# Why Pen Won't Write On Some Paper? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232 "2013-12-13T08:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/1 "2013-12-13T08:00:35Z")
Why do I have to scribble my pen on another piece of paper before it will write on some paper? ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/2 "2013-12-13T09:57:20Z")
I have always thought that with a ball point pen that there is dried ink on the roller ball and the act of scribbling, going quickly back and forth frees the ball. My guess is you scribbled on another piece of paper so as to not mark up the paper you interned to write on, but had you scribbled on the original paper the results would have been the same, that the own would essentially write. Or I’m completely wrong and somehow different grades of paper make a difference. And as a side note, maybe it the insomnia but typing and saying the word "scribble"is kinda fun! ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/3 "2013-12-13T10:10:01Z")
Friction property of the paper. One paper doesn’t produce enough friction to spin the ball when the ink is dried up, but the other does. So then you get the ball floating on wet ink, and can go back to the smooth paper. Sometimes you may have greased the paper from your finger prints, food etc, and you need to start off on the other paper. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/4 "2013-12-13T14:30:48Z")
Is this why sometimes you’ll have spots on paper that will not take ink no matter how wet it is? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/5 "2013-12-13T14:35:27Z")
your balls are dirty. agree with what is written. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/6 "2013-12-15T00:59:14Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > My guess is you scribbled on another piece of paper so as to not mark up the paper you interned to write on, but had you scribbled on the original paper the results would have been the same, that the own would essentially write. Or I’m completely wrong and somehow different grades of paper make a difference. At first, I scribbled on another, but then out of curiosity, I scribbled on the paper I’m writing on, and no matter how much I scribbled, it wouldn’t write. Then I scribbled on another paper _from the same ream of paper_, and it started writing almost instantly. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/7 "2013-12-15T03:10:19Z")
Oil from your skin on the paper. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/8 "2013-12-15T06:06:39Z")
Another cause of this is the different grades of paper can be torn more easily by one type of paper than another, and readily clogs the ball in the pen. IIRC, there are only 3 or 4 reasons a ballpoint pen won’t write: 1. Clogged 2. Out of Ink 3. No friction 4. Dried/too cold ink. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/9 "2013-12-16T04:48:57Z")
Perhaps you’re using one of those newfangled “ball-point” pens. Well, actually the quotes should be around “pen” in that case. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pen-wont-write-on-some-paper/676232/10 "2013-12-16T05:04:28Z")
I’ve noticed that many businesses around here have another hunk of paper, taped to the counter where you place the receipt to sign it. If you put the receipt on the hard counter, the pen won’t write.