Pretty Vs Cheap Notebooks For Journalling

[Pussinboots]

Another thought, do you prefer pretty hardbacked notebooks for journaling or cheap basic ones? I know that some people find it hard to write in pretty notebooks. I do like the latter but find the cheaper spiral ones are easy to tear pages out if you need to, like pages you don't want to keep and want to destroy.

 

Does anyone here use reporters notebooks? I find them nice to write in but a bit of a bind to read back.

[FayeV]

I love buying pretty hard covered journals and have a nice collection of them in a drawer, unused. I still feel compelled to buy these.

 

For actual use, I write in the cheaper spiral notebooks or composition notebooks.

 

It's a bit like wearing sensible ugly comfortable shoes vs sexy hurt-my-feet shoes.

[Octo]

I write in composition notebooks, but have a nice leather cover for them. Best of both worlds.

[tinysnail]

I prefer using a nice notebook, like a Rhodia Webnotebook, since it makes journaling that more enjoyable as a ritual. I like the idea of using cheap notebooks in a nice cover! I may have to try that out.

[FayeV]

I write in composition notebooks, but have a nice leather cover for them. Best of both worlds.

 

I like this idea!

[ac12]

I use the cheap wire bound notebooks that are on sale during the back to school sales in July/Aug.

Specifically Staples brand, made in Brazil.

For 17 CENTS each, the price was just too good to pass up.

On average, I go thru a notebook in about 3 weeks, so buying expensive journals is not a good idea for me. The cumulative cost would be too expensive.

[PaganArcher]

More often than not, I just keep rebinding my old ones. Decent paper is fairly cheap and most of mine are longstitch bound style. Leather covers last a long time and can have the signatures replaced dozens of time.

[dothgrin]

As a former reporter, I occasionally have used reporter's notebooks but not in recent years. I do use nice composition books (Made in Brazil), but Piccadilly notebooks at Barnes and Noble tend to help me bridge the gap when I do not feel in a comp book mood or have enough money (teacher pay) for a really nice journal.

[Josey]

I go for sturdy with great fp-friendly paper. No spiral-bound or composition books.

[Art]

I use legal pads from Staples in a nice leather portfolio that I've had and used since the early 1980s. Works great for me for most of my stuff since I plan to shred the results anyway. I do have a leather bound journal that I use once in a while when I want to write about something I think I'll want to keep. AND a hardcover records book that contains my food & exercise daily log. That's something I want to archive.

[mboschm]

I journal in whatever falls to my hands, the only condition is that the paper is half-ok and that it opens flat. I'm now using a staples spiral notebook I bought in Sweden this july and that has spent quite a few times in different bags. So far, a bit bent, but otherwise ok, it's a shame I can't find it in my country because it was also dirt-cheap, even for spanish standards.

[Algester]

say no to moleskine?

[knarflj]

I prefer attractive notebooks for journaling and reference note-taking. In fact, I'd have trouble journaling in a cheap spiral notebook - I'm not sure why, but it just wouldn't feel right. I keep the spiral notebooks for work: lesson plans, brainstorming, things like that.

[Mardi13]

As a former reporter, I occasionally have used reporter's notebooks but not in recent years. I do use nice composition books (Made in Brazil), but Piccadilly notebooks at Barnes and Noble tend to help me bridge the gap when I do not feel in a comp book mood or have enough money (teacher pay) for a really nice journal.

I just got a Piccadilly notebook and thought it was quite decent for the price.

[Pussinboots]

I use legal pads from Staples in a nice leather portfolio that I've had and used since the early 1980s. Works great for me for most of my stuff since I plan to shred the results anyway. I do have a leather bound journal that I use once in a while when I want to write about something I think I'll want to keep. AND a hardcover records book that contains my food & exercise daily log. That's something I want to archive.

 

I use legal pads from Staples in a nice leather portfolio that I've had and used since the early 1980s. Works great for me for most of my stuff since I plan to shred the results anyway. I do have a leather bound journal that I use once in a while when I want to write about something I think I'll want to keep. AND a hardcover records book that contains my food & exercise daily log. That's something I want to archive.

Do you shred all your journals? My intention is to save certain entries but shred more personal ones maybe, which is why I think a spiral notebook might work better. I keep a separate book with day to day stuff in.

[inkstainedruth]

It depends. I've gone back and forth. I've used a variety of journals over the years, ranging from nice looking ones that were from Nepal (but which had paper not really suitable for fountain pen nibs) to super-cheap journals and sketchbooks from Barnes and Noble, to the Ecojot ones that have lots of pages but are spiral-bound.

The ones I liked the best don't seem to be available any more: some made from Michael Rogers (which I think is from New Jersey) they were hardbound with very plain covers but had lots of pages and were relatively nice to write on even though they were recycled paper. They were relatively inexpensive for their size and quality -- but the only place in the Pittsburgh area that carried them was Joseph-Beth Booksellers (which stopped carrying them and then closed outright).

I hesitate to spend large amounts of money on something that I'm going to use to write in and then stick in a drawer, which I do for journaling. So when my husband got me a set of handmade journals, commissioned from a good friend, I was stalling about using one that nice (it has a soft suede cover and the pages are a little larger than I normally use, but I specifically wanted paper that was FP friendly; not sure what the paper is, but I'm pretty sure she orders from John Neal Booksellers -- she does calligraphy and illumination, and uses Rotrings a lot, so I knew I could talk to her about what I wanted).

I've had the thing since February, and finally decided that it would be perfect for doing The Artist's Way creativity course exercises and assignments (unlike most of my journals, it has unlined pages). I just hope -- since I actually don't know the number of pages in it -- that I don't run out of pages before I'm finished....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[GatzBcn]

I make my own journals, but, if I bought them, I would go for nice, hardbound journals. But then, I write every once in a while, so it takes me months before I fill a journal.

 

Also: THIS IS MY 100TH POST!!! :D

[ac12]

@GatzBcn

Congrats.

And I like your avitar

[chas0039]

I use Back N Red notebooks. They make both spiral that tear out on perfs and a hardbound version. The writing surface is pretty close to Rhodia for testing out nibs and ink and they are half the price of better names. Makes it a lot easier to write in rather than just look at.

[FountainPenCowgirl]

Bound journals, going back to the mid-1980s. Different quality levels, a matter of access (small towns) and growing knowledge about what I like and what will last. I'm one who must have lines; Leuchhturm is my go-to right now. Perfect for me.