Participants List Has Begun

People have begun to write to me and let me know that they have posted their pages. Saturday night I added three people into the participants list which is in the right-hand column of this blog, and labeled "2012 Pariticpants Who Post Pages."

Please go there and click on the links to find their fake journal entries. Once you get to an entry you might have to navigate about a bit depending on whether the participant is doing a dedicated blog for IFJM or a posting on a general blog, or creating a Flickr site. You're all bright and creative and I'll know you'll find your way.

I have sorted the list alphabetically by surname. I thought this would be easier as the list grows, to continue to find a particular journal you're keeping an eye on.

If you don't see your name on the list it means I haven't heard from you yet. Please take a moment to read the Contest Rules for instructions on how to contact me so that I can list you.

You can contact me any time until noon on April 30, as stated in the rules. (Because that will mean you had time to comply with the other entry parameters.)

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing what your characters are doing in their journals.

Day 2 in Roz's 2012 Fake Journal—And a Bit about Narrative Flow

Above: Day two in my 2012 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement. (Notice the shadows on the chimney and sky details as well as the time and window in the image's caption; it isn't the same image as yesterday.)

This is the second day's entry in my 2012 fake journal, April 2. A transcript of the text follows. The journal is a 7 x 10 inch handmade journal containing Nideggen paper. The pen used is a Preppy fountain pen. The pencil used in the drawing is a Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watersoluble Colored Pencil and the sky is rendered with gouache.

April 2, 2012 4:30 p.
Pauly just left. I've been nauseated all day. Samantha Burglund showed up today. It has been awhile. "Just checking in." We did a little dance around the elephant in the room. She's already decided on what she wants so any contributions I make are beside the point. It seems a backwards way of doing business. It's not a result of long years in the governmental sector—my father had lots of friends among government officials and none were quite like her. It's a personality trait reinforced by life experiences. I tried to comply and listen. But mostly it seems I'm just watching her dig a deeper and deeper hole for herself as she talks. I don't roll my eyes. I keep my face neutral—knowing that will make the meeting shorter. As if responding to some unseen, but triggered panic button Pauly shows up, all smiles and hardly a hint of formality. Samantha cut short her visit. Pauly has no news, just good cheer and some Sebastian Joe's chocolate chip ice cream. I haven't had it in so long I didn't even know they still made it! He left without wanting to share any. I'll save it for dinner.

[Image caption] April 2, 2012 12:20 p. window #3 Cement patches handled better yesterday…but today some clouds. Too bright to look out any of the windows on the south side.

Narrative Thread?

The other day I was talking with an artist friend about IFJM. I explained quickly how being out on a bike ride had helped me clear my mind about my character. I knew where things were going, how things would end up.

"Is it always then about a narrative for you?" She asked.

"Yes, in some way, though I don't know all the points of the narrative until each day unfolds. But there is some sort of over arching flow to the entire thing."

Even when I write as someone who can't talk any longer (as I did in 2010) there is a narrative thread of which I am conscious. It's part of the full game that I allow myself to play during the month. In a way it also helps parcel out the tidbits of information each day, because otherwise I would simply sit down and fill the book up in two days. (That sort of defeats the purpose of the project after all.)

Do you have to approach this as a narrative? And as a narrative does it have to have a beginning (even if you begin in the middle as I suggest), middle, and end? Does there have to be meaning to any of this?

No, there just has to be you, sitting down and putting on the mindset of the character who is keeping the journal; writing and drawing in his or her voice; in that moment in which you sit down, on that day.

What you can ask yourself, as your project goes along, is how important is narrative flow to you? And as your project develops you can ask yourself whether or not some narrative thread has snuck into your process.

The point of IFJM is to learn something about yourself. What matters to you will show up on your pages—you can count on it. Sometimes its very absence is the screaming presence you can't ignore. The great thing about a little self-reflection towards your fake journal is that you can take action in your real life.

