advice for a newbie?

[tinkaton]

Hello! So I recently discovered the concept of a commonplace book, got really excited about it because I haven't journaled by hand since high school and every previous attempt of mine at keeping a planner/bujo has failed, and have now ended up here looking for advice. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos of people showing off their own commonplace books to get ideas on content, setup, etc. and am curious what kind of supplies you guys would recommend for somewhat casual journaling? There's a lot more to consider about notebooks/pens than I realized before looking into the subject and I have basically no knowledge of paper types and fancy pens and whatnot.

For reference I've done a little browsing and I'm eyeing things like this Hobonichi Plain Notebook or this Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover (I'd probably want something medium size, with dot or grid paper), but I'd love to see what you guys prefer, or what pens you'd recommend, that kind of thing! Any advice you'd give for someone who's only previous notebook concern was whether the cover was cute or not lol.

(Any tips on commonplace books or journaling in general is welcome too! I love seeing how people prefer to set up their journals/how they like to decorate/etc.)

Comments

[olivermoss]

Hobonichi uses a special very thin paper that some people hate and some people love. They can be very aesthetic if done right, but you need to be very careful with what pens you use. I don't use those sorts of journals, so I don't have the deets.

I tend to like thicker paper so I can use a lot of different types of pens. But I use a basic Sakura Pigma PN, or a pen by the same maker with the same ink, for most things. I also like a book that can take a but of rough handling, that can take the thickness of me putting in stickers or parts of labels from microbrew beers I had that week.

[tinkaton]

I do like the look of journals with thin paper, but I definitely don't want to buy one + new pens only to find out they're too heavy for the paper or something. I'm kind of heavy-handed when I write haha. And good point on making sure it can handle stickers/added papers, I'd like to decorate the pages like that too so I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks for the tips!

[olivermoss]

The thin paper can look amazing, especially once you've filled the book. But, it's very fussy. Bleed through is a big issue.

Welcome!