Copyedits! They’re here!
I’ve been so excited about their pending arrival that I’ve had my colored pencils for weeks. I bought the erasable kind — thinking I was soooo brilliant.
Until I tried to write with them.
Must. Press. Down. So. Very. Hard. And they kinda skip. It was like trying to be precise while writing with a crayon.
I handed one to St.Matt and without my prompting he said: “They’re like writing with crayons.”
“New colored pencils!” I demanded. Actually, it was less of demand and more of an exclamation. Perhaps a proclamation: “Let us buy ALL the colored pencils!”
And then I whined to Emily Hainsworth** that all my planning was for naught. She seconded my demand/exclamation/proclamation and suggested a comparison — so all the credit for this brilliant idea goes to her.
I limited myself to five brands, because, let’s be serious — I’ve now got sixty-two colored pencils and I plan to use… ONE.
And, in a further show of self-restraint, I wouldn’t let myself buy the Staedtler brand (even though they make my very most favorite revision pens EVER) because I didn’t need a fancy pack for one pencil.**
To make this all scientific-ish, I sharpened each colored pencil with the same plastic sharpener. Wrote the brand, shaded, and signed my name with each.*** I used the same eraser to attempt to erase each — and swiped it the same number of swipes (7 swipes).
Here are the results:
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| To be fair, these were more “erasable” when you used the attached eraser. They’re also the hardest to write with & the least precise. Erasability is not worth it. |
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| A little more precise than the erasable version… and just slightly less erasable. |
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| The most erasable of the bunch. Decent precision. Tricky to sharpen — the tip kept crumbling |
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| This was my second favorite. |
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| Least erasable but most precise — go figure. |
At the end of the day, excepting the Erasables, they’re all fairly similar. I ended up deciding to use the Prismacolor because the local Michael’s sells them as singles. St.Matt pointed out that if**** I happen to lose or break it, I can then go buy just another pencil, instead of a whole ‘nother set.
I feel a sudden urge to write a lab report. Or do another experiment. I wonder if we have vinegar and baking soda.
Or Coke and Mentos!
No worries, we DO have safety goggles.
But I also have copyedits! Mayhaps I will put my scientific urges on pause until all my editing and STETing is complete.
UPDATE – The brilliant & talented Nova Ren Suma***** just told me: Copy editors use Ticonderoga or Col-Erase colored pencils… Others are too soft.
Oh. *looks at the half pencil left after one night of sharpening & resharpening to maintain a tip* This makes A LOT of sense. I’ve already ordered a pack — they should be here tomorrow and then I’ll add their photo to the collection.
Thanks, Nova!
UPDATE The Second – They’re here —
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| The precision! The erasability! Dream come true. I got so excited I cut off the last letter of my last name. |
Which office supply should I test next?!******
* Actually, my brilliance should probably always be attributed to Miss Emily. I love her dearly. Maybe I’ll send her 61 colored pencils for Christmas.
**Though if anyone has used Staedtler colored pencils and thinks they’re awesome, let me know and I’ll be all about getting them when it’s time for book two.
***My signature is normally MUCH neater. I’m having a bad handwriting day — possibly caused by post-birthday-party-too-much-sugar jitters.
****He actually said WHEN I lose or break it, I edited his statement to give myself the benefit of the doubt
***** Seriously, if you haven’t read Imaginary Girls go add it to your Christmas list NOW. And then start behaving so Santa complies.
****** I mean, Sorry, I’ve got to go do my copyedits.