April 1 in Roz's 2012 Fake Journal—with Background on How Her Project Evolved

Above: The first page spread in my 2012 fake journal. Read more about the journal, as well as a transcript of the text, in the post below. The journal is a 7 x 10 inch (pages slightly smaller) journal I handmade with Nideggen paper. The ink I used is just the normal Preppy Pen cartridge. The drawing is made with Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watersoluble Colored Pencil and gouache. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I can truthfully say that the two weeks before the start of IFJM 2012 were two of the busiest of my life: classes to teach, a talk to prep, classes to attend (in which I was a student), work to complete. I'm happy to report, that despite all that I started my IFJM journal as planned on April 1 and have been able to work in it each day since. 

However, the journal is not at all what I had planned earlier in the year. I am going to write about how all the changes from my original intention came about so that people who are interested in the decision making process can see how I go about it. 

But first here is the text you'll see on the page spread above:

no anger. just numb. no regret. They want you to feel regret and shame. There's none of that. Just silence, an empty silence, as if I'm waiting for what's next—but it doesn't matter if I wait because everyone else is planning, fighting, jostling over what is next for me.
And I am waiting, in this silence—listening to the purr of the fridge from the pantry and the soft chucking whir of the cable box…no television to drown it out, to mask it. I thought I was a bit addicted but I don't miss the TV at all, which is just as well. I may be giving in prematurely but if I lose it will be just as well to be accustomed to the silence. That type of silence. What I feel isn't defeat. It's just calm. A muffler in the distance. A large truck…so long to approach. A train reverberating on the tracks. There's a great deal to hear.

[Image Caption] April 1, 2012 6:48 p. window #4

So Where's the Stonehenge Paper and How Did I Arrive At This?

In an earlier post this year I wrote about selecting a journal for 2012 IFJM.

By the end of that post I knew I was going to be working with Stonehenge paper and it was going to be in a long, landscape format. But then life happened.

I want to write about it today to demonstrate that change doesn't have to mean you give up a project or goal. You can adapt your projects in ways that will retain their meaning and usefulness.

Briefly (because the details would be overwhelming and I want to get on and post my other pages), I started thinking in February that I would work on architecture this month. To accomplish that I started thinking what type of character would look at and draw architecture on a daily basis? How could I accomplish this task in a very limited amount of time. (At that time I thought I had about an hour to spare each day for this project.)

I began to feel a character speaking to me. She went to the same spot every day and drew. It was a corner near me. I sat for a bit wondering why she did that. (I was also considering if I could sketch on that corner all month long.)

Then my thoughts shifted. Because of the nice weather and the desire to have a bit of a walk each day as part of the process, I found myself thinking about drawing a particular bridge within a short walking distance.

There was at first one reason for why this person would return to that spot each day. She was waiting for someone. Or, immediately another reason popped into my head—she was missing someone. My mind has rather a dark turn to it (I did after all kill off my author last year). This idea quickly spun into simply missing someone. I knew I couldn't go a month with a sad topic like that. I've done sad topics before, but this one would be very dark. It was getting darker by the minute. (I decided to save this idea for a time when I was under less personal stress, and also not making my IFJM journal public. I do believe there is value in the resultant idea that needs to be explored.)

On March 1 I met Frank. He's a lovely little plastic toy chipmunk—actually he's about life-size. You'll see him in my regular journal at some point. On that evening, while out with friends, I decided that it would be hilarious to have the author of my fake journal sketch Frank wherever she went. I could still sketch architecture, but I would be moving around more, I wouldn't be focusing on something sad, and Frank would be interesting.

My goal of working on architecture could continued as you can see, but the topic and focus was shifting to Frank. And to fun. 

On March 2, however, I looked at the reality of sketching Frank and architecture every day for a month and realized that what I envisioned was a 90-minute-a-day project at minimum (without counting walk time). I knew I could not squeeze that time commitment into my days in April.

Frank was scrubbed and the long landscape journal was scrubbed.

At least I knew I wanted a somewhat upbeat topic and a very minimal amount of drawing time.

