From a young age I was known to write all of my feelings down on pieces of paper, from complaints about having to clean my room to little notes about how nice the flowers smelled outside my house. I loved being able to express my feelings through writing. When my parents got me a purple diary with a teddy-bear drawing on top and special case with lock and key, I was so excited to fill it up. That diary was my everything. I swore to write in it every day, and that worked… until it didn’t. After about two weeks I began to forget about the diary until I found it many years later when I was moving to the US. After that I began writing in a new diary, but for a different reason. I had begun to lose my memory, things that went back over 10 years, but also memories that were weeks old. That was a little scary, so I spoke to my doctor, and she recommended I write everything down, so I did. I chose a pretty purple diary with flowers on the cover and made it my goal to fill it out, and I achieved that goal. So let me tell you how you can also become a journaling genius. 

Step One: Name Brand

There are many types of notebook brands all ranging in different price points. Now I am not saying you need a crazy expensive notebook, but something that holds quality, and will survive at least a year-and-a-half. My personal favorite is Moleskin; they have cute designs and limited edition collaborations that make choosing a notebook quite fun. Another great brand is anything handmade and family owned; this can be a great way to support local small businesses and give some exceptionality to your journal. Here is a list for some stationary stores here in Fort Worth Texas. 

Step Two: Judge a book by its cover

Choose a journal that you find fun, a cover with a cool design not only makes you inspired to write, it gives your entries some pizazz. From florals, to animals, to nature, or even to monochrome. There are so many different choices to make when deciding a cover. If you’re indecisive, you can just go plain black and decorate the cover with stickers and pictures. This can be a fun way to DIY and make your journal truly your own. 

Step Three: Color inside the lines…What lines?

Once you have decided what your journal is going to look like on the outside, it is time to begin deciding what your journaling is going to look like on the inside. Do you mostly draw? Do you mostly write? Is it a combo of both? There are different lined notebooks to fit everyone’s taste. If you’re more of a writer, like me, you should go for the standard lined notebooks, because these are classic and simple to find. If you like to draw more than you like to write, that is totally valid, and I would recommend the unruled notebooks: ones that have no lines or any print on them. Now for my combo people, I would say to go for the dotted notebooks because these give a basic idea of where the words should go and also give the freedom to draw images whilst not having too much obstruction.

Step Four: “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword”

Finding the right pen makes all the difference when it comes to writing, because it can change the quality of the text, and even affect the longevity your entries will have over time. You can read Rhea Alexander’s ’24 “All Good Students Follow the Pen Commandments” to find a pen that suits your needs. I personally like the Pilot G-2 05 or a Muji pen with the 0.38mm tip. Decorating your pen can also make a huge difference when it comes to your motivation to write. By designating a pen for a certain purpose I find that I am more likely to get some writing done. 

Step Five: The Throw-Pillow of Journaling

Stickers are not only cute, they are fun and decorative and make all the difference in a journal. You can find cute stickers in any supply store really, but I like Michaels because there is a wall full of stickers to choose from. My favorite thing to do is buy thematic stickers for when I travel and decorate my entries with stickers from each location. It makes writing entries so fun and personal. I prefer placing stickers down before writing, but there is really no rules in writing a journal, you have all the creative liberty that writing can give you. 

Writing a Journal can be liberating, and it can give you a way of releasing emotions, memories, ideas, and even store experiences for future generations. My goal with journaling is the idea of being able to show the people that will outlive me a little of how I lived my life. Some stories of my life’s stories only live in my memory because of how frequently I journal; it has stored my life in pages and made my story able to be told by the power of writing. I hope you give journaling a try.