by Kym Farris

Journals can be many things to many different people. Some people use them for their private thoughts, others for creativity and ideas. If you are anything like me you have one for both. ​
Keeping a journal gives me the ability to write at any given time. I’m in college and have papers to write throughout the week. Sometimes I have an idea about a paper and not just being able to grab my laptop is a problem. 

What I do have is a small journal I keep specifically for school. I can’t tell you how many times I have reached for it. And I’m glad I had as many times those ideas got me great grades on papers.

Here I will list a few benefits:

1. Having a journal allows you to be creative. It lets you be free with your words and your thoughts. You don’t have to write sentences in your journal. You can use symbols, pictures, abbreviations to name a few. You can ramble on about absolutely nothing or tell a story. You don’t have to worry about grammar or punctuation marks. No one is grading you. 

2. Finding inspiration. Say you’re stuck on ideas. You can go back to your journal and see what you have written. Maybe you already wrote your next idea and you don’t even realize it. 

3. Another benefit of having a journal is you can improve your writing and communication skills. It forces you to think. It can also improve your vocabulary. Sometimes I find myself using the same word over and over again. With my journal I can explore new words and insert them before I finish whatever project I am working on. Whether it be an article, a paper or a book. 

Some people think of journals and automatically assume it has to be as big as a notebook. And no one wants to carry that around. It doesn’t. Journals come in all sizes and colors. They can be plastic, leather, even vegan leather. Which is leather made of pineapple leaves. Fyi I think this is so cool and plan to purchase one. One of my favorite ones are the ones with the tabs. The tabs allow me to put different ideas in different parts of the journal without having to search through each page. Honestly, the easier the better for me. :) 

Below I have listed a few journals I really like and I hope you do too. They do vary in size and price ranges. And yes the vegan leather one is there. 

That’s all of it! If you have other services you’d recommend, be sure to let us know in the comments. And while you’re here - subscribe to our mailing list, so you don’t miss any ghostwriting tips and best practices that we’ll be sharing here each week.