I began to get a bit nervous—what type of journal and paper would I be using; what topic; what medium? I put the whole project to the back of my mind and focused on pressing tasks at hand.

Then, frustrated one night I started to scribble with a pencil and drew the first of many fantasy people in pencil and light washes of gouache. 

The playful approach freed up my mind and my ideas.  I didn't want to work with fantasy people all month, but I knew I wanted to work with watercolor or gouache. I also thought I would work with toned paper and gouache. So I got out a pieces of Nideggen, Designo, and Kraft Stonehenge.

I tested all those papers for various painting techniques with which I might want to play over the next month. One by one the papers "fell" to the wayside. Nideggen was left standing. 

Nideggen doesn't come in commercially made journals. Each year I use a commercially made journal for my fake journal because it helps me distance myself from my character (and gives me a chance to try an new sketchbook). But I loved the way my experiments were working on Nideggen. Nideggen was what I'd use, I'd work some reason out for how my character had that book.

One evening a couple days before the end of March I looked out the window and saw the early spring sky, the bright clouds…I've always been interested in clouds. There is always a bit of sky around isn't there? "I think I could draw clouds for a month," I joked to Dick the next morning. He laughed and agreed.

By that evening I knew who my character was, why she had one of my journals, and why she was drawing clouds.

I'll not give the "mystery" of what's going to happen away. I only have a sense of what is going to happen because I let things evolve. But I'll have more to say about "evolving" in my next post.

In the meantime, if you choose to read along you'll find out about my character in the next several weeks. Now you know, that once again, what was thought of as a straight path to a straightforward project actually contained many twists that both my conscious and unconscious mind worked out because I gave it some breathing room.

Oh, and my daily time expenditure is under 30 minutes—perfect for right now. (Though that doesn't include scanning time—hence the back up.)

No Event Promotion Contest in 2012

Left: Blog margin notice button. See below for details.

In past public celebrations for International Fake Journal Month everyone promoting the blog by posting the image at the left in his or her own blog's margin column would be entered into a prize drawing.

This year, in an effort to cut back on administration duties (keeping track of the promoters and visiting their sites to check) I have phased this portion of the celebrations out.

Support of non-participants has been a huge part of helping the public form of IFJM grow.  I may bring this portion of the contests back next year, depending on my own schedule at the time.

In the meantime I want to thank past promoters again for helping get the word out. 

If you are a blogger who likes to include links to the various projects you are involved in as standing notices in the margin column of your blog, I still invite you to use the above margin image to promote the event and your participation on your blog.

If you would like to promote International Fake Journal Month on your blog you can follow this link to instructions on how to use this margin image. The only change to the instructions is that you don't have to go to Roz Wound Up to retrieve the image as I have positioned it here for you. Steps 5 through 7 are no longer active, since there is no contest for promotion this year. You do however have my gratitude for supporting this event and helping to get the word out.

How To Get a 2012 IFJM Button

"Details Matter."—That's this year's button. You can see it at the top of this post and at the top of the right hand column of this blog. A one-eyed chihuahua. It is a 2.25 inch round button.

In past years buttons have not been available until the end of IFJM when they were sent to participants.

This year I've had to make changes. I can't afford the growing mailing costs (over $200 for postage and packaging last year).

Buttons are still free, but they are available now to anyone who wants to pay postage and packaging. You can send me a check (Roz Stendahl) for $3 along with your address. Every Friday I'll go to the post office and mail out buttons. Send your request to Roz Stendahl, P.O. Box 141434, Minneapolis, MN 55414

If you and a nearby friend are interested in a button ask for two buttons. I can mail two buttons for the same cost in the same padded envelope, according to the Postal Clerk who weighed them. You can then just hand your friend the button.

If you are a Twin Cities Resident you can skip the postage and packaging cost and pick up your button at one of these two events I'll be attending: the April 5 Sketch Night at the Bell, or the April 16 MCBA Visual Journal Collective meeting. I will bring buttons for people who remind me by emailing me (rozjournalrat@gmail.com) that they will be there. Please email one day in advance—I don't always get to my computer on meeting days and I don't bring extra stuff to carry when going to these meetings.

