Simply record all your excursions into nature. Write down what you see, feel and notice; add photos as well if wished. Create a nature journal that just focuses on a certain place (such as a river, a park, a secret bush hideout your backyard) or on living beings (such as redwood trees, monkeys, cockroaches). Create a nature journal to chronicle a particular trip. There are also several types of journals that are generally used for more specific scientific purposes, such as Grinnell journals and phenology journals (see the “Tips” section below).
If you can afford it, choose strong, high-quality paper. Even if you can’t invest in good paper, ensure that the pages are well secured, either in good book binding or spiral binding. Look for a journal book that has an interesting and high quality cover, or make your own cover to protect your journal’s contents. Consider any special needs. Perhaps any old pad will do for your purposes, but think it through. If you want to make very large drawings, for example, make sure you have a big enough journal, but if backpack space is at a premium, go with a smaller one. If you want to include watercolor paintings, get appropriate paper, and if you’re going to paste photos or souvenirs in your journal, consider getting archival paper. If you’re going someplace very wet, perhaps you’d best go with a waterproof pad.
Keep your journal somewhere that is easy to access. This will encourage you to use it more often, especially if it’s somewhere easily noticed.
Add your nature journal to any lists of things to take for hikes, camping trips, vacations, etc. That way, you’re less likely to forget to take it with you to new locations.
Take pictures. If you just can’t bring yourself to draw, photograph your subject. Even if you’re a great artist, you may want to add photographs to your journal from time to time. Photographs can be useful, creative, and sometimes absolutely necessary, but be sure to at least try doing some drawing, too. If you’re going to take pictures, be sure to leave some space in your journal to paste them in later.
Be descriptive. Try to ignore what you know about things you see, and write about them as though you’re seeing them for the first time. Be as descriptive as possible so that another person could pick up your journal 100 years from now and be able to picture the bird you wrote about and learn about it even if that bird no longer exists. While this may seem silly, keep in mind that antique nature journals have provided us with much of what we know about some of the many animals that became extinct in the past two centuries. You may wish to go into great detail about one particular plant, or you may wish to write only about the characteristics of the entire environment. Try to get the basics down, such as the weather and environment you’re in, and then write about whatever interests you. Write how you feel. If you feel awestruck by a mountain or calmed by the sight of a bee on a flower, go ahead and put that in your journal. A nature journal gives you an opportunity to respond to the natural world, and writing your response can help you understand who you are – and maybe even your place in the universe. Don’t censor yourself; don’t edit as you go along. Just let your thoughts flow freely onto the paper. Choose your own style. You may develop a consistent style for each entry into your journal, or you may just write and sketch in whatever manner feels right at the moment. How you write and how you structure your journal are choices that you alone can make (unless you’re working on a school or work assignment). Some people like to write their entries as though they’re writing a letter to a friend or to themselves. Others like to include poems or little stories. Just write.
If you’re keeping a journal on a specific organism or ecosystem, you’ll probably find it beneficial to do as much research as you can before you go out in the field.
