Curious Realizer - what makes a great notebook
I have my ideas but I'd like to hear yours
If you’ve been here long enough you may have noticed I’m a big fan of pen and paper work, especially with notebooks. I’ve written about my collection of notebooks before and also about how I like to harvest them occasionally. I know some of you like notebooks, too. I’m curious to know about your ideal notebook! I prefer notebooks made by Leuchtuurm1917 and Dingbats* but there are a few layers to what I like.
So, just for fun, I thought I’d describe some of my preferences to see how they may compare to yours. There are no right or wrong answers to any of this, it’s all about what you like and what works for you.
I’ll go through some characteristics and list my preferences and it would be great if you did the same in the comments section. Here goes!
Cover: I’m a huge fan of hardcovered notebooks, about as hard and inflexible as possible without being metal. Soft/flexible covers have their time and place but for most part I don’t like them.
Page size: I’m a fan of A5 sized notebooks but occasionally I like a larger size so I can fit more details on a page, like for a commonplace book, as an example.
Binding: I like a sewn or glued binding which ideally will let the notebook lay as flat as possible. Having said that I do not like spiral or ring bound notebooks which can interfere with the placement of the hand. No thank you.
Paper: I am a paper snob: the paper must have a good weight and be resistant to bleeding or feathering. Ink on one side of the page must stay on that side!
Plain or lined pages: some notebooks are best for sketching and those ones use unlined pages. Other variants include lined, squared (i.e. graph paper) or dotted (squared without the squares I guess). I prefer a dotted grid on my notebook pages because it facilitates neat writing but also provides some flexibility for diagrams and tables.
Pockets: as popularized by the Moleskine brand, I like to have a gusseted pocket in the notebook in case I have to store some loose pieces of paper.
Page markers, elastic banks and pen loops: these are nice to have but not necessary.
Index or table of contents pages: I’ve become a big fan of using these but they can be created fairly easily. They are awfully convenient though.
Stickers: stickers are nice for labelling covers and spines but generally I don’t use them for any other purpose
Perforated pages: these are a really nice option to have, in case I need a loose piece of paper for some reason. They won’t make or break a notebook for me but they are a definite bonus.
Page number: these are a small addition but I really like pre-numbered pages, easy enough to number of them if I want.
Over to you: what’s your ideal notebook?
GREAT POST! Mark, we're notebook kindred spirits - I agree with all of your preferred notebook features apart from stickers (I don't use them) and perforated pages (ditto).
I need ribbon bookmarks, and I adore the Leuchtturm 1917 Bullet Journal notebook (the original, not edition 2, which I won't touch with a bargepole) because it has three of them - the standard Leuchtturm 1917 has only two. I use one for the page where I keep track of all my diabetes hardware activities (dates of cannula changes, cartridge and battery changes, applications of new sensors) because I need to flip to this daily, one for my monthly log and one for today's page. I'd really struggle without those. Muscle memory and the fact that they're each a different colour make them really easy to use. Pen loops would get in my way! No thanks.
My preferred ruling is dot grid - I don't get on with blank pages because I like to write straight, lined pages remind me of school (bad!) and squared pages remind me of maths lessons (even worse!). Dot grid for me! And dot grid (okay, and squared, and plain, I suppose) means that I can use the pages either way up - ie I can turn my A5 notebook 90° whenever I want a portrait-sized A4 chunk of real estate, and also that's the only way I can sensibly use my passport-sized Traveler's Company traveler's notebook.
(I know I've said this before, but if anyone reading this would love to keep a small notebook in their pocket for on the go but you don't do so because you find it too small to practically use, just try turning it 90° so that the fold is in the horizontal, not vertical, plane. You'll never look back!)
I haven't found a perfect brand but I do know it has to have two qualities: dotted paper and it has to lay somewhat flat.
For some reason, the closest notebook I've found is a $2 spiral dotted notebook at Walmart.