Why do certain areas of a page or paper become unwriteable?

I’m not sure I’ve ever had that happen… might it have something to do with the type of pen you’re using?

At first I thought you were talking about like the margins of a word document, but I’ve never heard of this happening in real life. My guess of course is that its the paper.

Weird. This has happened to me my entire life (well, okay, since I started writing in school). Surely, someone has experienced this before. Anyone?

Just brainstorming:

Pens only, or pencils too?

Do you have particularly oily skin?

This definitely happens to me all the time and it’s really frustrating, but I have no idea what causes it. Great question though.
Usually that happens on postcard-thick paper, or visually bumpier paper—I’ve never had it on regular lined paper. Maybe that has something to do with it?

it happens to me all the time with ballpoint pens, especially crappy ones like Bic.
I think we are hard writers, and make deep impressions on a page, and when a pen doesnt write right away (bubble in ink, dry, whatever), it has difficulty writing in the deep groove for some reason. I am just guessing, here.

@bpeoples, pens only. I can’t think of this happening with a pencil. I don’t think my skin is significantly more oily.

Thanks all. Keep ‘em coming.

It may be caused by the amount of pressure you are placing on the pen, if it appears erratically. Too much pressure will hinder the ink flow.

This has happened to me; I think it’s a pen issue, because if you switch pens, it will usually write right away in the same spot.

I think I know what you’re saying—this happens with pens sometimes, and you have to scribble in a different place to get the ink flowing again. I wouldn’t call this a recurring problem, though, and I’ve only had it happen with ball point pens.

I think it has to do with the quality of the paper. When this has happened to me, the feel of the pen and the texture of the paper becomes noticeably more slippery, so my theory is that the paper is no longer gripping the ball sufficiently to draw ink.

It is due to the slipperiness of the paper and the type of writing instrument you are using. It is frequently caused by oil from skin, clothing, etc. getting on the paper (and it might not even be visible) or may be caused by a flaw in the manufacturing (paper cannot be too smooth, or you cannot write upon it, as you say, or it might not take ink in a printing process).

With a ball point pen, especially a cheap one, the paper becomes so slippery that the friction of the ball in the penpoint against the paper is less than the friction of the ball against the socket of the penpoint. Accordingly, the ball “freezes up,” does not rotate, and no new ink is carried out of the ink cartridge to mark the paper, rather, the ball just slides across the paper.

The same can occur with a pencil if the paper becomes so smooth it does not overcome the cohesiveness of the graphite particles and no graphite is rubbed off of the pencil.

Other writing methods, like printing, fountain pens, markers, etc. might succeed because they do not require friction for their process. However, if the paper is so smooth, or has lost absorbency from absorbing the oil or other substance, the paper may not be able to “take” the ink, and the writing process will either be unsuccessful or will readily smear.

Left handers who rest their hand on the paper are more prone to this, presumably people with oilier skin would also be more susceptible.