Apple Pencil not working even though it’s paired and 100% charged

My 1st generation Apple Pencil wasn’t working so I pressed forget device and tried pairing it again. Didn’t work. So I checked and realized I had an update to iPadOS 18.1.1 due, which I installed then tried again. It recognized the pencil this time and paired seemingly just fine, showing up in the widget as being charged to 100%. However now it will not respond when trying to write with it.

I use my Apple Pencil with only this same device, every single day, so the issue with pencils sitting there for extended periods, becoming too undercharged to work again, should not apply here.

The power at my house went out a few days ago but I did still use the pencil without any issue, most recently yesterday, until my iPad died and I had no electricity to recharge it.

When the power came back on this morning my pencil wasn’t responding or connecting. So I “forgot device”, attempted to re-pair it, restarted iPad, turned Bluetooth off and on and even tried warming the pencil up, as suggested on YouTube. Then I realized I had an update to iPadOS 18.1.1 ready , so I installed that and was then able to pair successfully.

However now it’s showingf as paired with 100% charge, but still isn’t writing. I’ve tried all the same troubleshooting tactics again, numerous times each, but it’s still not writing. Can someone please help??