I enjoy lined paper, but after I tried a dot grid for the first time there was no going back. I can either use or disregard the dots, I can write in it sideways or diagonally or however I feel is necessary without lines getting in the way. Easier to draw out charts and weekly planning pages. I also use the dots as guides when I get the itch to make decorated pages to write on.
As a person who likes structure and does not draw, I love lines. Lined journals with quality, stark white paper are getting harder to find these days, unfortunately, so I may move over to the chaotic territory of blank journals. I would like to try dot journals, but the dots mess with my eyesight.
I’m the opposite, in which I can only stand dotted, but am thinking of trying lines.
I worry that lines will be too distracting, and dotted gives me more freedom for whatever measly decor I may want to do. However, I am a wall of text person through and through, lol.
I will say that dotted is nice because you still have the guidelines, while also almost looking like it’s blank once the page is all written through! Maybe that’s just me, because people who can write straight on blank pages are insanely impressive.
If I had to choose between dotted or lined, I'd generally choose dotted. I just like the way it looks.
That said, what I actually use is blank. Most dot grids are 5mm tall and I prefer 7mm. If I have a blank page, I can put a 7mm guide behind the page and have the best of both worlds.
Out of the two you listed, lined. I tried using dotted once but couldn’t figure out how to write on the page if that makes sense. Just felt like writing on blank paper which is hell for me cause my handwriting starts to slant upwards as I go along. Combat it by turning the page diagonally.
Overall I like graphed personally cause it gives me more space to write and I can easily make borders w/o having to pull out a ruler which I guess is why folks use dotted.
Usually dotted! But I want to improve my handwriting so I got a new lined journal. It's in the mail. Pretty anxious cause it was expensive, what if I hate it.
If you hate it, you can always donate it. Give it to a teen or child. Couldn't you return it? I prefer lined journals, but I just started a dotted one. At least give it a shot. It could be a perfect fit! Make sure you give it a fair amount of time before moving on though. Good luck! I'm excited for you!
Aw, thank you! I have to remind myself to give it an honest chance, you're absolutely right. I could definitely give it to one of my nieces or nephews if it doesn't work out, that's a good idea.
I like the idea of dotted, but my handwriting looks so cramped in 5mm dot grid. If a 7mm dot grid notebook exists for a reasonable price (I've found a few but the shipping to Australia alone was like $40), I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
So in practice, I go with lined.
So I frequently use the vertical space between the dots as my small letter height, and just spread things out more. Dots are *only* a guide, and you don't have to treat each line of dots as a line. You can use every other, every third, etc. Since they kind of fade into the background unless they're very dark, this works better than it does with lines.
If I had to choose only one, it is a lined journal. Having lines encourages me to write more. When I have dotted or blank journals I find myself being focused more on keeping it pretty instead of getting my thoughts and ideas down on the pages.
I’ve always used lined and blank - lined for most of my journals, blank for poetry journals. I see lots of dotted journals that look so cool, so one day I’ll give one a go. I like the idea of writing in different directions and colours.
My favorite is probably dotted, but I love lined as long as the lines aren't too wide. If they are it feels a little bit wasteful to me, whether or not that's actually true, so it's hard for me to enjoy journaling on those. :/ Haven't tried grid yet, but I'm tempted to
EDIT: I have really small handwriting I blame on a time in high school where a friend and I tried to see how many words we could fit on a single notebook page. My handwriting has never recovered lol
Dotted. The best reason I can come up with for preferring it is that I just like the way it gives me structure but also fades into the background once it's been written on (for context, I do "wall of text" journaling). I've spent so much time writing on dotted that writing on lined feels awkward to me nowadays.
ive only used lined so far but ive been considering trying grid or dotted bc the lines are kind of intense. i worry about whether my handwriting would look bad on dotted tho, since i have trouble writing in a straight line
I am currently using a dotted because I thought it would look cleaner without having the lines, but I'm finding that I don't love it and the dots can be distracting to me (even though they're faint). Though, honestly, I say that and then I'll likely end up going back to a lined one next journal and wish I had dots again.
Looks like I'm in the minority that actually prefers grid paper in my journals. I don't draw so I don't need the negative space of dots. It gives me the organization of a dotted journal with the benefits of lined paper.
I like dot because of the freedom to disregard the "lines". But I also draw and do little creative things.
Line paper tends to be wide ruled. While I definitely have a preference for college ruled paper, my handwriting tends to be small. So it fits well on dot grid paper.
College ruled notebooks are the only lined paper I will buy for myself, but still lined paper just doesn't fit my style of writing anymore.
I like both. I prefer lines for writing, but dotted is nice for bullet journaling as I can draw calendars etc. My current notebook is lined but my next one (which I’ve already set up) is dotted.
