I recenty realised that I've been blocked by using expensive notebooks. Now I buy cheap notebooks or make my own with good paper (but they look crap). And that's exacly the reason I'm not affraid of using them and spoil them. Thanks for writting about it, felt really related and understood.
I could not agree more. I've been using cheap composition notebooks for years. The graph paper ones are hard to find, but they are tough as nails, can be covered with stickers, and don't take up a lot of space/weight.
I love that! The notebooks I use are probably too expensive, but they’re really suited for how I use notebooks. I ask for them for birthdays and Christmas.
Loved these, Nathaniel. And you're entirely right about the ugliness of notebooks. All you have to do is find field journals from people who actually make their living by working in some kind of literal field and you have your answer; they ain't pretty, they're functional.
I've heard it said that all journals are tools—but some are memory tools, others are personal development, and still others are marketing. Those marketing ones are tricky. Whole lotta folks out there pretend that their marketing journals are something else entirely.
Thanks James! I really like those distinctions, and your insight about marketing notebooks. That helps me add some nuance instead of just being annoyed when someone shares a perfect spread.
There are notebooks-as-art-object things that people share that are interesting, basically notebook as canvas usually for collage or bricolage art. I don't consider them truly 'notebooks' in the sense of taking notes and notation making for your own purposes, but that's okay. They're pretty art objects.
I do, judgmentally, believe that personal notebooks shouldn't be either ugly nor beautiful but actually rather illegible to other people. Not in the sense of literal bad handwriting, but that anyone casually finding one lost in a park wouldn't be able to understand what the hell the owner was on about even should they flip through the thing.
Otherwise I suspect you're not actually using notebooks for your thinking and your processes so much as trying to show the world that you're a person who does so. The performance of being a type of person who carries a notebook.
I'm so glad you wrote about this, and shared your sketchbook! All you see online is gorgeous "sketchbooks" where, page after page, are fully finished works of art. Then I turn to my own sketchbook and instantly feel whatever I put down needs to be shareable. It robs us of the purity of messiness, of experimentation, of important failures that lead to great things.
I recenty realised that I've been blocked by using expensive notebooks. Now I buy cheap notebooks or make my own with good paper (but they look crap). And that's exacly the reason I'm not affraid of using them and spoil them. Thanks for writting about it, felt really related and understood.
I’m so glad!
Such a joy! Thanks for sharing the pictures :))))
A properly ‘lived in’ notebook😊
I could not agree more. I've been using cheap composition notebooks for years. The graph paper ones are hard to find, but they are tough as nails, can be covered with stickers, and don't take up a lot of space/weight.
I love that! The notebooks I use are probably too expensive, but they’re really suited for how I use notebooks. I ask for them for birthdays and Christmas.
Here is a picture of my current notebook. I number and date them on the inside for indexing.
Excellent. I love loading mine up with stickers, too.
Love this article. Most of my notebooks are ugly and there is nothing wrong with that. Enjoyed seeing your notebook, too.
Thank you, Ivo!
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Loved these, Nathaniel. And you're entirely right about the ugliness of notebooks. All you have to do is find field journals from people who actually make their living by working in some kind of literal field and you have your answer; they ain't pretty, they're functional.
I've heard it said that all journals are tools—but some are memory tools, others are personal development, and still others are marketing. Those marketing ones are tricky. Whole lotta folks out there pretend that their marketing journals are something else entirely.
Thanks James! I really like those distinctions, and your insight about marketing notebooks. That helps me add some nuance instead of just being annoyed when someone shares a perfect spread.
There are notebooks-as-art-object things that people share that are interesting, basically notebook as canvas usually for collage or bricolage art. I don't consider them truly 'notebooks' in the sense of taking notes and notation making for your own purposes, but that's okay. They're pretty art objects.
I do, judgmentally, believe that personal notebooks shouldn't be either ugly nor beautiful but actually rather illegible to other people. Not in the sense of literal bad handwriting, but that anyone casually finding one lost in a park wouldn't be able to understand what the hell the owner was on about even should they flip through the thing.
Otherwise I suspect you're not actually using notebooks for your thinking and your processes so much as trying to show the world that you're a person who does so. The performance of being a type of person who carries a notebook.
I'm so glad you wrote about this, and shared your sketchbook! All you see online is gorgeous "sketchbooks" where, page after page, are fully finished works of art. Then I turn to my own sketchbook and instantly feel whatever I put down needs to be shareable. It robs us of the purity of messiness, of experimentation, of important failures that lead to great things.
Thanks, Jill! I'm so glad you found this relatable. I completely agree!
Are you a fan of so-called "junk" journals?