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A 'writing implement' or 'writing instrument' is an object used to produce writing. Most can be used for other functions, such as painting, drawing and technical drawing. One of the critical characteristics of a writing implement is the ability to produce a smooth, controllable line.

Contents

Types

Ancient

Modern

Types

Ancient

Although in Western civilization writing is usually done with some form of pencil or pen, other cultures have used other instruments. Chinese characters are traditionally written with a brush, which is perceived as lending itself to a graceful, flowing stroke.
The Babylonians and others using cuneiform used a stylus to make marks in clay tablets. Ancient Sumerian writing was produced with a triangular stylus, which made a characteristic wedge-shaped mark in the soft clay used as a medium. The Romans also used styli with wax tablets. In a development of the old means of recording devices, the hand held computer and certain other computer input devices can use a stylus to enter information onto a screen.
Almost anything that makes a permanent mark can be used as a writing instrument, for example crayons and pastels (including oil pastels in stick form). Writing can also be carved into rock faces and monuments although the equipment used cannot be described as a writing aid.
Reed pens were used with various inks, with one end being turned into a nib or similar means of carrying ink.
Later quills were used: suitable bird feathers, usually from the wing, often from geese and ravens: left and right handed people will use feathers from opposite sides of the bird. These are still in use in various contexts, chiefly by calligraphers, and sometimes in banks.
Pencils were developed during the sixteenth century and exist in various forms. Those in common use involve a wooden casing surrounding a lead (not actually lead, but rather a form of graphite) which is now a mixture of graphite and clay for black, and including various pigments for coloured pencils.
Slate pencils and china pencils are used on the so named materials.
Dip pens consist of a nib - the pen proper - and a pen-holder. They can be used with most types of ink. A variety of nibs for different purposes can be placed in the pen holder: for example for copperplate writing, mapping pens and nibs for drawing music staves, with five points. Automatic pens are a category of dip pen, in which the nib is in two parts and can hold a larger quantity of ink.
The main problem with dip pens is the limited amount of ink that can be carried at any one time, and the tendency to drip ink on the page, causing blots. This led to the development of fountain pens, which were developed in the 19th century. These consist of the nib unit, the ink holder or reservoir (now often in the form of cartridges) and the nib unit with cover. Only certain types of ink can be used in a fountain pen, to avoid clogging up the nib unit mechanism.

Modern

A twentieth century innovation was that of Laszlo Biro, a Hungarian who invented the biro, which was the term used for a ballpoint pen.
Felt tip pens consist of a barrel with a reservoir of ink, and a fibrous material as nib.
Metal pens were developed in the late 18th century.
Fountain pens date from the beginning of the 18th century, but were developed more extensively in the 19th century, with Bramah being a significant figure.
Implements associated with writing, not being pens, include rubbers for pen and pencil: and rulers and related drawing instruments. Pounce pots were a precursor of blotting paper, being a dispenser for powdery material for drying the ink. Stencils can be used to create standardised letters, patterns or signatures.