Analog Defaults
Updated September 9, 2026
I used to have a section describing my analog tools on my Uses page. Inspired by Brad Dowdy’s Analog Defaults page, this page describes the analog writing tools I use regularly. Like Brad’s Analog Defaults page, this page will occasionally change as my current tools change.
My writing usually involves analog tools at one or more stages of my writing process. I tend to buy scholarly books in printed codex form (for purposes of citation), and I annotate books, with pencil, flags, and in some cases, ink. I annotate ebooks and then export, augment, and convert those annotations to HTML. I also take hand-written notes, and later add them to my private local Web site, with the rest of my notes.
Paper
Composition Notebooks
I use composition note books for general research notes and drafts. I watch for back-to-school sales when these American school standards with lined pages, a sewn and taped binding and marbled covers, are on sale for $0.50 to $1.00. Composition notebooks made with rice or sugar cane fibers will stand up to F or M nib fountain pens. I recycle composition notebooks when I have finished with one.
EMSHOI A4 Spiral Notebook College Ruled
I bought this notebook in 2023 for $15.40 on a whim. It’s currently $16.99. The Emshoi A4 Spiral is an 11.2" X 8.27" notebook with 150 sheets of lined 100 gsm paper, with a space for a date on the top right corner. The current version has perforated pages, bookmarks, and a pen-holder. This is a substantial notebook with decent paper, great for drafts and notes, good with pens, fountain pens, or pencil, and surprisingly affordable. I use this for reading notes, lists, phone conversation notes and general notes and prewriting.
Fieldnotes
I carry a Field Notes pocket notebook when I leave home for grocery lists, short notes to myself about things to do or remember, bird sightings—all sorts of things, when I’m out and about. I also use Field Notes Pitch Black Notebooks for reading notes on a specific topic or online class notes. These are larger 4¾" x 7½" with 64 pages of lined, plain, or dot graph (dot grid) paper.
Fieldnotes Pitch Black notebook, Fieldnotes Summer 2025 Is a River Alive pocket notebook, Johnny Gamber's Pencil Revolution Press case-bound journal
Pencil Revolution Press
I’m using one of Johnny Gamber’s hand-bound hardcover journals from Pencil Revolution Press for my first effort at formal journaling (rather than mind-dumps or bullet journaling or common-placing). These are stunning carefully-made books with high-quality paper. I am mulling over my journaling methods and process, as I try something new this fall.
Miscellaneous Paper
I use index cards, record cards, note cards, 3 x 5 cards (and other sizes) or whatever they are called in your dialect, constantly. They are useful in making short lists for my current daily tasks and objectives, reading notes for printed books from the library, bibliographic citations, writing prompts, and shopping lists I can share. Brad Dowdy’s Nock cards were the best, but Walmart’s Pen & Gear Heavy Weight cards are better than most and inexpensive.
A variety of index cards, including 4'' x 6'' lined, 3'' x 5'' dot grid, 3'' x 5'' lined, and 1.5'' x 2.5'' colored and lined
I use sticky notes and page flags in various sizes to mark document sections and annotate books I don’t own. Transparent sticky notes are especially useful for annotating library books because the text shows through the note. Use a sticky, annotate your text, then photograph it.
Page flags, sticky notes, and semi-transparent sticky notes
Pencils
I love a good woodcased pencil, and have a number of favorites. Everyone raves about Blackwing Pencils, and I enjoy using them, but there are other really good, enjoyable, and much more reasonably priced pencils (think $8.80 for a dozen Mitsubishi rather than $34.00). I use a variety of pencils; these are in my current rotation.
- Mitsubishi 9852EW Mitsubishi 9852EW is a beautiful recycled wood natural-finish pencil with green foil stamping, (“Master Writing”) and a dark purple eraser. The graphite is smooth and dark. This is probably my favorite writing pencil.
- I’m very fond of Musgrave Pencils, especially the Tennessee Red, and the Harvest Pro.
- Bicolor editor’s pencils are great for annotating and marking up hard copy for revision. My favorite bi-color is the Caran D’Ache 99e, which has become both difficult to find and prohibitively expensive. The Mitsubishi No. 772 is almost as good, and will be my standard when I finish my last Caran D’Ache 99e.
- I’m using a Mitsubishi Pencil M52005 Pure Malt Premium Mechanical Pencil, 0.5. It’s made from recyled Oak whisky barrel wood. The picture doesn't do it justice; the wood is a very dark brown, almost but not quite black. I alternate between it and the Pilot Legno wood-body mechanical pencil. Both feature a beautiful curved and tapered wooden body that’s more like a conventional pen than a mechanical pencil and exceedingly comfortable for long-form writing. I usually use .05 mm 2B Pentel or Pilot graphite.
Mitsubishi 9852EW, Musgrave Tennessee Red and a Caran D’Ache Bicolor 99e editor’s pencil
The Mitsubishi Pencil M52005 Pure Malt Premium Mechanical Pencil in 0.5mm
Pens
I change fountain pens every few months. These are the pens in current use.
- Lamy 2000 Makrolon F nib with Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai blue-black ink. This pen holds a fair amount of ink, and I keep it filled and in use as my primary pen for long form writing.
- Lamy CP1 Aquamarine with Lamy ABC Nib.
- Navy blue JinHao 20 Press Pen with a Pilot Decimo 1.0 Stub nib.
I also use non-fountain pens.
- BIC Cristal Fine Ballpoint This was the first pen I used to annotate with; I used it on the thin pages and dense print of the F. N. Robinson edition of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.
- Mitsubishi Uni-ball Signo UM-151 Gel Pens 0.38 mm Red, Blue, and Green for annotating.
- Sakura Pigma Micron Pen 03 0.35 mm Red, Blue, and Green for annotating very thin textbook paper (hello Norton Anthology of English Literature).
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