For me, size matters. When it comes to choosing a notebook, I mean.
I have hundreds of notebooks, in a variety of styles, materials, colors, and brands, but most of them fall into a pretty narrow size range. My preferred size has evolved over time, perhaps in proportion to the size of my own hands: when I was a kid, my initial fixation was on small promotional diaries in the 2.5 x 4″ size that was a very common size for diaries and address books for many years. Then I moved on to 3 x 5″ wire-bound notebooks, another universally popular size for pocket notebooks sold in pretty much any supermarket, drugstore or office supply store. Then as an adult, I fell in love with the 3.5 x 5.5″ size made ubiquitous by Moleskine. Moleskine did not invent the hardcover notebook with a ribbon marker and/or elastic. I have other similar journals that came before Moleskine. But they all tended to be around 4 x 6″ or larger. For me, 3.5 x 5.5″ just hit the sweet spot, and now it is the only size notebook I truly desire. Those of you who have been reading this site for a while will know that I’ve reviewed quite a few notebooks that I loved, but couldn’t force myself to actually use because they were off by maybe half an inch in one direction. I appreciate notebooks in all sizes, but I’m stuck on using one specific size.
I’m also pretty committed to using notebooks with plain, squared, or dot-grid pages. Lines in only one direction bother me. I have used lined notebooks, and have several that are so nice in every other respect that I do intend to use them someday, but for the most part, lined pages are also pretty much a deal-breaker.
Other than those two things, I can be pretty flexible about what I am willing to accept in a notebook. The paper doesn’t have to be fountain pen friendly. It can be hardcover or softcover. It doesn’t have to have a back pocket or elastic closure or ribbon marker. It can be expensive leather or cheap cardboard. I like plain black covers, but colors and patterns are ok too. But I know other notebook users are really picky about some of these things.
How about you, readers? What is the most important attribute of a notebook to you? What can’t you live without? What are you willing to put up with? What do you absolutely hate? Please chime in with a comment!
Yep, I’m a one-ish size user too, hardcover only, but like the larger size (A5 class) of — Moleskine’s 13×21 notebooks are perfect, I’ll use a medium Leuchtturm1917 but they’re a tidge too big (the paper is what I like). I like all my notebooks to line up/stack on my shelves nicely. I have an Oberon Designs cover I like, so if a notebook doesn’t fit in the cover, I don’t use it! I’ve evolved to liking PLAIN pages, but have quite a few lined ones in my hoard; I push one into circulation now and then, trying to work through them, but try not to buy anything but plain now.
Thanks for this insightful post. It didn’t occur to me before that the size of a notebook is comparable to the size of our hands. Strangely, as a child I preferred writing in larger notebooks like the classic marble composition notebook. My preferred notebook now is the original pocket sized soft cover Leuchtturm1917. While larger notebooks are more comfortable to write it, I prefer the portable aspect of the pocket sized.
The most important attribute is the paper quality, I prefer lightly lined or grid paper, and the notebook has to lie flat for me to feel at home in it.
I dislike notebooks that have very dark lines or grid, and binding that doesn’t lie flat. I can make do with bad binding, but the dark lines are a NO. I also dislike the cover overhang that is quite common with hard covers.
Definitely, size and format matter. I’m pretty much stuck on 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ portrait for a sketchbook and 3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ portrait for a pocket notebook. I flirt with other sizes/formats now and then, but I always go back to my standards. And as soon as I stray, the oddballs make storage more difficult. The benefit is that I am no longer tempted by all the pretty notebooks I see that are not in that format. I can just look the other way and be happy.
I try and move up to A5 notebooks but keep finding my way back to pocket notebooks, so what matters to me is:
1. Pocket size.
2. Blank.
I prefer hardbound, no spiral, but those qualities are not a deal breaker.
Ha, ha – I’m the polar opposite to you! For me it has to be lines, lines all the way. I will put up with a blank page, but I hate grids, graphs, and dot-grids with a vengeance. I think I have two problems with them – the spacing is always too small, and it doesn’t matter how faint the printing is I just can’t zone out the background whilst I write. I like lines for my words to sit upon so I don’t need to not-see them, whereas the grids are both utterly unnecessary to me and relentlessly there. Like you, I prefer hardbound books to spirals, although spirals/discs/rings do have their place, albeit a place where I think I might be at some unspecified point in the future yet never really entirely get to.
I’m kind of new-ish to this (gestures vaguely) but definitely have some preferences that are making themselves known. I don’t like big or heavy notebooks. I don’t like planners that have lots of pre-filled pages. I want the paper to be able to handle watercolor enough that it doesn’t bleed through to the other side, and it’s nice if it doesn’t ghost or buckle, either, but that then depends on why I use that particular notebook. I dearly love the idea of having only a single notebook, One Notebook to Rule Them All, but it is not to be. I like pocket notebooks for my daily food diary—easy to bring along everywhere. For journaling/sort-of common book I’ve been using a blank page Seven Seas notebook (A5?). I have no idea if it has old Tomoe River paper or new.
I’m still trying to figure out what my ideal sketchbook is: nice heavy paper, not too big/heavy are a must. I haven’t even been able to decide if I prefer landscape or portrait sketchbooks—they offer very different things, you know? Or maybe I’ll just go with square. Who knows?
I have two size preferences – A5 slim (Moleskine or Exceed) and B6. I’m using a B6 Stalogy at present. Not picky about lines, squares, or dots, but the journal must lay flat. I can go with soft or hard cover, but spiral-bound is a no-go. Lastly, must be fountain-pen friendly and watercolor-tolerable.
“Lines in only one direction bother me.†I love that, nifty. But, me, I need simple, uni-linearity!