I'm working on a way to set up purchasing the buttons using Pay-Pal, but it looks like I'll have to do something on eBay. If that works out the cost will be about $3.25 (to cover the administrative charges of eBay and Pay-Pal). I wasn't able to set something up before IFJM started, so if that's an option you want, please stand by as I work that out.

I can absorb the cost of having the buttons made, but I can no longer absorb the postage and packaging costs for this event.

Can you order a button even if you aren't participating? In past years only participants could get buttons. This year, because of the new system there isn't any quick way for me to police whether or not someone ordering a button is also participating. (Remember the changes are also to bring down my administration time.) So the answer is yes, you can. We'll assume you'll wear the button proudly and support the event, even though you aren't participating.

While Supplies Last—You're familiar with that concept—I'll keep sending buttons until I run out. I ordered more buttons than participants and blog supporters last year (all of whom, received a button). I realize some people won't want to write in for a button and pay postage and packaging, so I'm comfortable that I'll have enough buttons for anyone who wants one, BUT in the event I run out of buttons, I run out. You'll be notified and your check destroyed (or if we get the Pay-Pal thing going, your order will be canceled that way). I'll also post when I run out of buttons on this blog to prevent future orders.

Two more ways to get a button—
1. I've put a medium resolution file of the button at the top of this post. You have my permission to make one button for your personal use from that file. Simply drag that image of the "Details Matters" button to your desktop and print it out on your own color printer. You should be able to reduce it to the 2.5 inch size and have good resolution. Glue the image to mat board, cut it out, stick a pin back on it and bingo bango, you have a free button. (Get really creative and cut it out and put it in a bottle cap and fill it with resin and make a pendant or pin out of it for that matter.) (Permission is given for personal use only, you may not make copies in any way and offer them for sale—I'm not even making buttons for sale. You may make just one printed copy for yourself, that's the deal.)

2. If you go to the information page on IFJM on Roz Wound Up you will find, in that post, a file for a text only, rectangular button which you can also print and make into a button, for your personal use (again, not for resale). The text only button is towards the end of the post, after the explanation of the event. Instructions are right next to it. (The dachshund button at the top of the post is NOT what I'm talking about.)

I'm grateful that IFJM has grown to such proportions that I have to worry about escalating postage costs. However, I am sorry that I can't simply send buttons out as before. The buttons are so cheap to have printed it's an easy cost to absorb (and I love buttons), but the other costs are beyond my control. Thank you for understanding the change.

Now go have some fun working in your fake journal!!

International Fake Journal Month 2012 Starts Today: Details Matter

By the time you read this post many of you may have already completed the first entry in your 2012 fake journal. Congratulations! Keep going.

For those of you who haven't started yet, jump in. You don't have to journal every day (though it is most helpful to the process of discovery if you do), so sitting on the fence has not kept you out of the running yet.

If you would like to go public with your fake journal please read the 2012 Contest Rules here. You'll also see a photo of the prize in that post.

Every year I make buttons for this event. The 2012 button is now here and you can see it at the top of the right-hand column of this blog. It's a little one-eyed chihuahua with the slogan "Details Matter."

If you are participating this year I'd like to you take a moment to think about that slogan. The best fake anything is convincing because of the details it contains. But a pile of details is also the easiest way to spot a fake.

Details need to be artfully integrated into the whole. They need to arise naturally in the course of events.

In your fake journal you are working in the first person—you are the writer. To suddenly interject details that your writer would take for granted and not need to note in the normal course of his or her life will bring an air of falseness to your fake journal. (Of course if your journal's author has a brain disfunction then your approach is going to be different, perhaps.)