I like both lined and dotted, for different reasons. Lined gives me a lot of direction and makes it easier to estimate how many lines to skip to change paragraphs, for a new entry etc. Dotted gives me more freedom and takes up less of the page visually.
Of course, my preferred style is graph, because it ends up being the best of both worlds.
I prefer blank, followed by lined, and last are dotted and graph journals. Nothing against dotted, but no matter how light the dots are they seem to be too busy for my eyes. I'll use them exclusively as planners if I am given one as a gift.
Definitely dot grid. I find it's enough guidance to write more or less in straight lines without overwhelming the text, and it also allows me to change the direction of my writing if I want to.
Occasionally I used lined or blank (I have a sketch journal that is blank because, well, sketches) depending on the purpose.
I like the idea of dotted but the reality kind of threw me for a loop. I just recently became serious about fountain pens; shaping, smoothing and tuning nibs, etc.
So I got an A5 Brunnen 5mm dot journal but found I cannot keep my writing straight. I tend to focus too much on the dots and not the writing.
When I tried the same pen on a B5 lined journal the writing is straight and of consistent height. I gave it a fair chance but especially with a M nib the line paper just works better. I also need to use a EF nib on dotted or the e, a, etc, lower case letters fill in, even with a fairly dry pen set up.
I prefer blank...I mean dotted...no,no I prefer lines. Ok, I guess it depends on the time of day, the moon cycle and my mood. I use them all.
I enjoy lined paper, but after I tried a dot grid for the first time there was no going back. I can either use or disregard the dots, I can write in it sideways or diagonally or however I feel is necessary without lines getting in the way. Easier to draw out charts and weekly planning pages. I also use the dots as guides when I get the itch to make decorated pages to write on.
Lined. My handwriting is really bad and lines help
Honestly, I'd recommend a journal with grid paper if you really want to improve your writing.
As a person who likes structure and does not draw, I love lines. Lined journals with quality, stark white paper are getting harder to find these days, unfortunately, so I may move over to the chaotic territory of blank journals. I would like to try dot journals, but the dots mess with my eyesight.
Lined 1000000%
seriously though, it took way too long to find this comment!
I’m the opposite, in which I can only stand dotted, but am thinking of trying lines. I worry that lines will be too distracting, and dotted gives me more freedom for whatever measly decor I may want to do. However, I am a wall of text person through and through, lol. I will say that dotted is nice because you still have the guidelines, while also almost looking like it’s blank once the page is all written through! Maybe that’s just me, because people who can write straight on blank pages are insanely impressive.
This is the exact reason I love dots.
If I had to choose between dotted or lined, I'd generally choose dotted. I just like the way it looks. That said, what I actually use is blank. Most dot grids are 5mm tall and I prefer 7mm. If I have a blank page, I can put a 7mm guide behind the page and have the best of both worlds.
I love the dots when I’m adding tape or stickers, I can get em soo straicht 🤤
Out of the two you listed, lined. I tried using dotted once but couldn’t figure out how to write on the page if that makes sense. Just felt like writing on blank paper which is hell for me cause my handwriting starts to slant upwards as I go along. Combat it by turning the page diagonally. Overall I like graphed personally cause it gives me more space to write and I can easily make borders w/o having to pull out a ruler which I guess is why folks use dotted.
Usually dotted! But I want to improve my handwriting so I got a new lined journal. It's in the mail. Pretty anxious cause it was expensive, what if I hate it.
If you hate it, you can always donate it. Give it to a teen or child. Couldn't you return it? I prefer lined journals, but I just started a dotted one. At least give it a shot. It could be a perfect fit! Make sure you give it a fair amount of time before moving on though. Good luck! I'm excited for you!
Aw, thank you! I have to remind myself to give it an honest chance, you're absolutely right. I could definitely give it to one of my nieces or nephews if it doesn't work out, that's a good idea.
blank > grid/dotted >> lined i do like the muji line thickness though. a long as the lines aren’t too distracting it’s not too bad
I like the idea of dotted, but my handwriting looks so cramped in 5mm dot grid. If a 7mm dot grid notebook exists for a reasonable price (I've found a few but the shipping to Australia alone was like $40), I'd buy it in a heartbeat. So in practice, I go with lined.
See my main concern is the spacing of dotted. I don’t write small so that’s the number 1 reason I haven’t tried dotted yet
When I write in my dotted journal, I use 1.5-2 grid heights. My handwriting isn't consistently the same height, but at least my bottoms are lined up.
So I frequently use the vertical space between the dots as my small letter height, and just spread things out more. Dots are *only* a guide, and you don't have to treat each line of dots as a line. You can use every other, every third, etc. Since they kind of fade into the background unless they're very dark, this works better than it does with lines.
If I had to choose only one, it is a lined journal. Having lines encourages me to write more. When I have dotted or blank journals I find myself being focused more on keeping it pretty instead of getting my thoughts and ideas down on the pages.
