Journal Size?

[WirsPlm]

A5/5x7 is the smallest I can go and still have a fun time journaling, anything smaller is easier for carrying around but much harder to sit down and write in, which is what journaling is all about, and even that's pretty tight sometimes, legal/A4 size is the best journal size for me and then A6 for a daily notebook I carry with me for jotting down noes.

[Bookman]

I prefer B5 and semi-B5. For me, A4 is too big and A5 is too small, although I like A5 a lot more than A4. But all features—hard vs. soft cover, presence vs absence of ribbon and/or pocket, paper quality, paper color, availability of lines and dots and blank, etc., not in that order—matter to me, not just size. Be prepared for some or a lot of trial and error and, possibly, some or a lot of disappointment and buyer's remorse.

[Mongoosey]

I use the B6 Slim Nanami Cafe for portability and some journaling. It's as small as I'll go for fountain pens. But the B6 makes me want an A5.

 

I use the A5 Nanami Seven Seas Writer as my primary Journal and most of my writing. I lose some portability, but the size is still a fantastic balance of portability and openness. I don't feel cramped unless I'm doing longer composition.

 

I use A4, or 8 1/2x11 for longer distance composition. I love that fully open space of that large size for such. An A5 gets too cramped for that.

 

I would use a B5, but I haven't found any B5's I really like.

 

But if there was a B5 notebook with 52 gsm TRP I'd be all over that, if it was reasonably priced. Some of the TRP notebooks are ridiculously priced.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Mongoosey

[txomsy]

I have traditionally preferred A6 and (yuk! yep!) A7 soft cover notebooks. They were most common around here 20 years ago, when I did still take lots of notes.

 

Well, that's not really so. Sorta. Lemme explain.

 

Most of my notes would be taken on A4 paper, usually loose sheets of notepads I got at the meetings. Using loose sheets had a clear advantage in that I could sort notes, fix, amend, as I wanted later on.

 

What I did use journals for was to take notes that I wanted to bring with me for later reference. Like a small hand-written manual with tips, tricks, abstracts, etc... in tiny writing to pack as much info in as little space as possible. Things I knew I would want to go back often for reference and I wanted to be portable. The choice of A6 or A7 was based on a requisite that I could carry them on a pocket to have them at hand when I needed them, and between those sizes was based on the amount of content for a given topic. If the topic did not require much content, then it was A7.

 

I stopped using journals long ago: I started storing reference data on the computer, then as it became available, referring to information on the Internet. And using notepads or loose sheets I was given at meetings to enter later the info on the computer.

 

Recently (about 8 years ago) I retook pocket journals. Got a nice A7 with a bottle of wine and started using it at meetings and conferences, and discovered it was more practical than taking notes on loose sheets and then typing them again in the computer for future reference (if you don't, you lose them). Using a journal I wasn't losing them, and they were always together for reference when I needed to write yearly reports or remember who did, said or wrote what later on.

 

So, I retook journals. I got a new batch of A6 (and a few A7) journals so a I can devote one to each topic and keep notes organized. When I later need to write a report or a paper or anything, I simply pick the journals and is all there. The difference is formerly I wrote at once (or almost) a pocket journal to consult it frequently. I now write frequently to use is once or twice later.

 

Which takes me to the final point. I am starting to like A5 journals now. First, I do not want them on a pocket for frequent look-ups, but on a table for frequent note-taking. Second, I now carry paperwork on a bag/backpack/portfolio almost everyday, so I do not need them to be on a pocket. And third, I am older, using a larger letter-size is a bonus. I no longer rely on notebooks to carry reference data with me, I can use the Internet, but I do want to take notes that I will likely use once or twice months from now.

 

Oh, and fourth, now I carry a cell phone in my shirt pocket, so no space for a journal/notebook.

 

So, there, you have reasons, pro- and con- regarding the different sizes (from my most humble point of view).

Edited February 2, 2019 by txomsy

[JohnUphill]

A5 or B5 for me, definitely unlined which seem to be harder to find these days.

[kealani]

About 5 x 7

"Scribbles That Matter"

buy in bulk at Amazon.com.

Journal writing daily.

[A Smug Dill]

A5 or B5 for me, definitely unlined which seem to be harder to find these days.

Eh? Just about any brand of journal that is reputed to be fountain pen-friendly will offer blank/plain (with no lines, grid or dots) pages as an option for its A5 journals.