Anyone even remotely interested in writing will tell you that you should always have something on you to write on. This should be a journal or pad that you carry around at all times. I agree with this advice (though I don’t follow it too often) and I think there are good ways to go about this.
When I first met my wife, she bought me a leather-bound journal that is small and compact. The pages are slightly yellowed and it just has an old-world feel to it. To help, I use a more ‘inky’ pen that has a scratchy feel to it. The blotchy-ness of the ink and the feeling of the point against the pages brings me great joy. I love how rough it makes my writing come out.
I don’t know where she got the journal but I love it. She also put a quote in it from Langston Hughes, though because I don’t have it on me at the moment, I can’t reference it.
Anyhow…. you need something inspiring to write in to help be inspired. I think that having a nice artsy journal helps make you feel more like a real writer, and in-turn builds the drive. That’s where the Moleskine comes in.
I’ll let you read the info below but I think everyone should get one and it’s really a great tool to have in your arsenal. They’re not expensive and easy to find online. I plan on getting one at some point, once my current journal is filled.
From Wikipedia:
Moleskine (pronounced /mɔleˈskin/) is a brand of notebook manufactured by Moleskine srl, an Italian company. Although the name implies otherwise, the notebook is in fact not bound in moleskin, but in oilcloth-covered cardboard. Other distinct features also include an elastic band to hold the notebook closed and a sewn spine that allows it to lie flat when opened.
The modern Moleskine is fashioned after Bruce Chatwin’s descriptions of the notebooks he used and is not a direct descendant of the original moleskine. Chatwin used similar notebooks constantly throughout his travels, and wrote about them glowingly. His original source of notebooks dried up in 1986, when his Paris stationer informed him that the last moleskine manufacturer, a small family-run firm of Tours, had discontinued production that year after the death of the owner.
Aside from Moleskine, there are now a number of companies that produce notebooks similar to Chatwin’s description, including Lama Li Travel Journals, and Hand+Book Journals.