Some people see a blank notebook and immediately want to put something in it. Others would really like the first question supplied. Neither is a better way to write, and it makes choosing a journal a little easier when you let yourself have that preference.
We have open pages, compact journals and decks that begin with a prompt. They ask for different kinds of attention. If you're buying for someone else, think about whether they'd enjoy being asked to write at all; a book to read might be more welcome, and that's a perfectly good direction to take.
For the person who wants room to wander
Goods Gang's Stacking Notebooks are three blank notebooks joined with a removable metal fastener. Each is 4.75 by 6.75 inches with 16 pages. You can keep them together or separate them for different things—a sketch here, a list there, notes for a project that hasn't quite become a project yet.
The colors can vary because the studio uses leftover materials from other projects. That little assortment is part of this format. The pages don't tell you what belongs on them, which can be a relief if printed categories tend to stop fitting the way you think.
A small place to record the day
Life Happened and the Gratitude Journal, both from People I've Loved, have 365 pages in a compact format, approximately 3.5 by 4.625 inches. One gives you a place for the day's thoughts and moments; the other turns your attention toward things you appreciate.
You can write a few lines and leave it there. A journal doesn't need to become an account of everything that happened, and missing a day doesn't make the next page less useful. We'd choose between these two by the kind of thing you want to remember, rather than by an ambitious promise to write for a whole year.
When you'd rather begin with a question
The How To Decide deck offers frameworks and exercises for thinking through choices. Pick a thought experiment and see what it brings into view. It's a different kind of starting point from writing freely about the day.
A Safe Space For Us has 52 prompts for conversation with a romantic partner. Sitting With Sadness has 45 prompts and 7 wishes around grief and remembering. The subjects matter here: these aren't interchangeable conversation games to hand out to anyone.
For a gift, consider whether the person would welcome that particular subject and whether they'd want to open it alone or with someone else. You can give the deck without asking to hear what they wrote or discussed. And a reflective deck can offer a prompt without promising a therapeutic result.
Try a page before choosing a practice
If you're unsure what you like, use a piece of paper you already have. Write down one thing you noticed today, then let yourself follow it for a few lines. On another page, try a specific question. You may find that structure helps, or that you'd rather be left alone with the page.
That small trial gives you something to go on. There's no need to buy the version of a notebook that belongs to an imagined, more organized version of yourself.
Reading counts, too
Smoothed Over with Feeling is a collection of poems and drawings for new parents, so it offers words to spend time with instead of pages to fill. Our new-parent reading and writing guide compares those possibilities more closely.
A note about why you chose the gift may be all you want to add. A small ceramic magnet can hold that note or a photograph somewhere visible. There are other ideas in our gift guide, too, if this has helped you realize that writing isn't quite the right present for this person.
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