When I was a little girl I loved anything to do with stationery. I spent my pocket money on notebooks and stickers, erasers that smelled like chocolate and melon, and more pens and pencils than I could ever possibly need. Now I’m all grown up and not much has changed; if you ever want to make my day just plonk me down in the middle of a stationers and watch me lose my mind. I’m always drawn to the classics – simple colours and textures, bold graphic lettering, practicality and usefulness. I use large Moleskines as my diaries, but everything else is fair game for my notes and plotting. I keep poems in leather-bound journals, and workshop ideas in a linen-covered notebook. I generally prefer a lined book – the narrow lines of a Moleskine are perfect – as my handwriting is rather unwieldy and I like the order on the page to come from somewhere (clearly it ain’t gonna be from my brain). A blank unlined page always makes me nervous as I feel I should fill the space with clever little sketches. This never happens, obviously, but I’m pushing through my fear with the purchase of these
sweet little notebooks. Or, looking at it another way, I’m a stationery addict with zero willpower. And you see the yellow
Pantone notebook down there? It has pink pages, people.
Pink.
Okay, here’s a serious Monday afternoon question for you: do you prefer lined or unlined?
Unlined! Lined reminds me too much of taking notes in school… And all my old journals from then are all mostly on lined notebooks, too. One of my great adult pleasures is being able to afford artist’s sketchbooks now, instead of cheap school notebooks!
definitely unlined.
I love the convenience and networking of the web, but I sorely miss the journals and notebooks of my youth! In fact, I think I wrote more back when it was just paper and pen than I do now… in fact, I have received beautiful journals as gifts but never used them! They’re just “too pretty to write in” if that makes any sense :)
I must have my paper lined; I have tried so many times, in vain, to be sketch or illustrate along with my entries but I leave that particular form of art to my fiance – photography, scrapbooking, and collage are my strong suits in addition to writing. So give me a pretty lined journal and I’m set… but I’ll most likely just type on the web anyway ;)
Danger Will Robinson… oh how I love stationary supplies! Those are adorable!
I am sorry if I took you to a shop with pretty paper products I would not be able to watch you enjoy yourself – I would be somewhat distracted myself!!! What a brilliant way to spend a few hours :-D
My favourite notebooks are ones with a mix of lined and unlined pages. I am also quite partial to squares. For me the most important factor is how the paper feels. Part of the joy of writing is tactile so feel is very important to me.
If forced to choose I would go for plain paper – freedom to do what you want on the pages, even if its just write in lines!
I feel the need to go find a new notebook now :-D
Unlined. I rarely sketch but I like the openness and the ability to write any direction i want, to turn the page and square off little corners and make little notes.
But I’m like you & love all paper products and end up buying lined ones, too. :)
unlined. absolutely. and especially the unlined, handmade paper with all of the ridges and bumps and natural color that your pen ink just sinks right into. i write in moleskines when i’m on the go and keep one beside the bed and one beside the tub. you never know when inspiration will hit. love your blog! and am so excited to keep reading:) best wishes, juliette
Susannah, you have posed such an eternal question for a Monday morning, sort of like the debate over what is the meaning of life or does your toliet paper go over or under the roll…
Unlined always and forever!
Valerie, so true :-D
we’re definitely in the minority…but i’m with you: lined all the way!
p.s. valerie, the toilet paper always comes OVER the roll, silly! :)
Susannah – like you, I need the order to come from someplace, so I have to agree… lined!
Yet, I don’t ever follow the lines… being left-handed I am constantly turning my notebooks off to the side so not to bump the binding while I write, hence my scribbles are also somewhat across the lines – pretty much like the thoughts in my mind :)
Thank you for a wonderful post today!
Lined.
I just stare at unlined paper. It makes me very nervous…
My immediate response was lined, but I buy blank. How odd.
Jodie, I’m with you. It just HAS to be lined. And the toilet paper HAS to come over the roll. My friends know when I’ve used their toilet cause I’ve always changed their loo roll to the *correct* way. Sorry, I just can’t help myself. I’ve done it in a stranger’s toilet too. Do I need help?!
Squared. I prefer squares. :)
I admit it, I’m a control freak, so it’s has to be lined!
Oh No. I have been fighting a note book splurge all day. It started this morning when I was making a list of things that made me happy today as it was such a bright sunny morning, and I wrote down “notebooks”. Then at lunch time I found myself strolling very slowly down the note book aisle in a local store and at the point I saw my hand reach out to a floral patterned little number I had to literally drag myself away.
The other day I strolling around Cardiff when my pen ran out and I ended up in Rymans buying two extra small but really cute Moleskine pocket books, which I have not dared write in just yet as I want them to be used for something just perfect, I know I sound crazy but I feel comforted to know I’m not the only one – or am I? What is about a fresh new notebook that makes me feel like this? Is it the idea of a new beginning each time, a fresh start.
