Using Sketchbooks for Journal Writing and Brainstorming
Journal writing as a creative brainstorming technique
These days, writers use computers for writing. But most will admit there’s still something about good old-fashioned pen and paper that just gets creativity flowing.
It’s difficult to brainstorm on a computer or jot down notes and random thoughts, and it’s almost impossible to doodle in the margins. So, for journal writing, note taking, and brainstorming sessions, I like to do it old school.
Over the years, I’ve collected hordes of journals and notebooks. Some of them are pretty and whimsical. Others are simple and functional. I always go through lots of spiral notebooks for business, but when it comes to journal writing, I have learned (the hard way) that I have pretty basic but specific needs that my journal must fulfill.
Journal Writing Needs
It has to be hardbound so it can withstand lots of use. It can’t be too big or too small. Something in the 5×8 inch range is just right. The paper must be archival quality because there’s less yellowing and tearing with higher quality paper.
Most importantly, the pages have to be unlined. I like to doodle and draw when the mood strikes. Occasionally, I write sideways, upside down, or even in circles (a technique for breaking through writer’s block).
Sure, I can brainstorm and mind-map right over a line-ruled page, but why should I? Those lines are inhibiting and I need creative freedom.
Favorite Journal
So there is only one journal for me: the Watson-Guptill Sketchbook. And the more I use these sketchbooks for my journal writing, the more I love them.
The best thing about the Watson-Guptill is that if you are an artist and a writer or someone who likes to paste photos or clippings into your journals, these are perfect because the pages thick and unlined.
I know that writers love to rave about Moleskines. My confession for today is that I’ve never owned one. I’m not even sure I’ve seen one in a store. One of these days, I’ll get one and do a little comparative analysis but for now, I’m sticking with Watson-Guptill because I’m just a fickle writer like that.
What’s your favorite type of notebook for journal writing?
The Watson-Guptill Sketchbooks come in several different colors including red, black, green, and purple. I’ve got one in every color! They are 5.5 by 8.5 inches and contain archival-quality paper. You can also get a larger size (about 8×10 inch) and landscape-oriented editions.
Share your favorite journal or journal writing techniques by leaving a comment.
Melissa Donovan is a website designer and copywriter. She writes fiction and poetry and is the founder and editor of Writing Forward, a blog packed with creative writing tips and ideas.
@Brett, I don’t believe that for a minute
@Melissa,
just ask my friends about the “Dukes of Hazzard” cars…
(ah, growing up in the country)
Brett — Laughing here. I believe it.
As a fine ex-con once told me: All great men go to jail. (Not that you went to jail, but maybe you are great man.) I could go on forever about brilliant men thrown in the slammer to get ‘em out of the way, but I don’t want to get political here. A book I have coming out, hopefully sometime this millennium, mentions how the USA has one of the highest incarceration rates of any nation in the world. Everyone in America has someone in their family or a friend who has been arrested, which is sort of messed up, if you think about it. It is pretty easy to get arrested and tossed in the can. I was 13 for my shining moment! Maybe you were just like me, having some fun? I hope.
Coby — Yeah, I am the big sucker idiot buying free lunches for poet frauds. Pizza, sandwich, what do you want? I’m buying.
Jaden,
I like that one, “all great men go to jail”… never been there, perhaps I’m great – well, my kids think so anyway
Oh yes, had lots of fun, accused many times, never convicted (luckily) – where I grew up, I think the police remembered that they, too, had done the same things as kids. I’d be interested to read your book on that.
I also remember, many years later when I was just starting my engineering career, I was talking to a senior engineer about “rules and procedures”. He said to me, “if you don’t get in trouble at least once a day, you’re not trying hard enough…”
I took that one to heart! I love being a black hat…
I can’t live without my Moleskine journals and my V5 Pilot Precise pens. I have a Moleskine for poetry, for drawing, and I’ve converted several “pens don’t matter they’re all the same!” friends to the V5. Smooth and fluid and effortless.
My favorite thing about the Moleskine is the off-white pages. It’s soothing and for some reason less intimidating than the bright white or notebook or sketchbook paper. I also like that the pages are thick enough for the liquid V5 ink not to bleed through and that it has light lines that I can ignore if I need to. I also love how flat it lays when I’m writing, and the medium size slips easily into my purse. Amazing!!
I have more notebooks and pens than I know what to do with! I have one journal that I keep especially for diary-type writing, with polka dots and stripes on it.. I keep a brown leather journal for brainstorming ideas and jotting down poems. I have yet another notebook (which is my favorite) that I keep second drafts of poems in. It’s held closed by a magnetic flap, and it has sheet music on the front and back, with a scrawled Beethoven signature. For my larger writing projects (short pieces and articles), I have a 1 1/2-inch pink binder filled with college-ruled paper. I use it to make story lists and jot down notes from my reading, and so forth. I have a pen obsession, so I use a different colored ink every time I sit down to write. It keeps me engrossed in my writing sometimes if I switch colors every other page. It was something I used to do in class when I was in college to keep from getting bored with my anthropology notes.
It sounds like you have as many journals as I do! Don’t you just love them?