I'm about to run out of my current journal - which I find very cool because it means I've been actively writing in it. I'm looking for a new journal which to me is an exciting adventure.

Do you spend hours looking for your next journal? Or do you get the next one identical to the previous ones?

I think changing one's journal style is not only fun, but a neat way to get over a writing slump! When I kept a paper journal, I liked to change my book appearance or my writing implement and it often gave me a kick-start! I discovered the fun of using a fountain pen and bottled ink, as well as lined vs. unlined pages.

Now that I am an electronic journaler, I like to change colors, fonts, and my writing template.

When I kept a pen-and-paper journal, if I saw a certain writing book I liked, I would buy it and try it. If I really, really liked it (the "feel"of the pen on the paper was always important to me, does that make me weird?) I would hasten back and buy as many of the same or similar volumes as I could afford!

I did have a couple that just felt "not right" to me. I found them so annoying that I'd not write as much. I finally retired those volumes early!

I have been trying to switch from regular journaling to art journaling and it just does not seem to be happening for me. I like journaling. I like art and doodling. So it should be a natural, but something is just not clicking for me.

Maybe the time isn't quite right, or maybe you just need to relax a bit... or figure out a way to combine the two, like maybe in a sketch book?

I think I may have found something that is working for me. I was trying with small pages because I felt they would be less intimidating. I tried with large pages and it seems to be working well for me. I am writing large words with doodles and lots of white space. It is kind of the opposite of most journals I see that try to fill every tiny bit of the page with art. But it is a style that seems like me.

Ilah B, you've got it right! It's what works for you! One of the most positive things about keeping a journal, IMO, is that you are totally in charge! You make the rules... to keep or break or totally abandon in favor of new ones as you see fit! How many other things in life are as "Have It Your Way" as that? The only REAL rule that I try hard to follow always is to ENJOY!

Both the things does matters, what I have written in the past and what I am going to write for the future. I do practice on realistic life to written well.

I've been journaling off and on my entire life, both in a blog format and on paper. These days, I find that art journaling works really well for me - because I feel called to be a writer, I tend to get very judgmental about my writing. Since I have no degree and no experience in art, I have to look at myself as a beginner, and thus whatever I do is OK - so it's become a refuge for me to create without judgment. Thus, my current journal is unlined. When I go to the next journal, I'm planning on getting a used book and altering it rather than buying a premade journal. I may also just get a pad of artist's paper and go from there.

I have had trouble with art journaling before because I am so perfectionistic. What is working for me now is allowing my art to be really "bad". I've been reading a few books to learn about new techniques, and the one I would recommend is called The Artist Unique by Carmen Torbus - it's filled with different artists working in different styles and good explanations for different media. Some of the other books I've read seem very dogmatic; I think that many of the people writing the books are stuck on what works for them. Experimentation has been key for me so far - for example, I thought I wouldn't like working in color, but I do - and I seem to really enjoy drawing more than collaging, which also is a big surprise.

I would encourage you to play with techniques and to not compare what you're doing with what others are doing. When you're used to working with words, it's hard to see the page any other way, but this seems to be opening up my writing in very unexpected ways.