[quantgenius]

Traditionally, you are supposed to write with less pressure and even hold the pen with less pressure. Once you teach yourself to do this, it is much less tiring than writing with a ball point pen. I write a lot. It's how I think. I'm orders of magnitude better at thinking when I use a pen and paper to jot and doodle than when I do not.

I also find that writing to take notes is much better than notes taken electronically. You can't write fast enough to transcribe. So you are forced to pay attention, process the information, compress it into nuggets (that may only make sense to you) and write those down. The notes aren't the point. The process means you retain more and understand better. If I wanted a transcription (which is certainly easier with electronic methods), I'd simply record.

I injured my wrist and hand a few years ago and simply would not be able to write as much as I do if I had to use a ball point pen.

Give fountain pens another try. A lot of the things that make them "impractical" is only an issue with bottom of the barrel, cheap pens.