Hello my dear memory keeper,
so you have decided to try out journaling. That is great! I am so happy for you! 📷 The next step is to decide, what kind of journal you want to use. I personally know from experience that this can be difficult. So I have come up with a few things you should ask yourself and consider, when you choose a journal:
What kind of journaling do you want to do? There are a lot of different styles out there. For each style there are several things you have to consider. Say you wish to stick to writing, then anything from a normal exercise book to a fancy journal will work for you. If, however, you want to dabble in art journaling, the strength / thickness of the paper is important.
What kind of paper will you need? This depends on what kind of journaling you want to do and how much you want to put on your journal pages. If you just want to keep it simple and primarily concentrate on writing, then you won’t have to be too cautious about the paper. If you however want to use watercolors to color your pages as a nice background, or you want to use distress stains, you should look for a stronger paper, so that the color won’t bleed through too easily.Special Art Journals are available which have the right paper consistency for art journaling (e.g. you can paint with watercolors without them showing through the paper).
Lined, grid or blank? This depends on your personal preference. You can try this out at home, before going out and looking for a journal. I prefer ruled pages, because it’s easier for me to write on the page. Alternatively, grid paper is a perfect compromise between ruled and blank pages. With ruled and grid pages you have to look at the space between the lines and decide, if your handwriting will fit or not. There are different widths, which you should consider. And don’t forget to look at the color of the lines.
How many pages should your journal have? It’s all up to you! If you are only starting out, I would recommend using a journal with less than 200 pages. Start slow. Don’t pressure yourself. At the beginning it’s all about staying motivated. So the less pages you have, the quicker you will have filled up your first journal. A finished journal gives me so much satisfaction and motivates me to keep going. I normally use journals that have around 190 pages. I will need about one or two months to fill up a journal like this. This is perfect for me, since I loose interest if it’s a longer period of time.
Which size of journal should you use?
There are a lot of different sizes out there. From A4 to A6 and anything in between. In my eyes A5 is a good size to start for any kind of journaling. You can stick full size photos on one page, but the pages aren’t too big to be too intimidating. You can always change to different size later on. If you are on the go all the time, it would be illogical to lug around a huge A4 sized journal. In this case I would think about using a smaller size so you can take it everywhere with you. You can always slip a little notebook into your bag, when you are on your way to a dinner party or a board meeting. That way you always have it at hand.
How much money should you spend on your journal? Since you are only starting out, I would suggest you buy one that you like and which isn’t too expensive. If you buy a journal that costs an arm and a leg, chances are you won’t feel comfortable to write in it, because you don’t want to ruin it. We don’t want that! We want a journal you feel good about, that motivates you. Maybe it’s a good idea to get a plain boring notebook first. You can always customize your journal and decorate it later, when you are using it..
What else should you know?
One thing you have to pay attention to, is the spine of your journal. If you are planning on sticking a lot of things in it, which is great, it has to have a sturdy spine. It would be a shame, if your journal falls apart after you put so much effort and love into it. You have to expect that your journal might get a little chunkier, if you add a lot of things. I would try not to use a journal with a clasp. It will only get on your nerves when you write in your journal and in the end the clasp won’t close anymore. I am talking out of experience!
I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions just leave a comment here or via instagram. Good luck journaling! 📷
Love Lynn <3