In 2009 my character was going to be dealing with a lot of new people and they were arranged in groups so she took a moment to write down their names and relationships on an early page of that journal. (It was really helpful to me and I wanted that in the journal so that 10 years from now I'd understand what was going on.) But if she had not just arrived in this place it would not have been normal for her to have done that. I would have had to discover a more natural way to include that information.

In other posts containing tips on how to create your fake journal I recommend beginning in medias res—just jumping in. Today when I work in my real journal I'm not going to spend 30 minutes writing a backstory of my life and habits. I'm going to jump right in and start journaling my life as it is this minute. Your character needs to do the same thing. If there is backstory that needs to be explored I have to find a way to insert that into the pages in a natural way, so that it gradually unfolds.

This is true even if your character is just starting a trip for instance. He isn't going to spew out backstory bits of information, he's just going to sit in the airport lounge and sketch and comment on the people around him. He may, if he's so inclined and it's within his character, start writing notes about things he forgot, or bemoan the fact that he already misses his dog Tiny and doesn't know how he'll cope with being away for 4 weeks. But he won't just come out and say those things—there's a difference. Part of the fact that details matter is that how they are released also matters.


This is a crucial part of doing a fake journal—and it is also one of the aspects that is the most fun.

If working with details like this is new to you I recommend that you take a moment to write out a backstory page or two about your character OUTSIDE of your fake journal. Put in the names of the people he or she normally deals with and what relationship they have to the character—for instance "Bill: the spouse." You don't want her to suddenly be sleeping with Jim on page 6 of your journal, unless of course that's what her character is doing.

All of these notes on backstory and character need to be outside of your fake journal because they are not really part of that journal. You can keep them in a little notebook or on loose slips of paper that you tuck into the back pocket of your fake journal so that you have it all together. But notes like that would not be anything the author of your fake journal would ever make in the journal. The journal is also an "artifact"—keep that in mind.

It is also completely fine to just jump in without any backstory and let the page entries over the month explain the character to you.

But again, there won't be a spewing of unnatural notes on the pages.

You might even find out that at the end of the process you learn a lot about what your character thinks of one or two people and not much about the character. (Actually you've just learned a lot about the character because of how he views others, but, well you get the idea.)

If you really want some concrete fact about your character to appear in your journal you're going to have to come up with a way to get it there. Perhaps the easiest way is to have him either take offense at or be pleased with something someone did or said to him. For instance he might write, "I was totally unprepared for Mary's screaming fit when I explained my reasons for firing her. Given the circumstances I think my comment on her review that she was unstable was justified." Or "I was touched by Mary's gift of a pie. Her note telling me that my kindness to her family at this time was deeply appreciated meant a lot." Or you can top that by including Mary's note as ephemera—and have fun writing in a different hand!

That's all pretty rudimentary but I think you can see what I'm getting at.

Embrace the details of your fake journal author's life. What he sees and how he sees it will be important, not just in creating a successful fake, but in helping you stretch your own observational powers.

Have a great 2012 IFJM. I look forward to hearing from you.

Want To See What You're Playing For?—The 2012 Contest Prize

Left: A handmade journal from Roz, see description below, is this year's prize. Click on the image to view an enlargement.



I've been trying to streamline the administration end of IFJM. The easiest way to do that was to cut back on the need for participants to email me with jpgs and updates and contact information.

In 2012 participants must do the following to enter the drawing:

1. Post on a public blog, Flickr, or other type website 5 (five) page spreads (or pages if they are working on one side of a page only) from their 2012 fake journal.  Ideally each page spread or page represents one journal entry. Journal entries must be from different days, i.e., all 5 pages spreads cannot be created on one day. Journal keepers who are writing short paragraph entries or doing multiple small entries must post entries from 10 days.

2. Send an email with the subject line, IFJM 2012 Participant, to rozjournalrat@gmail.com. The email must include a direct link to your fake journal blog, or if you are posting on your regular blog you must include a direct link to the first post (or first Flickr post and album). (If I can't find your images I can't list you so please make it easy on me.)

