Seven Different Types of Journal Writing
Every expert in the world thinks you should keep a journal. Physical trainers say keep an exercise journal and nutritionists say keep track of your meals. Oprah insists on a gratitude journal and business consultants recommend journaling workplace activities.
How much journal writing can one person do?
Of course, journals are, first and foremost, the forté of writers. Journal writing provides a sacred space where thoughts, ideas, stories, and poems can be recorded. We turn to our journals for inspiration and when we’re inspired.
Some journals are topical while others are a hodgepodge. You might use several different journals, each for different projects or topics or you might use one journal for everything. There’s no right or wrong way, and there are no limits to the types of journals or number of subjects that you can use to inform and inspire your creative writing projects.
Journal Writing Ideas
These seven different types of journals foster creative thinking and promote regular (daily) journal writing. Some are great for keeping track of your ideas. Others are good for solving problems or keeping yourself inspired and motivated to write. Try one or try them all, or just create one journal for all your creative journaling.
- The Dream Journal
The subconscious is a wondrous thing. Artists and geniuses alike have attributed some of their best work to the messages they received while dreaming. A dream journal is useful for anyone interested in exploring the subconscious mind, where creativity often lives and breathes. This type of journal writing is also ideal for folks who are interested in dream interpretation or trying to achieve lucid dreaming. For writers, journals that hold dreams will provide a myriad of images and plots that the waking creative mind simply can’t drudge up. Keep your journal near your bed and make sure you jot down your dreams as soon as you wake up, otherwise with each minute that passes, you’ll lose chunks of your nighttime imaginings.
- Art Journal
Even us writers have to admit that a picture is worth a thousand words. Symbols are particularly powerful and speak directly to the subconscious, which is where your muse might be hiding. Like a dream journal, an art journal is a clever way to get in touch with the deeper recesses of your mind, where some of your most creative ideas are lurking. You don’t have to be a fine artist to use an art journal. Doodles and stick figures will open up your right brain too! An art journal is also perfect for sketching your characters, scenery, and maps of the worlds you are creating for your fiction.
- Freewriting Journal
Sometimes called stream of consciousness writing, freewriting is a way to clear your mind of clutter. If you keep at it long enough, some pretty interesting stuff will emerge through your freewrites. Yes, it’s yet another way to tap into your creativity. If you can stop your conscious thinking and let the words flow, you’ll be amazed at the creative stew that is brewing just beneath the surface. You can do straight freewriting or try guided freewriting in which you focus on a specific word, image, or topic. It’s a great way to hash out conversations with your characters, accumulate raw material that can later be harvested for poems, and brainstorm for just about any writing project that you’re planning or working on.
- Idea Journal
How many ideas have you lost? If you make it a point to note your ideas through daily journal writing, there’s a good chance you won’t lose any at all. This is why so many writers keep a journal or notebook with them at all times. In fact many writers use miniature notebooks for this very reason – there’s nothing worse than coming up with a brilliant idea when you’re at a party, in the middle of a phone conversation, or trying to fall asleep. Keep your journal near your person at all times, and you’ll never lose an idea again. Or, pick up several miniature notebooks and keep them in convenient places – your nightstand, purse, car, office desk, even the bathroom!
- Inspirational Writing Journals
What inspires you? A sunset? A day with friends and family? A great movie or inspiring song? Quotes from the greats? You can record all the things that inspire you in an inspiration journal, taking notes from some of the world’s most successful creators. You can even paste photos and clippings, using images to capture moments that were especially inspiring. Then, when your creativity meter is running low, you can flip through your inspiration journal to capture ideas that ignite your passion (and your next writing project).
- Life Events or Diary
A diary is pretty straightforward — you simply record the goings-on in your life. Some people start writing journals in diary format for special times or events in their lives, such as when they are getting married or having a baby, traveling, or moving to a new place. This is a great place to start if you’re interested in writing a memoir or autobiography. It’s also a perfect place to record the real experiences that you’ve had even if you plan on fictionalizing them later. Some of the best dialogue, descriptions, and scenes come straight out of real life!
