Writers can be finicky about what we write in – some prefer a specific brand of journal (like Moleskin), some people are particular regarding the size or shape of the journal, some want lined or unlined or numbered pages. Some people only write on their computers, preferring to pound the keyboard as opposed to picking up a pen.

I’m the type who prefers handwriting the first draft of my poems and I carry a journal with me everywhere I go. My preference is the journals sold at World Market – they are the right size, shape, and price. They’re lined too, and because I can’t write in a straight line otherwise, they’re perfect for writing poems. I occasionally veer away from them however, when I find one I really love, or when I’m gifted one I really like, or when I search one out – when I was in Paris I searched high and low to find a journal to my liking. About an hour before I boarded my flight, I wandered into a gift shop in the airport and finally found a journal that fit my needs. Yes it was pricey and yes, a little touristy but I don’t care – I now have a journal from Paris and I’ll write poems in it.

In 2019, I wrote in five journals, filling four of those completely (I just started the fifth journal, the Paris one, yesterday).

You can see this year I wrote in a variety of journals, each one a little different. I filled a journal about every two-and-a-half months, which is a lot of writing. I’m happy about that, satisfied with how much writing I did this year. And I’m excited to see what next year brings.