Throughout the month, as entries come in, I will create a list of 2012 participants. This list will sit in the right-hand column of this blog. Readers can use this list to check up on the progress of the various participants.

It is unnecessary to send any jpgs or other links to me. There is no need to contact me whenever you post another entry. All you have to concentrate on is making the best fake journal your days allow.

You are welcome at any time to send me a note about how your project is going, or a note asking questions  about the process. I look forward to hearing from you! With reduced paper work I hope to be able to respond more quickly!

At the end of the month I will use the participants link list as the pool from which to draw the winner.

The winner will be notified and asked to send a postal address where I can send the prize. If the winner doesn't respond within 72 hours of the drawing I will draw an alternate and repeat the process. The drawing will take place on May 4 and because of the notification and response time the drawing results may not be posted until sometime early in May.

ENTRY DEADLINE: You may enter the contest any time in April, even if you only discover this project at the end of the month. My goal is to encourage as many people as possible to try this experience. You must notify me by NOON on April 30 that you have posted your 5 entries. So in calendar time you will have to start your fake journal no later than April 25 to make the five page spread (pages) entry requirement. (See item 1 above.)

The prize is a 76-page, 6.5 x 8.25 inch journal, handmade by me with Gutenberg paper. This is a 180 gs cream paper with flecks and a slight pebbly texture. The paper takes wet or dry media well. In this scan of a gouache painting in a Gutenberg journal you can see the lovely laid texture of the paper. You can see another page from one of my Gutenberg journals here. (The actual page size of the book is slightly smaller than the cover dimensions.) Retail price on the book is $80.00. (In the event of unforeseen destruction I will provide a substitute of equal value.)

This is one of my favorite papers for journaling and I know the winner of this book will have a wonderful time filling it with "real" journal entries. The size is also wonderful for carrying with you every day.

What You Are Really Playing For

Prizes are always great, but in this event what you are really playing for is some self-knowledge and a bit of understanding about your real journaling process. Time spent in your fake journal might seem unrelated to your real journaling process, but freed from your regular constraints, considerations, paper, media, etc., you will find insights into what is or isn't working in your regular journal practice.

Use this time to discover how you like (or don't like) working in a new medium; how a certain commercially available journal works (or doesn't) for you; how a new size of journal changes your perspective; or how stepping aside from yourself for a few minutes a day shuts up your internal critic.

Private Fake Journals

Every year a number of people write to tell me they have kept a private fake journal. For a variety of reasons, all of which I respect and understand (not all of my fake journals are public), they don't participate in the public aspects of IFJM. I value their contribution to the effort and am always interested to hear about such adventures.

Often the most intense and meaningful discoveries are those we make privately while we work unconcerned whether or not our work will be seen by others. If that approach suits your needs I still hope you will participate.

And if your life doesn't allow the fit of one more endeavor at the present time I hope that you'll check back here every so often and click on the list of participants to view what they are up to. Take a moment to give them some encouragement and ponder where they are headed.

Selecting a Journal for 2012 IFJM and Some Pre-IFJM Contest Musing

Left: Some Stonehenge Journals with altered covers stand behind "fresh" wirebound journals. I'll be using the 6 x 12 inch blue journal at the back for my 2012 fake journal. Read below for details. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Because I make my own journals for my daily use I like to select commercially bound journals for use during International Fake Journal Month. This helps me distance myself from the "character" who is keeping the journal.

This year I started testing a couple types of paper and a couple commercially bound journals, but I wasn't finding anything that I liked. On a whim I took a 7 x 7 inch Stonehenge journal off my shelf and started playing with inks on the last page. I knew that my character would be taking walks so I wanted something portable. I thought that there might be a lot of architecture in the journal because I'd like to sketch more scenes and buildings. Suddenly I realized my character would be at the same place everyday and I would need a larger book than the 7 x 7 inch book. The "end" of the month flashed in my brain. I started to back off of the idea.

