In My Writer's Toolbox: The Journal, Part 1
This is the first of a series of posts about how + why I write in a journal. In this one, I'll discuss choosing the actual physical journal and the best organizational tool for journaling ever!
Choose Your Own Journal
I received my first diary to write in when I was ten years old. I liked making up stories. I liked sharing them with others. My grandmother Pearl bought me a gilt-edged journal with a lock and key for my tenth birthday and I was amazed and honored. It felt like a precious gift.
The trouble was, I didn’t feel worthy of writing in it.
Sure, I eventually did, but only sporadically. I continued to keep most of my stories in coil bound school notebooks.
Current Journal with Chai Tea Steeping in a mug gifted to me by one of my students
Even today, I urge students I teach and writers I coach to choose wisely when they choose journals. This doesn’t mean they have to write in the same kind of journals I write in, or that they can’t have gilt-edged diaries with locks and keys. It doesn’t even mean I think we should all write in the same kind of journal day after day, month after month, year after year. Nope.
What I mean is: if you are going to write in a journal, choose what feels comfortable and right for you. If you prefer dated, lined pages with gilt-edging, with a lock and key - go for it! If you like the most inexpensive notebooks you can find at Walmart or Costco, use those! If you like loose-leaf paper kept in a three-ring binder, great. If you like shopping the back-to-school sales or the sales on journals at craft stores, great.
If you like lined journals, unlined journals, graphing paper style journals, or dot journals, choose the kind you like, or experiment with a variety of types. If you like tiny journals, small journals, book-sized journals, composition books, coil-bound notebooks, or the kind with extra pockets in them, the ones that are decorated with flowers, or the ones made of all recycled materials, there are many types of journals to choose from and that can be part of the joy of journaling.
However, I recommend choosing well for your tastes, but also not spending too much time contemplating which journal is right for you without actually writing. The art and hobby of collecting empty journals is something I know and enjoy, but I actually love writing in them, too, and I hope you can find joy in actual journal writing, too, even if, yes, I’m spending a bit of time talking about the tools and the “how-to” of journal organization.
The following image shows piles of journals I’ve used over the last fifteen to twenty years. (There are some in a different room…) I have definitely changed which style of journal I write in from journal to journal - some were gifts, some I bought on sale at hobby stores, and some were gifts for my writerly self. My current journal is another coil-bound notebook.
So, you have your journal picked out, maybe you have one going already (Huzzah! Go Writers!), and in either case, I have an organization tool for you that you don’t want to miss. Keep reading.
The Best Journal Organizational Tool Ever!
With a title like that, I suspect you expect something noteworthy of flashing lights, a billboard, and possibly a patent, but no, I’m talking about the humble Table of Contents. And, if you already have a journal going and have filled in the first two pages with awesome writing, do Not panic. You can do what I call a “Back Table of Contents.”
I know this doesn’t sound mind-blowing, and yes, it does take a bit of extra work, but it’s simple work, and the kind you can do while you are writing, or when you are watching your favorite show, or listening to music.
To have a good Table of Contents, you need to set aside two to three pages in the front of your journal (or the back, if needed) and label them “Table of Contents” or “T.o.C.” for short.
Then, you need to start numbering your pages - this is the simple task you can do while watching your favorite show. Number each page, front and back at the top, or at the bottom, your choice, as long as you can see the numbers. This can, again, be as fancy or as plain as you like. Mine are often chicken scratch level of messy because I see these numbers as a necessity and not a product.
When you start writing in your journal, label your entry with a date or a fun word/phrase that reminds you of what the entry is about. If you don’t know what you plan to write about, that’s fine. You can label it afterwards. Really, this is okay, and again, you don’t have to get fancy here - unless you want to - this is your journal. This is a label or date that helps you remember what this entry is about, not anyone else. Use code, if you want to, or don’t. You can reuse words or phrases, so every entry might not be unique, but hopefully the label will help you remember at a glance what that entry might be about.
Once you’ve labeled it, head to the T.o.C. (Table of Contents) and enter it onto the page with the page number the entry starts with.
What happens if you write wildly for weeks and forget to label your entries or add them to your T.o.C.?
Nothing - this is your journal. If the whole T.o.C. concept of organization is stressing you out, then don’t do it.
OR you can go back through your journal at any time, or even at the end and add the labels, the page numbers, and the T.o.C. entries.
If you noticed the strange bits of paper added to the tops of some of my finished journals - well, I’ve started adding date tags to the outside, and when I started, I used the scraps of paper and some tape I had on hand.
Why do I like using a ToC in my journals?
I can find all the yummy and fun story ideas, poems, and reflections much easier when I look back through the journal. I can also track my physical and mental health progress by checking entries labelled “goals,” “gratitude,” or “venting.” I can check in with my faith life by going to entries labelled “prayers” or “scripture notes.”
If you have journaled for years, or if you are new to journaling, I recommend trying out a Table of Contents to see if you like it.