Unlined: I like plain paper best as I like to doodle, and I’m always annoyed when I have doodled “a keeper” on a lined page.
unlined is sexier for sure
Lined, exclusively. I am obsessed with white lines notebooks, and they offer a version with grid paper, which is the inspiration for my blog header.
I love unlined, because it seems like there are more, and more possibilities for it’s purpose…
But when I start, I realise I need lines, for some order.
Which just means more stationery shopping. Tsk. Tsk. :)
Lined. No hesitation at all on that one. I can’t write straight without the lines.
Lined. I hate it when my writing gets all slanty.
You are a girl after my own heart. Stationery makes me swoon! I could spend all day in The Paperie, a local shop filled with the most lovely writing paper and notebooks, stickers and labels and pens and ribbon… Aaah…
unlined!
Oh surely lined, for i am already somewhat all over the place, must have those guardrails to control me!;)
UNLINED, baby. I don’t want anything competing with what I’m laying down. :)
K.
unlined.. my journals are usually filled with whatever pops into my head, be it words or rants or sketches or magazine images! lined paper makes me feel confined.
oh dear, i’m undecided. i just like paper period–graph, too!
unlined…. i’ve just got into journaling and i use A5 sketch books – as I like to doodle ;0)
usually lined :) depends what i’m writing :)
unlined. definitely.
Unlined, when I can find them! I always find that the notebooks with the cutest covers are lined… and all they have in stock for us unlined people are the boring black “sketchbooks”. Which is really only sort of true… but it’s how I justify buying even more unlined notebooks when I have a stash already! :)
I have a bit of a notebook addiction and my preference is tons of order, gridded!
i actually like lined AND unlined. i sound like i need for so much but i love the ability to write in script lovely little notes and then to break out on a blank page….all in the same book. i also have the infamous notebook disease and although i’ve checked out the food inspired ones, i have not seen the pantone version. oy! i’m in a week bit of shopping trouble….
for a notebook? lined. If not I slant all over the place, and I have no qualms about drawing on lined paper.
definitely unlined. i get a bit uptight with the lines, it feels very much like i have to fill the entire page.
i’m also a bit of a stationery freak…current obsession, flat note cards with an envelope. i love journals too – i use a moleskine, unlined reporter journal that’s vertical, but i love it horizontal..the rectangular shape really suits me. and i have an 18 month calendar so i can keep track of work. it has blank pages for jotting down notes. ok, enough from me.
I prefer the freedom of unlined notebooks. You can write as big, small, crooked or round as you want to.
OMG that pantone notebook is amazing.
and i prefer unlined.
Lined. Bit sometimes, it depends … OMG, Susannah !!! I gave up trying to develop willpower to resist that temptation … I just run away as fast as I can ;o)
Lined, but preferably white lined so I just have a faint line to follow to keep things neat and tidy…
Lined – I’m an English teacher:) Although a notebook which combines the two is perfect. I think if I searched in my store at school, I might still have half a pack of the ones you got once you began writing stories, you know, the ones with a big blank space at the top for your picture and then half a page of double width blue lines. I may have to go and poke for them tomorrow!
i actually love sketchbooks that are unlined.
i used to have diaries that had lines in them and i hated the way the lines would intrude my doodles on the side. it would look hideous when i wanted to sketch something about my day rather than write about it.
i currently have a small moleskine unlined sketchbook which i acsolutely love!
I can’t believe the coincidence..
Earlier today, I think I spent nearly 30 minutes in a bookstore trying to figure out if I wanted the lined or un-lined 3-pack moleskines.
I prefer lined for diary purposes, but unlined for collages, school and more random stuff.
And since there are 3 in the pack, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to use them for!
Also, I somewhat wanted grid, but they didn’t have it at this store.
And then there’s the question of black or Cardboard. or blue?
Needless to say, I didn’t buy any (if my financial situation was different, I would have bought them all…) .
And have you seen their new Passion Journals?
unlined :-)
unlined ONLY. i like to feel the freedom ;)
+ i am a stationery addict…
Those first 3 lines sound much like me. I prefer lined. I like neat writing and neat looking pages. But after reading a few of these comments, I’m thinking I may give unlined another chance. =)
Lined. I hyperventilate if the pages are unlined. And yes, I have tried to get over that. :-)
I adore stationery, journals, notecards, paper. Last summer my husband & I went to Venice and found the most wonderful stationers….I could have bought everything in them, beautiful hand-marbled journals, handmade notecards, paper, on and on. I made him take photos inside one of the stores and I though I might have died and gone to heaven. I could live in a store like that. (Except I’d ruin all the merchandise from the drooling.)
Unlined…for sure~
I’ve had to answer to a bell (school teacher) for so long, I need some freedom in my life~!