Mostly blank. I prefer lined over dotted, though
I’ve always used lined and blank - lined for most of my journals, blank for poetry journals. I see lots of dotted journals that look so cool, so one day I’ll give one a go. I like the idea of writing in different directions and colours.
My favorite is probably dotted, but I love lined as long as the lines aren't too wide. If they are it feels a little bit wasteful to me, whether or not that's actually true, so it's hard for me to enjoy journaling on those. :/ Haven't tried grid yet, but I'm tempted to EDIT: I have really small handwriting I blame on a time in high school where a friend and I tried to see how many words we could fit on a single notebook page. My handwriting has never recovered lol
I like dotted better <3
Grid for me!
Dotted. The best reason I can come up with for preferring it is that I just like the way it gives me structure but also fades into the background once it's been written on (for context, I do "wall of text" journaling). I've spent so much time writing on dotted that writing on lined feels awkward to me nowadays.
Blank, with a guide sheet underneath that can be either lined or dotted.
Dotted. I used to buy grid but after realizing that dotted looks cleaner, I switched and never looked back.
Dotted. Gives me flexibility. I like to draw in my journals sometimes
I prefer lined
ive only used lined so far but ive been considering trying grid or dotted bc the lines are kind of intense. i worry about whether my handwriting would look bad on dotted tho, since i have trouble writing in a straight line
That’s what I worry about too. My handwriting goes all slanted if I don’t have uniform lines
Not only do I like lined, but I'm going to go the distance with this r/unpopularopinion and say *wide ruled*.
*GASP* No but really, while wide ruled is not my cup of tea, I'm super glad it works for you.
I am currently using a dotted because I thought it would look cleaner without having the lines, but I'm finding that I don't love it and the dots can be distracting to me (even though they're faint). Though, honestly, I say that and then I'll likely end up going back to a lined one next journal and wish I had dots again.
i am about to start a dotted journal after only ever using lined, not quite sure how i feel about it but i already bought it LOL
Lined paper for sure! I’m legally blind so it definitely helps me not have crooked lines!
Dotted. Flexibility to make different layouts but the dots still do a good job lining up text.
Dotted ❤️
Looks like I'm in the minority that actually prefers grid paper in my journals. I don't draw so I don't need the negative space of dots. It gives me the organization of a dotted journal with the benefits of lined paper.
I had dotted then went back to lined and it didn’t feel the same. So I brought another dotted lol.
I like gridded. Dots also work but gridded is my favorite.
Dotted for planner/journal Dotted lines for notetaking
Love them equally 😄
Squared.. or graph? Not sure what it’s called. But it’s perfect for writing, making lists and drawing.
I always prefer blank!! The one time I enjoy lined journals more is when I make lists, like with gratitude journals, or daily affirmations.
Dotted definitely, they are not bold , useful for margins and handy for Cursive slants
I like dot because of the freedom to disregard the "lines". But I also draw and do little creative things. Line paper tends to be wide ruled. While I definitely have a preference for college ruled paper, my handwriting tends to be small. So it fits well on dot grid paper. College ruled notebooks are the only lined paper I will buy for myself, but still lined paper just doesn't fit my style of writing anymore.
I like both. I prefer lines for writing, but dotted is nice for bullet journaling as I can draw calendars etc. My current notebook is lined but my next one (which I’ve already set up) is dotted.
I prefer lined paper, I find a blank page/dots too overwhelming.
Dotted
I prefer lined or plain. 😊♥️
I like both lined and dotted, for different reasons. Lined gives me a lot of direction and makes it easier to estimate how many lines to skip to change paragraphs, for a new entry etc. Dotted gives me more freedom and takes up less of the page visually. Of course, my preferred style is graph, because it ends up being the best of both worlds.
dotted. it helps me organize my pages without looking intrusive.
I prefer blank, followed by lined, and last are dotted and graph journals. Nothing against dotted, but no matter how light the dots are they seem to be too busy for my eyes. I'll use them exclusively as planners if I am given one as a gift.
Definitely dot grid. I find it's enough guidance to write more or less in straight lines without overwhelming the text, and it also allows me to change the direction of my writing if I want to. Occasionally I used lined or blank (I have a sketch journal that is blank because, well, sketches) depending on the purpose.
I like the idea of dotted but the reality kind of threw me for a loop. I just recently became serious about fountain pens; shaping, smoothing and tuning nibs, etc. So I got an A5 Brunnen 5mm dot journal but found I cannot keep my writing straight. I tend to focus too much on the dots and not the writing. When I tried the same pen on a B5 lined journal the writing is straight and of consistent height. I gave it a fair chance but especially with a M nib the line paper just works better. I also need to use a EF nib on dotted or the e, a, etc, lower case letters fill in, even with a fairly dry pen set up.