils for your office needs. When buying bulk pencils you also now have the ability to select pre-sharpening service for a low added fee.

In the coming weeks and months we’ll be adding many new products including pencils and more to our shopping site. We’ll be adding several new brands and this fall a long anticipated new Palomino pencil as well as a small expansion of our Palomino graphite grade range and exciting new Palomino packaging. Keep your eyes peeled for our announcements of new products, new promotions, new Featured Artists and more. Subscribe to our What’s New feed and our new Twitter and Facebook fan pages to stay abreast of the latest developments.

Interested in learning more about pencils and how you can use them to enhance your self-expression? Our new LEARN tab consolidates our long favored Story of Pencils educational content with even more valuable product use information. Whether it’s reviewing the interesting History of pencils, seeing how that pencil is made or delving into our expanded forest conservation and product safety information we’ve made it easier to find what you’re looking for.

We’re also upgrading our Learning Resources with new lesson plans from our new Featured Artists and Featured Writer series who will receive special recognition within our new site design. Don’t worry though you can still share your artwork and connect with your pencils pals in our Pencil Community which has been integrated into the new site as a sub-domain at pencils.community.com. Keep posting your art and perhaps you too will be selected as a featured artist. In time we’ll evaluate if and when to update our gallery, forum and group functionality and integrate of this growing social community into our new Freedom of Expression platform.

Finally, our new DESIGN tab is where you will increasingly have more control over the creative look and feel of pencils and other products you’ll be able to purchase on pencils.com. Currently our Custom Imprint Pencils allow you to customize from 9 different round pencil designs with your school or business name and mascot. Improved functionality allows greater ease to select your mascot or upload the artwork to provide your own custom mascot. In time we’ll be adding a broader range of design your own Private Label pencils as well as ability to customize your own school planners, notebooks, erasers. Teachers and schools will love these functions as well as ability to build your own back to school kits as we look down the road. Unfortunately not all this functionality is available as we go live or for the 2010 Back to School sales season, but will be coming on line as we move through the upcoming school year.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to view our new FAQ’s page which will grow as we move forward.

Facebook and Twitter!

Pencils.com is dedicated to keeping pencil lovers of all kinds up-to-date with the most prevalent information regarding our NEW site. Please become a fan of ‘The Pencil Page’ on Facebook to receive information on new products, promotions and more! We would also love for all of our followers to take it to the next level…
Twitter is becoming more and more popular and we will be giving numerous updates every day discussing new information regarding California Cedar Products and pencils.com. Not only will we have great information and deals occurring on a regular basis, we will also post fun and relevant videos about pencils!
Be sure to check out our Blogger page as well if you have an account. We are going to make certain that all of our customers can receive as much information as possible in order to make shopping and learning a little bit easier.
Also, check in every day on pencils.com because a few times a month we will have random ‘Just Because’ sales to help save our customers loads of money…I’ll give you a hint, the first one is going to be on Thursday! Visit pencils.com for all of your school and art supplies and you won’t be disappointed…