Although not always the case, common journals can frequently be identified by some sort of mechanism holding the pages together, in this case a leather belt. This is necessary due to the very nature of a journal. With the owner commonly adding and removing pages to it, all while writing new entries day in and day out, it's a wonder the binding alone holds together, let alone hold everything in place.

It should be noted, however, that other, more effective binding methods have been tried in the past and some continue to be used to this day. Stichings, while slow to add to and remove from, are generally more stable and readily available at your local tailor. Some people have found luck with magic bindings, though that spell interferes with most magic writings in the book itself. This typically means most mages can't keep their work in one anyway. And there's always the orcs, who prefer impaling the entire stack of papers with a large, sharpened object. Though effective, this makes the pages a bit difficult to read. This, of course, is rarely a concern to the orcs, very few of whom can read to begin with.