There is an excellent essay by Joan Didion from her wonderful collection, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, called “On Keeping A Notebook.” Didion writes about something not often discussed: why we keep journals, and what we should write in our journals (and why). This piece is incredibly valuable for all writers. You can find it online here.
I have been keeping a journal since my college years, and still to this day. Here are some images of my current journal, a Moleskine. As you can see it’s been ‘shaped’ from being in the back pocket of my jeans every night:
