Americans throw away an estimated 1.6 billion disposable pens each year and for good reason: They’re uncomfortable and they perform poorly. My goal is to get you, my fellow writers, to change how you think about making marks on paper, to ditch that Bic. Designers have the Creative Suite. Social Media folks have their iPhones, cameras ever ready. You? You deserve a fountain pen.

Horace tells us, “The pen is the tongue of the mind.” Disturbing mental imagery aside, it’s a truth that deserves some thought. A pen is the literal link between your brain and our world; it’s still the easiest, fastest way to turn neurons firing in the dark of your skull into communication we can all share.

A little history: Disposable, ball point pens are relatively new, taking the market by storm in the ’60s. 

You have them, you use them, they’re our most common writing instrument.

They do a few things really well. They allow cheaper pens in mass produced quantities and they provide ink that rarely leaks. Beyond that, they’re poorly designed and uncomfortable. And, dear God, that ink.

Ballpoint ink is thick, more paste than liquid. Writing with a ballpoint means dragging that paste across the page in order to make a mark, leading to the hand strain that so often has us leaning back from our desks and shaking life back into our fingers.

Fountain pens, on the other hand, are a joy to work with. The ink is liquid, gliding off the nib onto the page with very little pressure. The pens are far better designed, making your grip more comfortable, allowing you to write longer. It makes the sensory experience of writing enjoyable. I’ll repeat that, because I know it sounds crazy: Writing with a fountain pen makes the act of writing feel good.

So why write by hand, besides the fact that fountain pens make it fun? It can become very tempting to jump onto a computer to start your project—After all, time is short and expectations are long so why not start the work where you’ll finish it?

One reason is you could be shutting out a big part of your mind. If you’re looking to shake up your creative process, writing by hand actually engages different parts of your brain than writing on a keyboard. (And, one thing you can’t deny: Fountain pens won’t show you puppy videos, and you can’t check your email or Facebook on a pad of paper.)

We live in ironic times, where creatives are willing to drop $2800 on a spec’d out MacBook that’s irrelevant in a few years but balk at spending $20 on a pen that’d last them a lifetime. But let me say, in closing, that a good pen does one more important thing.

Uncapping a fountain pen is a little ritual, a moment when a switch flips in your mind. You’re out of Bic land; you’re not about to fill out the easy answers on a cross word puzzle or dash off a grocery list. This is work, and you’re holding a tool designed to make your work better and your experience more enjoyable.

My favorite pen is the TWSBI ECO. Do you have a favorite pen? Share in the comments below.