My reluctance came from the rather somber nature of the concept. For me IFJM was always about looking into the dark side of things, exploring my somber side. But when I went public on the internet with IFJM in 2009 I found that my projects, while still a bit on the dark side (there always seems to be some death or injury), were in many ways upbeat (at least in certain aspects).

Well the last 18 months I have found a tendency in my regular journal work to become more and more personal. I show less of it to others. I select portions I take to classes for student viewing more carefully. I'm moving into a more private mode, which is a typical cycle for me.

I realized that the IFJM idea I had "settled" upon was not something I could share publicly. I also decided it wasn't an idea I wanted to work on at the present time. I believe that character has a lot to teach me, but not now.

So instead this year I'm going to take a bit more playful approach. Currently I am thinking that there will be a recurring motif about a certain someone in my fake journal: his name is Frank. You'll meet him soon enough if I go that way. I'll include illustrations and a bit of text each day. As usual I'll begin in medias res.

In order to work in this journal I will be creating a backstory from which to work, but I won't be supplying any backstory when I post the images. I am considering holding a contest for readers to suggest a backstory and then printing both of them after IFJM. I'm still thinking about the contests.

You get the idea, there is a lot up in the air about IFJM this year. That's another reason I wanted to be a little bit more playful this year.

I'm focusing this year on making changes to the public face of IFJM so that it runs with less administration time for me. If I'm successful at my attempts it means that next year I can go back to my more somber and challenging ideas because I'll have more time to explore them.

Immediate Changes To the Organization of IFJM
This year, instead of asking everyone to send jpgs for me to post here, or to have people send me links to "x-number" of posts on their own blogs so that they can be eligible for a prize drawing, I will be asking that everyone post his or her own images on a blog or website for which a link can be provided.

As soon as a participant has posted 5 pages and sent me a link I'll go and check out their posts at that time. The link will then be placed in the link list of 2012 participants in the right column of this blog. The introductory material on the blog will direct readers to that list. Whatever shape the contest takes this year, the winner will come from that list.

This will immediately free up more time for me to make and scan my own work. And I won't have to keep track of links and addresses and such.

Watch for additional changes as they are finalized.


In the meantime, I hope you are selecting paper that you will enjoy working on for a month, ditto media!

Take a moment to read past posts about preparing for IFJM by scanning the category cloud.

It is most important to spend a little bit of time thinking about who your character is. He or she will be writing your journal in the first person, a little bit each day (ideally) or a little bit several times a week, during April 2012. You want to be sure that he or she is someone with whom you can live and grow.

To test your idea you might want to write a brief background of your character. This isn't part of your journal because it isn't written in the first person. It's just a little examination of who your character is, what she or he might want. What goals does your character have? What occupation? What quirks? How will you be able to pull off writing and sketching from the perspective of that person? Will you have to do some research? Will you be interviewing someone who has that job? Do you have the time, each day in April, to make progress in your project, in a meaningful and significant way? Which is more important to you—experimenting with a visual style or with the text? How does the project further your current art goals? How can you tweak the project so that it better supports your current art goals or personal goals?

Keep in mind that it is perfectly suitable to keep an IFJM journal with no text at all, and no explanation. Only YOU need to know what is going on and what will be a consistent action (and art action) on the part of your character. You do not need to explain anything to anyone! (I do recommend that at the end of the month you write a background note and paste it into the back of your fake journal so that 10 years from now you can remind yourself what the perspective of your character was—even who she or he was.)

So now it's time to do some serious thought for your project. Don't sweat it, just sit down and think about it, start taking some notes, let it grow. If you find an idea that appeals to you let it sit in your brain for a couple days and ask yourself "when during MY day would I be able to write from this character's perspective?" The answers may surprise you. If after two or three days you find the idea begins to lose its shine, go back to the drawing board for a new concept.

While I know that I'll be working in the thin, blue-covered book shown above, I'm not sure yet that my final idea has fully gelled. I have a couple weeks to let it percolate.

I hope you'll all consider joining me this year with your own fake journal. I look forward to seeing them.

