Pencils: questions and Band 8 answers

Not as much as I used to, to be honest. I mostly type everything on my laptop, but I still keep a couple of wooden pencils on my desk for jotting down quick reminders or making margin notes when I'm reading.

Oh, definitely. In primary school, our teachers wouldn't let us use ink pens until we passed a handwriting test. So, I spent years writing exclusively in pencil, and I remember constantly having to sharpen them during lessons.

I'd say it depends on the task. If I'm signing an official form, I'll obviously reach for a pen because it's permanent. But for drafting rough ideas or sketching layouts, I much prefer a pencil since it's far easier to erase mistakes.

Mainly for planning and doodling. Whenever I'm trying to map out a new project or brainstorm, I find it quite therapeutic to work with a soft graphite pencil on blank paper before committing anything to a digital document.

I think I'd actually be quite chuffed, especially if they were high-quality sketching pencils. Even though it sounds like a simple gift, it would probably encourage me to take up drawing again in my spare time.