(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)
You know how sometimes you just need a pen? Not a writing experience, not anything transcendent or luxurious--you just need to write something down real quick. It happens all the time, right? At least, it does for me. And I don't usually want to unpack and unroll a swath of glorious pens in that moment. One needs a quick -access basic pen sometimes.
But we're pen addicts, so our quick-access basic pen must also be fun in some way. Enter the Livework Ballpoint Pen. It's cute and exciting enough to feel special, inexpensive enough at $2 to be a loaner pen, and can be tossed in a bag or backpack with nary a worry for its survival.
The pen is made from lightweight plastic with a simple plastic clip and click nock. In the hand, it feels like a typical disposable ballpoint, though it is refillable. The refill is $1.50, which is nearly the cost of the pen itself, but is definitely where the cost is balanced on this pen.
The refill is a 0.5 mm with a nice crisp line and smoothly flowing ink. It writes very well and I haven't had any issues with skipping or slow starting. Despite all the fun colors of the pens in this series, the ink is only available in black. The name of the color printed on the pen itself is just the name of the plastic color, which could be a bit confusing if you're expecting that to be the color it writes, as would be the case for most pens.
Ultimately, this is a cute series of pens that are good quality writers that can be that emergency writing utensil you need when you just NEED a pen, but can't bring yourself to settle for a boring one. I think it's great, and I want more colors. And at $2 apiece, I can actually have all the colors, if I want. Maybe not the one called “Mayonnaise" but maybe even that one. It's a simple, low-investment piece that still brings me joy when I'm crossing items off a grocery list or jotting down an appointment time in the back of an envelope.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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