Keeping a Journal
Anyone can benefit from writing in a journal or notebook. Writing down your thoughts and emotions can be most beneficial: It helps you clarify your thoughts, organize your ideas, and relieve stress. It's also a good way to help you remember things.
Writers especially benefit from keeping a journal. The best way to improve your writing is to make a commitment to write often.
A fine journal makes a wonderful gift for anyone you know who loves to write.
You and Your Writing
Big or Little Journal?
"Judge me by my size, do you?" - Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
The size of your journal is worth considering, and depends a lot on how you plan on using it.A large journal or notebook is preferable if it's going to stay at home most of the time. If this is the case, or you plan on doing a lot of sketching, choose a medium to large journal.
If you want to take a notebook with you wherever you go, you might want something that fits easily in a purse, bag, or pocket.
A notebook that's too big is going to be awkward to carry about. A journal that's too small could make you feel cramped every time you try to write in it, and you'll have to break your train of thought more often to turn the pages.
The Leather Journal
The Joys and Pains
A beautiful leather diary can suggest another world. It's not hard to imagine a fine leather book resting on a bedside table in an old Victorian house, or else tucked away in some corner of Bilbo Baggins' comfortable hobbit hole.A leather journal looks and feels important. It is this quality that inspires some writers and intimidates others.
The intimidated writer may feel that so beautiful a book deserves nothing less than wonderful stories written in perfect calligraphy. And you freeze, because you know your handwriting looks dreadful and that your story ideas are all half-baked.
For some writers, the leather journal is a joy and inspiration. For others, it is almost a physical manifestation of writer's block.
The Humble Notebook
Your everyday spiral bound notebook is not going to win any beauty contests. It's functional yet plain. There's nothing inspiring about it, save that it is full of empty pages waiting for your pencil strokes. (Unless, of course, its cover is splashed with your favorite actor or character from a movie.)Although a simple lined notebook isn't glamorous, it's not intimidating either. You don't have to think twice about using it to rant about your bad day or doodle pictures of Dr. Seuss-like critters. An ordinary notebook won't be worse off if you write about the new hairs sprouting from your mole.
Another advantage of simple notebooks is that they are inexpensive and easy to find. You can buy them almost anywhere.
To Doodad or Not to Doodad?
Lots of journals have "doodads" on them, especially if they're the Dear Diary sort of journals. It's most often in the form of a leather cord or magnetic flap that helps keep the book closed. Diaries often have a little lock and key. And let's not forget the buckles and pen holders.Personally, I find such things distracting. In a way, they make the journal feel less like a book. Such things are not going to keep nosy people from peeking into your journal; if anything, it could make them even more curious.
Unless you really love the doodads, they are probably not going to do much for your journaling experience.
Quality Matters
A spiral notebook is one thing; you're only out a few bucks at most if it doesn't work out. It's more upsetting if you spend extra money on a hardbound journal that falls apart.Consider the Celtic Green with Embossed Black Foil Journal to the right. This is a beautiful blank book that's available at Barnes and Noble. It almost looks like it's made of leather, but it isn't. I almost bought it once, but I noticed that several of them had noticeable marks and scratches on the cover. Just brushing it with a fingernail seemed to be enough to leave a mark. It was cheaper than the real leather journals, but I would have been unhappy with this purchase.
If you want a journal that will stay in good shape, be sure to look it over carefully. Be wary of the overly cutesy or trendy mass-produced journals, as they often seem to be made cheaply.
The Journal Poll
Refillable Journals
A Nice Compromise
If you adore tooled leather journals but are skittish about writing in them, there's another option: Refillable leather journals. Once you fill up all the pages, you just slip the old notebook out and replace it with a new one.A removable leather cover is also not a bad way to dress up a Moleskine notebook, though they're handsome enough in their functional, simple way.
Leather Journals by Sojourner Leatherwork
Sojourner Leatherwork creates and sells refillable leather journals, which you can buy from Luke and Christine Thompson's Etsy shop. For an extra $5, you can upgrade to a Moleskine notebook that comes with the leather journal cover. (They normally come with a Markings ruled notebook.)The leather journals are stamped using a leather tooling method called cincelado, a process that originated in Argentina. Not only is each design beautiful, it has a symbolic meaning.
The leather journal pictures you see on this lens were made by Sojourner Leatherwork.
Novelty Notebooks by Moonlight Bindery
But maybe you want a notebook that's fun, whimsical, and something that no one else has. That's one of the advantages of handmade journals and notebooks: Each one is unique.One such example would be the mini notebooks made by Moonlight Binderies on Etsy. She offers a variety, but the most whimsical of the bunch are the spiral bound notebooks made from recycled cereal boxes!
Moleskine Journals
They're portable and stay flat when you open them. Even the paper quality is good, though it does not handle all inks without some bleed-through. In particular, it doesn't take ink from most fountain pens without the ink bleeding through to the other side.
On the whole, Moleskine journals are simple, functional, and show excellent workmanship.
Moleskine Notebooks on Amazon
Moleskine Small Ruled Notebook
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Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook
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Moleskine Large Squared Notebook
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Moleskine Journals on eBay
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Leave a Note in the Journal
Have your own insights on choosing or using a journal?
GypsyOwl wrote...
Very comprehensive and very helpful! 5* favorite.
I use several journals as well.
GypsyOwl
Posted May 12, 2008
Colleen_Boyd wrote...
I like journals that are slightly floppy and stay open. There's nothing more frustrating when you're trying to write than having the crisply bound book continually shutting on you. The pages should lie flat as you write, too.
Posted December 19, 2007
Victoria_Neely wrote...
Barkely: But those are good too. I switch between the usual notebooks and nice journals depending on what I'm writing about (or sometimes depending on which one is on hand). :)
Posted November 30, 2007
Barkely wrote...
I should get a nice journal, I usually by five a subject ring binder. I'm in the writes everything down category.
Posted November 30, 2007
by Victoria_Neely
I love to write! Although I do most of my writing on a laptop computer, there is something therapeutic about writing on real paper. Writing in an actu...
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