To journal or not to journal, that is the question

[Neverland Scraps]

I love to journal. I love to tell my story because let's face it, I have a terrible memory and if I don't, years from now I'll forget all those details. If you don't see journaling in my gallery, chances are it's on my printed page.

What about you:
Do you journal
Do you journal LOTS or just a few details like date/location?
Do you HATE to journal and never do it - why?

I know, this is a loaded question, but I'm always curious to see what people say, especially when it comes to journaling!

[joelsgirl]

Do you journal Yes, and I like to make pages that are more like pretty journal entries.
Do you journal LOTS or just a few details like date/location? It depends on what my page is about; if it's just about an event, then I usually just keep it to the details, but if there is something important to say, I'll say it, too.
Do you HATE to journal and never do it - why? Sometimes I like to just make a pretty page with photos I love, and I'm okay with that. I don't always feel like I have to say something on every page.

[rach3975]

My main reason for starting to scrap was to have a way to pair the stories and details with the photos. So yes, I journal most pages. My Project Life pages are heavily journaled, but my non-PL pages can have anything from 3 sentences of the facts to a few paragraphs.

As my kids get older, I'm doing more factual journaling and somewhat less journaling overall; that's why my PL pages have a lot more journaling than my other pages. Part of it is that tweens and teens don't generate as many cute stories and quotes (and are more reluctant to have those shared), and part of it is that I'm less comfortable being their voices at 9, 12, and 14 than when they were little. I don't always know what they're thinking and feeling anymore, even when I think I do.

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[LeeAndra]

Yes, I almost always journal.

I'm a much better writer than I am scrapper; I scrap so that people are more likely to read my stories. On the rare occasion that I get a GSO, it is always because my page is mostly or all journaling.

[aussiegirl]

I try to journal on most of my layouts! Sometimes there isn't much of a story to tell, so I don't journal much on those pages. Other times, I have to play around with my fonts and sizes so I can fit all the journaling I want to do onto my layout! If I don't journal, I at least try to add the date and who is featured on the layout. Sometimes, if there are multiple people on my page, I will label each photo with the name of the person. 20 years from now,my grandkids will want to know who is in each photo and the story behind it!

[SeattleSheri]

I almost never journal. I don't really have a good reason why

[cherrygutz]

A little bit of the three. Sometimes I scrap photo/s that doesn't need journaling because it speaks for itself, so I just put the dat and location. Sometimes I journal because the template is asking for it and/or because I wanted to tell the story about/behind the photo. Sometimes I get emotional scrapping a photo that I write a journal in a dedication of letter form for my daughter.

[ErinShannon]

I don't journal very much and it's mainly because I feel like I don't know what to always say and what I do say sounds so stupid to me. I try to include dates if I have them so someday the kids will at least know when it was or how old they were but I really suck at journaling overall.

[carrie1977]

Originally Posted by SeattleSheri

I almost never journal. I don't really have a good reason why

Same

[clearskies]

I always journal. Sometimes a sentence or two, but usually a paragraph. As I've transitioned in my scrapping, Project Life captures most of the small daily details, the journaling has become more important, as my pages are mostly things we have done.

[adi&co.]

I almost never not journal (did that make sense?? Lol) I write it all from my kids’ perspectives because it’s their book and I like that they tell the story themselves. I will never remember these details later in lofe!!

[dagi]

I try to, I really do! but I am not very good with words so that is my biggest struggle when scrapping.. but I've been working on it, that's for sure

[jak]

If there's a story behind a photo or something that I want to remember, yes, although its often still fairly brief. I'm not super talkative in real life and hence I'm not always super 'talkative' on my pages. A few words or sentences is usually enough.

For pages I post online I don't often do much journalling at all.

[mariewilcox]

I am definitely a journaler. I always tell the story if there's one to tell about the photos and if there really isn't a story I at least journal the date and where we were/what we were doing in the photos.

Now that my kids are grown, I journal from my perspective even though it's their albums. I include my thoughts about the event/place/person.

I do of course have some layouts where I don't journal; once in a while it's just not needed.

[ellasspace]

I rarely ever journal and when I do it’s almost always added to my layouts after the fact for printing. I don’t know why but I honestly find it to personal and prefer to keep it off the pages I post only adding for personal use. I know I’m a bit odd

[anelia]

It really depends on what I'm scrapping but my journalling is usually scarce. Most often I just add the date, place, event. However, if the thing I am scrapping is unique or very important I try to tell the story.

[craftytam]

I wish I was better at journaling. There are times when it flows easily, but most of the time, I really struggle to get words on the page. I'm going back to do old photos and I really hope I remember the details so that I can get them on the pages for my kids!

[Leablahblah]

I use to hate journaling.

But now I look at older pages and wish I had done it because I'm missing the context, or the cute little story that I wish I remembered.

I do it more and more. I just tell the story of the photo to you viewers that way I know that it can be read easily by others (my kids and grand kids in the future)

[Sheana]

I don't usually journal. I hate journaling and have a difficult time incorporating it on my page. If I add something - it is small like date/location or a couple of words.

[Neverland Scraps]

Originally Posted by luan37

I use to hate journaling.

But now I look at older pages and wish I had done it because I'm missing the context, or the cute little story that I wish I remembered.

I do it more and more. I just tell the story of the photo to you viewers that way I know that it can be read easily by others (my kids and grand kids in the future)

This was me...I look back at my printed albums and wonder why I scrapped it. Since then I try to add journaling because you aren't always going to be there to tell the story!

[Kjersti]

I hate hate hate journaling! I'm a math girl so writing/story telling is difficult for me. It's the last thing I do on a layout.

[aurian]

I enjoy journalling and getting those stories down on paper. Often I'll have at least a couple of paragraphs of writing on my page. I think of it as memory keeping for the future, that my children (who will be one day grown) will be interested in our lives back when we were little.

[Hpgirl]

Once I figured out the voice I wanted to use in my books, most of my pages include some journaling to tell the story (or to tell the adjacent story of the day). It took a bit of time to figure out how to write for myself rather than the gallery audience. I have been scrapping more pages without journaling, though. I take a lot of pictures just to take pictures with different backgrounds, so those sometimes get scrapped without journaling since otherwise I'd just waste space saying I saw a photo spot so stopped.

[adi&co.]

I also like to sort of journal through the title sometimes. It’s hard to get out right sometimes, and doesn’t always work, but a longer more wordy title will sometimes take place of journaling for me

[jacinda]

I love to journal. My kids' favourite pages are the journal ones. I don't always have journalling on my pages, especially if I'm trying to get pages done quick for the designers, but I always date each layout. Looking back through my gallery however - I'm always drawn to the journal heavy layouts most. I don't want to just leave my kids with photos. I want them to know the story behind it and how I feel about them. I also want to leave stories about me and my life.

[jaye]

It depends on the page, what the page is for and the mood I'm in if that makes sense.

My year in review books have journaling, some pages have snippets, some a few lines and some a story or two.

[AshleyMilfd]

I dont usually but only because the android app I use makes it painfully difficult. Otherwise my pages would be filled with journaling

[OrianaVianey]

I love to journal.
My layouts are all about the memories, so I always want to put at least a couple of lines on what´s going on on the pictures.