I have a hard time with finishing diaries as well. I've done it, but they end up being pretty spread out over the course of a year or two before I actually fill them all the way out. Sketchbooks are definitely easier.

I actually really love using sketchbooks as quasi-journals – I try to date and add context to as many drawings as I can, which allows me to look back through sketchbooks and remember what was going on when I decided to draw a certain thing. I used to draw little comics about what was happening in my life, even.

But I got a lot less consistent about that when I started carrying a laptop around when I left for college, and then things got even worse when I acquired a smartphone a few years later. Now if I have restless fingers they tend to start scrolling instead of scribbling.

Maybe the tumblr exodus will be a good excuse to start generating more of my own content instead of passively consuming...

Thanks for the sketchbook recs! I'm still working my way through my first Moleskine. Sadly, the results do not look anywhere near as cool as the photos other people post of their doodle-saturated Moleskines, but hopefully I'll get there.