Journaling
Journaling for beginners
The equipment is the easy part and you have probably already bought it. This is about the harder half.
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Most journaling advice is about what to write. That is the wrong problem for most people, because the thing that stops a journal is almost never a shortage of things to say. It is the twenty-third day, when the novelty has gone and the notebook is upstairs.
So this section is mostly about the mechanics: where the notebook lives, how long an entry has to be, and what to do on the days when nothing occurred.
The equipment question, answered once
You need a notebook whose paper can take your pen, and that is the entire equipment list. Everything else — the ribbon, the elastic, the index, the cover — is comfort rather than function.
The one thing that genuinely affects whether you keep going is whether the notebook is pleasant to write in. A page that ghosts badly or feathers your handwriting into fuzz is a page you will avoid, and avoidance is how habits die. That is why our notebook recommendations lead with published paper specifications rather than with features.
Quick picks
Ranked for the beginner buying their first setup. Every pick names who it is wrong for.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No image Clairefontaine Age Bag A5, clothbound The same brushed vellum in a clothbound cover with 192 pages, which is the version to actually carry. | Clairefontaine paper in a book that lasts | Check price on Amazon #ad No live price right now. How this is funded |
| 2 | No image Dingbats Wildlife A5, dotted 100 gsm cream paper in a hardcover journal, which is the specification Leuchtturm buyers keep asking for. | Structure plus heavier paper | Check price on Amazon #ad No live price right now. How this is funded |
1. Clairefontaine paper in a book that lasts
Clairefontaine Age Bag A5, clothbound
The same brushed vellum in a clothbound cover with 192 pages, which is the version to actually carry.
#ad No live price right now. How this is funded
Twice the page count of the 1951 in a binding that survives being carried. For most people this is the Clairefontaine to own.
The paper is the same family and behaves the same way: ink sits on the surface, lines stay sharp, drying takes its time.
There are no page numbers and no index, so if you want a bullet-journal structure you will be drawing it yourself.
| Paper | 90 gsm brushed vellumSource: Clairefontaine Age Bag A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Size and extent | A5, 192 pages, linedSource: Clairefontaine Age Bag A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Binding | ClothboundSource: Clairefontaine Age Bag A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Numbered pages | Not published |
What it does well
- Published paper weight
- 192 pages in a durable clothbound cover
- Lies reasonably flat for a sewn book
What it does not
- No page numbers
- Slow drying
- Lined only in this edition
Skip this if you want a dot grid or a numbered page system out of the box.
2. Structure plus heavier paper
Dingbats Wildlife A5, dotted
100 gsm cream paper in a hardcover journal, which is the specification Leuchtturm buyers keep asking for.
#ad No live price right now. How this is funded
100 gsm is the number that removes the argument. At that weight a wet medium nib is comfortable and a broad is workable, which is not true of the 70-80 gsm books this competes against.
The format copies the structured-journal template closely — hardcover, elastic, pocket, ribbon — so you are not trading features for the paper.
Cream paper warms every ink slightly. If you have chosen a color carefully, it will not look the same here as on white.
| Paper weight | 100 gsm, acid-free, creamSource: Dingbats Wildlife A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Maker's claim | Made for fountain pens, gel ink and markers; outperforms standard 70-80 gsm paperThe maker's own wording on its listing.Source: Dingbats Wildlife A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Format | A5, dot grid, vegan leather hardcoverSource: Dingbats Wildlife A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Extras | Inside pocket, elastic closure, bookmarkSource: Dingbats Wildlife A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- Published 100 gsm, comfortably above the fountain pen threshold
- All the structured-journal features
- Coated cover survives a bag
What it does not
- Cream paper shifts ink colors
- Heavier and thicker than a comparable 80 gsm book
- Less widely stocked than the market leader
Skip this if you want ink colors to read true — buy a white-paper notebook instead.
Why longhand, specifically
Handwriting is slower than typing, and that is the point rather than the drawback. Writing at roughly a third of typing speed forces a sentence to be finished in your head before your hand catches up, which is a different cognitive activity from typing and produces different results.
A fountain pen adds one small thing to that: it requires almost no downward pressure, so a long session is less tiring than the same session with a ballpoint. Over twenty minutes of continuous writing, that is a real difference — the full argument is on are fountain pens worth it.
Three ways to structure a journal
| Structure | What it is | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Free-form | A date and whatever follows. No prompts, no format. | People who already know they want to write. |
| Prompted | A question at the top of each entry. | Anyone who stalls at a blank page. |
| Bullet | Short logged lines, indexed, with symbols for tasks and events. | People who want a record more than a narrative. |
None of these is better. The one that works is the one you do not have to think about at the moment of sitting down.
Everything in this section
- How to start journaling — the mechanics of building the habit
- Journaling prompts for beginners — for the days nothing comes
- Best journals with prompts — when the prompts are printed in
- Bullet journaling with a fountain pen — the method, and the paper it needs
Questions people actually ask
How do I start journaling as a beginner?
Put the notebook where you will see it, write three sentences rather than a page, and do it at the same point in the day every day. The step-by-step version is in how to start journaling.
What should I write in a journal?
On most days, what happened and what you thought about it. On the days nothing comes, use a prompt — we have a list that does not require anything interesting to have occurred.
How long should a journal entry be?
Short enough that you will do it tomorrow. Three sentences a day sustained for a year is a far better journal than two pages a day abandoned in February.
Is a fountain pen better for journaling?
For long sessions it is easier on the hand, because it needs almost no downward pressure. Whether that matters depends on how much you write in one sitting.
What notebook should I use for journaling?
One whose paper can take your pen without bleeding, since you will be writing on both sides. See best notebooks for journaling.
