Why a WT?
We’ve a steadily growing community—we’re now 494 members! Welcome to all of you :)—but we still lack momentum.
The idea is to encourage more participation by sharing a weekly theme. This just an invitation and you’re more than welcome to comment about anything else (related to journaling), or to start your own thread ;)
Also: do you think we should do something to celebrate the 500th... if we manage to get there?
This week theme: What do you do you when you finish a journal?
Do you have any special rituals, or do you just start a new one?
Obviously, the question concerns pen and paper journalers more than digital users but don’t hesitate to comment as a digital user too! Explain us how you manage switching app (or if you don't switch and only use one, like I used to do when I used DayOne), or if you lack the emotion of finally filling the very last page of a notebook and starting a new one? Or if there is no emotion associated with that?
Edit: once again, I used my non-admin account to post this weekly thread. Silly me. Feel free to petition and demand a less amateurish admin if you feel like it's needed. I won't protest :p
I like routines as much as I like... change. Which means that I love to experiment with new stuff as often as I can but once I find something that works well and that I enjoy using, it won’t be easy to make we switch to anything else. That's why I've been using a fountain pen for long-form writing for 50 years now. There are more practical and cheaper writing tools (I'm also a Uniball user and a lifelong Bic fan), but I've yet to find something that can compare to the smooth and almost completely friction-less experience of using a fountain pen. So, for anything longer than a quick note, I use a fountain pen.
It's the same with notebooks. I will keep using the one I prefer until I stumble anything better or that I like more. So, unsurprisingly, since I’m nearing the end of my blue journal I’ve just unwrapped its successor, which happens to be yellow (I'm a sucker for flashy colors and this brand comes in many different ones, or in classic black or cork hardbound covers).
Like the blue one, it’s a sketchbook not a notebook. It's from the Dutch brand Royal Talens. Why a sketchbook? Because of its (ivory) paper being 120gsm (plain, no lines nor squares, no dots, it's a sketchbook) which makes it great for sketching, obviously, but also great for using a fountain pen (which is double great news, since I also use a fountain pen for sketching). This paper doesn bleed (it can even withstand some light watercolors wash). I've really fallen in love with them and they're not expensive (The non-pro lines of Royal Talens will often be very reasonably priced for excellent quality, if you're into watercolor you way want to test their Van Gogh paints, imho they're among the best non-artist grade watercolors).
I like those notebooks so much that I've stocked enough to last me at least two more years. It's silly, since they're readily available in a few shops around here but, you know, better be safe than sorry and then I have all those pretty brightly colored covers pilled up :p
Enough not sponsored content and back to this week's question: do I have any ritual with a new journal?
I do. I'm not much into emotions but it still feels exciting to start a new notebook. And I do have a ritual. I will ruin its very first page on purpose. Making a stupid sketch or just staining it. Doing so, it will instantly stop feeling intimidating by the journal, thinking it's too nice and that I would not write (or sketch) stupid shit in it. The journal is already ruined. No need to worry about writing shit any more which is incredibly liberating if you're anything like me. That's also how I will write anything: I will write complete non-sense for a few lines and then the brain starts feeling less intimidated and, hopefully, starts writing slightly less shitty stuff ;)
It's a bit different with my pocket notebook. My journal (the Talens one) never leaves my home, so I carry with me a smaller Clairefontaine spiral notebook (that works great with fountain pen too even though I use a Cristal Bic in that notebook). On the first page, I simply put my name + email + phone number with or without a silly sketch and with a short message: '20€ reward if found'.
What about you?
If the pages don't have any lines, how do keep your text straight? If I write on paper without any guides, my text is always crooked. I have a small spiral bound notebook with little dots on the pages as guides.
It's a question of practice, like it really becomes a habit: I write the first line using the top of the page as guide and then the other lines follow along the previous ones.
Also, I don't worry too much about my lines being perfectly straight, it's part of my journal. Like a sketch not being perfect.