Messy notebook aesthetic

Notebooks! Don’t you love them? I do, but I write books for kids, so maybe I can’t help myself. I have friends who keep one notebook, so they can easily find anything all in one place. I love that idea. But it doesn’t work for me, at least not right now. I use several notebooks, each for their own purpose… The big notebook under the pile of smaller ones is actually a hardcover sketchbook. I mostly write in it, but once in a while I doodle something (you’ll discover one of those doodles…

I’ve been consistently journaling for 25 years now. I have no doubt that this has been the most important habit in my life that helps me stay sane (or at least return to sanity when stress, confusion, or circumstances knock me down). This is what I think is most important about journaling: find what works for you. What do you want to get out it? That’s really all that matters. When I boil it down to the simplest reason for me, I journal because I like how it makes me feel. I look forward to…

Scribbled observations, dinner party conversations, flashes of perception ... inspired by Henry James’s jottings, Paul Theroux, Susie Boyt and Amit Chaudhuri share their note-taking habits