What Type of Journal Should You Start?

As a lover of all things paper and bound, I’d like to extend that to journals. After all, who doesn’t love a brief (or not so brief) jaunt into the journal section in the bookstore to add some more variety to the experience. So, if you’re considering adding a journal to your next bookstore haul but unsure of what direction to go in, here are some options to consider.

Guided Journal

There are all kinds of guided journals. There are guided journals for gratitude, creative writing, self discovery, couples, drawing, spirituality,and more. You name it, someone has made a guided journal about it. These can be great when you want to start something new and are not sure where to start. Or, maybe, you would like a little help coming up with ideas to keep your writing varied and interesting. Maybe you want to explore topics you haven’t thought of before. It can be a great resource to get you thinking in fun and new ways.

Reading log Journal

You can find absolutely beautiful reading log books, with premade sections, for book lists, book reviews, and rankings, or you can customize your own notebook into a reading journal. The purpose is to track your reading, whether you want to track your habits, you like to review books for friends, or professionally, or you just want to remember the titles of your favorite books.

Diary

Ah, we’ve all heard about the diary. Although, 90’s television and Vampire Diaries have given the diary a bad rep, it is a very useful tool. Some prefer to call it a journal, but at least for me, a diary is a little more of a specific term. To me a diary is a place where one writes the inner workings of one’s mind, their feelings, dreams, goals, the happenings in their life, things that are often kept private (remember the Lisa Frank diaries with the little lock that would pop off after two seconds?) It can be a great tool to get all of your thoughts out at the end of the day, or first thing in the morning. It can help you to work through tough emotions that need a little more prodding, or, upon reflection, show you patterns you weren’t even aware of. So there! Do not mock the diary, embrace the diary!

Bullet Journal

This is the journal with the dotted grid paper, that looks like sheets of little bullet points. Some people absolutely love their bullet journals, or bujos. You can find a lot of tutorials on how to keep a bujo. Some use them as log books to track their mood, their progress on goals, their habits, basically anything. You can do this by making graphs or charts, coloring in little doodles or adding stickers. Although many use it this way, there really are no rules, you can use it as a journal or planner, or whatever else your heart desires, as long as you don’t mind the dots.

Dream Journal

A dream journal is a place to write your nightly dreams. If you're into dream science, dream magic, or the meanings behind your dreams, logging down what you recall of your dreams can be a great tool to use when furthering your knowledge. For some people, lucid dreaming is the goal, and to that I say, right on lucid dreamers (tell me your secrets!) Writing your dreams can be an interesting new way to learn about yourself, notice recurring symbols, maybe pick up patterns. There are structured dream journals, made for that exact purpose, or you can make your own. My one tip is to write your dreams right after waking up, when your memory of them is most vivid.

Log Book

A log book is great if you have a particular subject in mind. Much like the science-fair days of old, a traditional log book is meant to record an experiment, or a project. It’s a place to write observations you may make on whatever project you are working on. It doesn’t have to be a science experiment. It could be keeping record and observation of your diet, or progress on your fitness goal, or a book chronicling your days as a new blogger. It’s a place to take stock of your progress in doing something, going somewhere, or learning something.

Research Journal

Much akin to the logbook, the research journal is simply as it’s name suggests. It’s a place to recordor research. This would be adorable in a vintage style journal with a strap and buckle, but it can also be a file on google docs, or a binder with dividers. It can be research on any topic. Perhaps you’re writing a fantasy novel, and would like it for world building. Maybe you want to build something and need to do research first. It can be professional, or it can be fun (go ahead, whip out those hello kitty stickers for your binder!)

Writing Journal

A writer's journal is a journal to capture anything helpful or inspiring for someone wanting to write. It’s a place to gather ideas, bits of conversation, vocabulary words, research, pictures, or writing exercises. It can be a lot of fun, and a very useful tool if you feel a bit of writer's block coming on.

Scrap Journal

I like to think of a scrap journal as a scrap-bookers journal, with memory scraps like pictures, ticket stubs, stickers, or possibly multi media art. It's a fun way to express yourself, and look back on your memories.

Sketch Journal

A sketch journal can be accompanied with writing, like journal entries, or just the sketches themselves. You can sketch little doodles about your day, your life, or you can practice with a particular style. It can be a daily practice or you can pick it up whenever you feel the urge to draw. There are also journals that can be used for painting if that’s more your style.

Junk Journal

These are my favorite journals. I like to think of them as throw-it-all-in journals. This is the type of journal you keep in your bag to write random notes, take out in the cafe, doodle in, plan out your week, write grocery lists, spontaneous journal entries, test out your new pens, anything you need. You can transfer notes to their designated places, or leave them in the junk journal. The best part is, they’re easy to fill up and then you have a reason to get a new one (journal addicts rejoice!) For me, they act as a time capsule, to look back on a particular time and see what was going on in my life.

Wreck this Journal

I’ve always wanted to try one of these. Now be warned, if you are the type of person who keeps their items in pristine condition, and would balk at the idea of dog-earring a book, or bending the spine too much, this may not be for you. However, if you are okay scratching something out in pen, instead of using liquid paper, you might enjoy it.

Wreck-this- journal is somewhat like a guided journal, but instead of just prompts to write, there are also instructions on how to destroy the journal, like ripping out pages, spilling ink on it, scribbling all over it, and so on. I haven’t seen all the different ways you may destroy it, but I imagine it gets pretty interesting. This could be great if you’re in a bit of a rut and want to switch things up. It could be a good outlet if you need to de-stress, or make a great gag gift for the journal lover in your life.

Travel Journal

A travel journal is a journal you take along on trips to document your travels. There are journals designed specifically to be travel journals if you’re interested in that. It can be just as easy, however, to make your own. You can add scraps, pictures, sketches. You can log where you’ve been and your experience there. It can be a wonderful memento to look back on after a trip.