(enter stacks of journals HERE!)
I once had a book (purchased from Borders) that was half/half. The cover on the front read “writing” and that half of the notebook was filled with lined pages. Flip it over and the cover read “drawing” and was half filled with blank paper.
I *loved* it, but haven’t seen one since.
definitely lined – I also need the structure and no matter how fine the lines are, they always take away the fear of the blank page
I too have an obsession with office supplies, I have an absurd amount of journals, but I always use them so that is how I justify it :-D And since the world of Art Journaling I have an obsession with stickers, scrapbook paper and sketchbooks! I prefer lined for journaling, I have a few moleskine sketchbooks that I use for art journaling and inspiration journals.. But my writing gets crazy too , but for your awesome class I am using an unlined notebook that has a great red cover that i can customize and I am gluing my pictures on the pages too.. Phew! long response to a short question!
Unlined!
A few years back, when I was getting back into my own writing (as opposed to the stuff I do for other people), I bought a pack of 3 large lined moleskine notebooks… and couldn’t write a damned thing – I switched to unlined and all of a sudden things were flowing.
I think maybe I just found the lines too restrictive and distracting.
I’m the same as you with stationery – I still have those erasers, and I’m pretty sure my fuschia pink dinky diary from primary school is still lurking in a box somwhere…
Pink pages? Oh … now I want one of those. But, y’know what? I’m forbidden, yes, forbidden, from buying, bringing home, any more notebooks. I love them so much, I have quite a collection. And stationary … yes! I love cards and such. And pens … but only papermate pens or maybe a bic.
Lined for writing; unlined for sketching and drawing.
Unlined. Because I can make the lines if I need them. On a “lined” I can’t erase the lines.
Unlined or quad rule for me please. If I have lined paper I feel like my writing has to be just that size. Sometimes I want to write BIG, sometimes small. I’m also addicted to paper goods – I can never seem to get enough! Just bought a new blank book yesterday… and a pen… and some pretty colored Japanese masking tape… and… oh really, I’m powerless.
I was in Japan last spring and discovered a high-rise department store with an entire floor for stationery goods. So many super cute notebooks! It was heavenly.
Lined for writing, unlined for messy art play.- There’s always room for both- why limit yourself in life to such hard choices- lined/unlined. I say have both and drink life deeply.
Gxx
PS I hope someone is keeping a tally.
unlined for me please!
although, I do truly love the French rule. I don’t know if that’s what it is called. But I buy, whenever I can, the Clairfontaine notebooks with the the rule that is almost like a bizarre graph paper–which I’ve only ever seen in Paris.
I’m not exactly a fan of pink, but the /yellow/ of that book is so amazing.
I only really keep sketchbooks, which are unlined, but i have no qualms about drawing all over lined paper. Personal journals are lined, since they’re chiefly for writing. I usually just buy composition books somewhere where i can get them for a dollar.
oh my, I love them!
stationery is a weakness for me, too, and my mother and sisters. Kind of runs in the family.
I prefer lined, because I’m a writer and I can’t imagine sitting down to a completely blank page and writing.
Great post :)
Both! When I have lined I want to draw all over it, and when I have unlined I want to write!
I’m a writer and an artist, so I think I need those notebooks Janine is talking about.
Lined, definitely, with narrow spacing. Moleskine is perfect. Squared if I can’t have lined. Plain doesn’t work for me unless it’s for collecting initial ideas and then I have to use big sheets of blank paper and coloured pens. Blank notebook pages wouldn’t work. My writing would end up all slanted.
Not only do I NEED lined paper, I much prefer it to be what we in the US call graph paper – like your background on this page. In a completely unscientific study of my journal writing over the last ten years, I have found that I write consistently more if I have a journal full of little tiny squares. I have no idea why!
definitely lined. Lined all the way. Blank pages give me the creeps.
Love, love, love notebooks too! But I am always in search of the PERFECT notebook…the perfect system…which means I have a tonne of notebooks half-used. Sigh.
Anyway, I am with you all the way — I like lined notebooks. I am a writer, not a sketcher!
Unlined. I need the freedom of it.
Lined. Definitely lined. But not Wide ruled. Big blank pages intimidate me, it always feels like if I don’t fill them with artful arrangements of photographs, sketches, witty comment and perfectly color-coordinated clippings, I am failing the beautiful journal and all of it’s promise. I like the safety and somehow lower expectation of the lines. (But that doesn’t stop me from trying to created that artful, blank-paged journal…)
Unlined for me. I love to doodle and write different sizes and lines constrict me.
Both, I like both. But since I tend to write in my journals, I use the lined more often.
I have WAY TOO MANY stationery supplies. Seriously. And pink pages? oooooohhh… want.
Unlined all the way. For me, the lines make it feel too much like homework. I’m going to be on the lookout for that little pantone number. The stationery addict in me needs to have it.
