I was wondering because I don’t.

My pocket notebook (from the French Clairefontaine brand, but I will also use Rhodia) is, well, sitting in one pocket or another in my coat or in my bag, when it’s not in my jeans back pocket. It is sat on, its cover has been thorn in the first couple weeks of using it. It’s scribbled upon without much care (I often write while I walk, I will let anyone write stuff in it). I will tear off pages when needed. It rains on it (no idea why, my productive long walks the ones where I write the most are often done under the rain). This notebook is a workhorse and it shows.

And for my journal—a larger sketchbook (‘ArtCreation’ from the Dutch Royal Talens) that sits at home—the only sun it sees is when I write on the balcony of our apartment, the only water it tastes is the one I use with my watercolors set. It is much less beaten than my pocket one but I don’t take much care for it either. No one but me writes in it but it’s still scribbled upon everywhere, things are crossed out, sketches are started and not finished. And so on.

Am I that messy or is it common?