A mechanical pencil is configured so as to be able to push a writing lead forward by releasing and gripping said writing lead by means of the frontward and backward movements of a chuck (5), said movement being performed on the basis of the knock operation of a knock member. Moreover, while gripping the writing lead, the chuck is housed in a shaft tube in a manner so as to be able to move frontward and backward, and to be able to rotate about an axis. A rotation driving mechanism (21) which can change the reciprocating movement in the axial direction to a rotational movement is housed within the aforementioned shaft tube. The rotation driving mechanism (21) and the chuck (5) are connected via a relay pipe (22) formed from a flexible material such as polypropylene. As a consequence, a normal rotary drive action for the writing lead can be secured even if some errors were to occur during the assembly of the writing lead rotation drive section including the rotation driving mechanism.