some grimoire-making tips:
-Depending on whether or not you're in a safe place to practice your craft, you may want to consider writing your grimoire/book of shadows in a code. If you do, make sure to store the key to that code in a place that is separate from your book of shadows.
-Decorate the cover and have fun with it, if you want to! You can keep it as simple as buying a composition book and writing your name on the front, or go as far as binding the whole book by yourself. Paint or decoupage the cover, crochet a cover/sleeve for it, get or make some bookmarks or use some ribbon glued to the spine. It can be fancy and clean and minimalistic, or look like a fifth grade arts and crafts project, it is completely up to you! It is yours. Do what you can to love the time you spend making it, whatever that looks like.
-Shitty handwriting? You can write up a word doc, print it out and cut and glue sections in. Or just let your penmanship add personality. Or both!
-wait until you've filled out all the pages you want to fill out in order to make your table of contents!
-Use a three-ring binder, sheet protectors, and divider tabs for a rough draft if you're worried about throwing it all into that $200 italian leatherbound journal you bought for it (in this economy? yeesh) or, alternately plan it all out in a word doc first. Or use a spreadsheet if that's your fancy.
-you can tape and glue flowers, leaves, twigs, and ephemera in there. did you buy a new tarot deck and save the receipt from your local metaphysical shop? Have the adoption paperwork from the humane society from the day you adopted your familiar? Stick those in there, if you want. Same goes with photos/sketchbook drawings/printouts of digital art
-save a chunk of space to treat as a journal for tarot readings/astrological notes/records of spellwork! you can also use it as a reference guide for herbs/crystals/divination info/associations and symbology.
-this is meant to be a personal book, so put your natal chart in there, if you feel so inclined! Above all, have fun with it!