Thinking about Participating in International Fake Journal Month?

If you've found this site or the sites of past participants in International Fake Journal Month (IFJM) and are intrigued by the idea of spending April 2012 creating a fake journal I suggest that you read the following posts, because they provide a great background and foundation for how to start, how to jump in, and ultimately have a great, creative, fun April!

If you know nothing about IFJM begin with a brief background of IFJM.

You can see a video flip-through of my 2009 Fake Journal here. There are other video flip-throughs on my blog, but this one will give you a quick idea of what's going on.

A recurring question from readers of this blog focuses on what the differences between Faux, Fake, and Fake Historical journals are.  This post will help you understand the differences and help you define clear boundaries for your project that will be ensure your success this year.

If you are wondering how to go about preparing for IFJM I have a description of my process from 2010 that will be useful. It will help you decide how to select a journal (the paper, the media, and so forth). It also discusses considerations of time management, goals, and subject matter. You want to be realistic in your goals so that you can be productive each day and still have fun.

If you're still sitting on the fence about preparation you can hit the "preparations" label in the category cloud and read a number of posts about preparation, but perhaps one of the most helpful is "Get Ready, Get Set—Now Throw Out All Your Prep."

I would also encourage you to check out the lists of participants from past years. In the right-hand column of this blog if you scroll down you'll find a list of 2011 participants and then later a list of 2010 participants. As 2012 starts up a list of those participants will also be added. These lists provide links to the participants' blogs or Flikr sites where they have posted their fake journals for that year. There is some delightful and inspiring art from these fakesters. Additionally you will see how each of them set up a "character" and circumstances for the author of the fake journal.

I hope that you will all consider joining in the festivities of International Fake Journal Month 2012—30 days of fabulous (I mean that in several ways) fun. (I'm working on the button right now!)

Time to Start Thinking about Which Journal You'll Use for 2012's International Fake Journal Month!

Above: Clairefontaine notesbooks.
Click to view an enlargement.

April first is still a couple months away, but it isn't too early to start thinking about selecting a book to use for your 2012 fake journal. I've been keeping my eyes open for likely commercially bound journals. Since I typically use my own handmade journals for my visual journaling habit I find that using a commercially bound journal helps to distance myself from my character for the month.

I received a note from Goulet Pens the other day that they had new Clairefontaine notebooks in stock. I use the larger lined notebooks (about 8.25 x 11.75 inches) for my written journals. I use the smaller journals with grids on the page or blank pages for notebooks and logs in the studio (computer log, blog log, etc.) It was time to reorder. Then I noticed that they had the French rule journals in a smaller size. (Typically I've only seen them in the 8.25 x 11.75 inch size.) I use the larger French rule journals for collage and sketching journals when I want to work on smooth lined paper and wet media is not going to be used a lot (the pages will buckle probably more than most people would endure).

Above: View of a page of French ruled paper.
Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I ordered three of the French rule notebooks in the 6.75 x 8.75 inch size. These are perfect for carrying everywhere and could be just the thing for a prolific character to journal in (lots of pages). (I have no idea yet what direction I'm going this year.)

I also ordered 3 of the small journals with gridded pages. Goulet took great care in wrapping them securely in plastic wrap and bubble wrap. They arrived quickly in perfect condition. You don't get to select the cover color that you like, but I'm happy with all the colors in which they are made so it's all good.

Now that I have them in my hands I'm thinking more and more what character would use one of these French ruled journals for a visual journal.

I'll keep my eyes open for the next several weeks and my mind open to possibilities—I suggest you do the same. Read past posts on how to select a journal for the event (the types of considerations to keep in mind) if you haven't participated before. Most important—keep in mind what medium you'll be working in. I haven't decided yet, but I know, looking at these journals that if I decide to go completely with pen and ink they will be a great choice. It's time to start thinking about all the possibilities for 2012's International Fake Journal Month.

Note: I'm not affiliated with Goulet Pens at all, except as a happy customer.