What is the small hole in the casing of a Bic biro for?

Bic biros are annoying?

• If I'm writing notes with a Bic biro, whenever I underline something / sketch a diagram with lines, a ball of ink appears on the tip of the pen. Try it at home - take a ballpoint, draw a long line, and then look at the tip and you'll see a ball of ink ready to drop on your page when you write something immediately afterwards. It's an absolute pain, as I often sketch, underline, write, sketch etc. and so the first line of every paragraph I write is a mess. I've also noticed that after I've hit about halfway in terms of ink usage, the pen becomes more free-flowing (in a bad way), using too much ink, with uneven consistency. When I switch to a new biro it all goes away. Don't say use a pencil, because it's far too much effort and I have to write in pen for photocopying reasons.

• Answer:

  i'm quite fond of the way a biro feels when i write with it, but when i draw or do any diagrams i use professional art pens (being as i'm an artist), but they're a tad too expensive to regularly use of writing... have you tried gel pens? i know that fountain pens create the same issue as the biros, only 10x worse. perhaps also, it would benefit you best to invest in an expensive brand pen like a Parker. they do write much nicer than regular pens, and may not result in the ink blot you detest so much.