I can go either way. . . but only if the lines are on the skinny side. Those grade school notebooks with the wide lines are tricky :)
lined. but that is not to say that i always stay in them.
:)
xo Alison
Oh but how can one resist the call of journals. When I am in a store and see a blank sketchbook or blank book the heart
goes “Oh the Possibilities”!
I discovered Moleskines a few years back and love them!
unlined…but if the paper’s pretty colors….i could be swayed…
Unlined. I can never write straight on blank paper, my lines always slant down. But I like the look it gives, uniquely me, so I’ve decided to roll with it :)
neat blog! LOVING this:)
I love today’s blog post title.
I prefer a grid-lined notebook to ANY other kind of notebook. Not sure why, but I’m obsessed with those buggers!
Both!! it depends on who you want!! Like your love of books and pens though I won the panic of writing them .
this is the exact reason I became a secretary/receptionist…..we get to decided what the guys write on.ya. I get to order what and when I want…. so, if your an engineer it’s graph, if your an estimator is unlined. for me… lined.
Unlined, definitively. More poetic. A kind of freedom in a bank page, the best thing for a writer…
From a french reader who loves your blog.
Julie
Unlined! Always unlined. I’ve always been a collector of notebooks too, and I tend to fill them with writing, drawings and lots of scraps and stamps and bits and bobs glued down. That always looks better on unlined paper.
I love the pantone notebooks… but why don’t they have one in purple!
I prefer the grids of Boku Books. Blank is too intimidating, lines are not enough. Little squares have a flair to them and I can go straight or off in an angle depending on my impulse.
Lined. Definitely. I wrote in ONE journal that was unlined. I got 3/4 through it & I stopped. I couldn’t finish it. I got a new one with lines and felt all comfy/cozy again. :)
Lined. But it doesn’t stop me buying unlined, too!
I love lined notebooks because my handwriting is terribly messy. I *love* the Pantone notebooks.
got to be unlined…
WOW! just looks at how many comments you get by just simple asking lined or unlined… I’m amazed! And impressed.
I prefer unlined. I hardly ever buy lined notebooks unless the the cover is extremely gorgeous
Lined. Lines. Line.
I think there is something really beautiful in my writing when it follows the order of crisp, horizontal lines. I started a large lined moleskine when I began Mondo Beyondo, and I am using it for all my dreaming and scheming and note-taking these days. I forgot how much I love them — It was a total splurge (given the $$ situation), but it is completely worth it.
I am a notebook/stationary whore. I have transitioned to being more into stationary for myself and giving notebooks as gifts. I love pretty handmade journals, but can’t bear to write in them, so I buy them for loved ones. I think I’ve realized I’m pretty much a hardback moleskine kind-of girl.
Oh my gosh! your description here totally fits me!! I am definitely a lined girl- for exactly the same reasons!
This is totally unrelated to your post, but I just wanted to thank you, Susannah. I’ve spent the last few days going through your archives and it’s been so healing for me.
Love and Light.
-Amber
Since I do more writing than sketching I prefer lined all the way!
I like lines! I have a real notebook problem, I am always buying them, I can’t resist, there are so many beautiful ones to choose from these days…so I have a notebook for every aspect of my life, pretty soon I will need a notebook to keep track of my notebooks…
I love collecting and filling journals! I’ve kept most of the ones I had even as a child.
As for lined or unlined, I just bought a notebook about a week ago that is lined on one side and unlined on the other. It’s perfect!
i love this question very much
for me it’s must be unline
but sometime line in notebook make it’s looked classic for me
i wonder how your process and ideas may change and evolve if you were “forced” to use the opposite ~ unlined v. lined ~ for a whole journal…what would you discover about yourself then?
{btw, i’m unlined. lines kind of freak me out}
They have lined? HA!
Lined, usually red in color if possible.
Your post made me giggle because I too have a love of stationery & office supply stores. I always like to see the new gadgets and things they’re coming up with to organize oneself. I also have a number of pads from past art classes; everything from newsprint and calligraphy paper, with everything in between.
As for journals, I prefer lined for writing and the narrower the rule the better in spite of an uncanny ability to write in a straight line without needing lines. As for art journalling, I haven’t bought any journals yet, but have heard lots of good things about the Moleskines. I checked some out at the store the other night and was curious if all of them can be used for water media/paints, or if just certain ones are – I couldn’t figure it out by just reading the label.
graph paper. in a moleskine.
oooh – like you, my writing can get pretty crazy on unlined paper – but i like it… sometimes i like to write in swirls, and when the doodling fancy strikes, unlined paper is essential…
ps – you should see the stationary stores in korea and japan!! have you evern been??
Unlined! My writing is actually pretty straight and so lines tend to hem me in even more. I need the lack of structure from the paper to free my brain up enough to write freely.