Your writing style may determine which style of notebook works best for you. If you’re just jotting notes down freestyle or sketching ideas quickly, an unlined pocket notebook may be right up your alley. If you have bigger ideas or want to write out your thoughts in a more cohesive form, a larger lined notebook is probably more your style.
Flip top pocket notebooks, like the kind reporters use, are great for scribbling down quick ideas that you can elaborate on later. More traditional left spine bound notebooks are more suited to longer journal entries where you can fit more information and elaborate on goals or ideas.
You’ll want to determine what your goal with your journal is before picking a size. If you’re planning on writing out long journal entries where you can expound on your day or craft ideas into real projects, a larger notebook that stays in one place is ideal. That way, you can give your creative mind room to breathe.
If you’re more likely to do short brain dumps or need a place to remember events and ideas, a pocket sized journal is more likely to be a good fit. You can literally fit these in a pocket or bag and keep them with you so that when genius strikes, you’re ready to record it all.
No doubt you’ve been to the pen aisle of your local office supply store and been inundated with the selection of writing instruments plastered on the wall. Ballpoints, rollerballs, fountains, gels, #2 pencils, mechanical pencils, permanent markers, crayons…the list is endless.
So what writing tool is right for you? Much of this comes down to personal preference, but for my money, a good fountain pen or rollerball is the best way to go. While you don’t have to spend a fortune for a good quality fountain pen, many times you do get what you pay for.
A fountain pen is best for writing longer journal entries because of the way you write with it versus a ballpoint. A ballpoint works by using a strangely large amount of pressure to move the little ball bearing in the tip of the pen to deposit ink onto the page. We’ve all had to write long essays in high school with ballpoint pens, after which our hands are so cramped you’d think we had crippling arthritis.
Fountain pens—and to a certain extent, rollerball pens—don’t rely on heavy pressure to release the ink. Rather, gravity brings ink down the pen and into two little tines (or a pressurized tube and ball, in the case of a rollerball), where the ink flows onto the page. Almost no pressure is needed for this to happen, so writing for extended periods of time is much more comfortable and satisfying.
Now that you have pen and paper at the ready, it’s time to find a place to write. Journaling is a very personal experience, so choosing a location for this experience is important. If you’re jotting down thoughts and ideas on the go, obviously location is less of a consideration. But when it comes time to flesh out those thoughts, you’ll want the right setup.
The two main considerations for your journaling spot are quiet and comfort. Your mind needs space to breathe, so having a quiet place is ideal. Choose a spot where you can close the door and minimize distractions.
In order for your brain to churn out the words for your journal, you’ll want to be physically comfortable. Whether that means at a well-lit desk with a high-back chair and a cup of coffee, or in your favorite lounge chair with a lap desk and reading lamp, finding the most comfortable place that you can return to time and again for journaling is key.
Sometimes, choosing what to write about can be the biggest hurdle to starting a daily journal. There are hundreds of writing prompts on the internet waiting to be discovered, but let’s first decide what format you want to journal.
Whichever format you choose for your journal, the main thing to keep in mind is to write what inspires you. Without that inspiration, you’re writing for the sake of writing, and journaling won’t be much help at all. But taking a few minutes a day to expand your ideas into something deeper and more profound can help make all the difference.
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