- Reader’s Journal
If you want to be a writer, read. Read a lot, then read some more. You just can’t read enough. If you keep a journal, writing about what you’ve read, you can capture what worked and what didn’t work from a writer’s perspective. You’ll pick up neat writing tricks, jot down techniques that you’ve observed other writers using effectively, and of course, as you read and get ideas for your own projects, you can include those as well. Best of all, you’ll have a place where you’ve listed everything you’ve read and by keeping notes, you’ll retain all of it much better.
Journal One, Journal All
Not all writers keep a journal. Especially with advancements in technology, writers are more and more likely to turn to their computers or handheld devices for all their writing needs. Don’t let technology stop you! You can always create writing journals using your computer. Start a document or blog and keep it up electronically. Traditionally, journal writing is done with pen and paper but that’s not a hard and fast rule.
But there is something to be said about putting pen to paper, something that the computer just can’t mimic.
What types of journals have you kept? Do you think journal writing is beneficial? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.
Music-Inspired Writing Prompts
Writing prompts for music lovers
At some point in their lives, all artistic people run into creative walls. Writers lose inspiration so frequently, they have their own special term for it: writer’s block.
Luckily, writing ideas don’t have to magically appear in order for creativity to start flowing. There are numerous tricks that we writers can use to lure the muse out of hiding.
Writing prompts are an ideal way to ignite a writing session when you’re feeling uninspired. Today’s writing prompts are all about music, and since pretty much everybody loves music, you should find at least one prompt among these that motivates you to write something.
Before you get started, you might want to go put a little of your favorite writing music on. You know, to set the mood.
Writing Prompts
You can use these writing prompts in any way you see fit. Compose a poem, a short story, a personal essay, or write a song (that would be rather fitting). Use the prompt as-is or change it to suit your needs. Most importantly, have fun!
- Almost every year, there’s a song that defines the time as an era, an anthem.
- If you had to learn how to play an instrument, which one would you choose and why?
- An old man who has been playing guitar all his life finds out he has severe arthritis.
- A young girl dreams of becoming a musician in an orchestra but her parents will not hear of it.
- Everybody wants to be a rock star. Or do they?
- Did you know that learning music at an early age promotes discipline and kids who study music get higher scores in math and language arts, among other things?
- While driving, you turn on the radio and that song comes on. The one that reminds you of you-know-who.
- Why do we get songs stuck in our heads? Does it mean something?
- There are many things one can do while music is playing – dance, drive, exercise, clean, make out, and…?
- Music has the power to…
Remember, choose the writing prompts that click for you. Write anything you want and change the prompt if you want to. Have fun and once you’re done, come back and tell us how it worked out for you.
Do you ever use writing prompts to spark writing sessions? Have you found them helpful? Got any writing prompts of your own to share? Leave a comment!
The Creative Benefits of Journal Writing
Practice makes perfect, right?
That’s exactly why journal writing is essential for writers.
Do all writers keep journals? Of course not. But most of us have kept journals at some point, and for most of us, journal writing has been instrumental in generating ideas, developing a strong voice, and learning how to flesh thoughts out onto the page.
Journal writing is an excellent way to improve your writing by taking a little time out of each day to hone your skills. It’s perfect for stashing all those creative writing ideas that you just don’t have time to develop right now, and journal writing gives you an opportunity to explore your thoughts in greater detail and to access those thoughts that are somewhat elusive.
Morning Pages
Probably the most famous application of journal writing comes from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. In it, she encourages people who are trying to connect with creativity to write every single morning. “Three pages of whatever comes to your mind — that’s all there is to it.”
Writing morning pages is like boot camp for your muse. By writing every day at the same time, you train her to show up when you say it’s time to work. Cameron’s methodology also involves turning off the inner censor, that little voice that berates every sentence.
The key is to simply let the words flow.
Think about this — if you write three pages a day, then in seven days, you’ll have twenty-one pages. In a month, you’ll have about ninety pages and in one year, you’ll have well over a thousand pages. That’s a lot of creative material to pull ideas from. And that’s why journal writing is a great tool for all creative people.
Get on the Writer’s Express
If you’re new to writing or want to explore writing as a career or hobby, then journal writing is your ticket onto the expressway to becoming a writer. You can use your journal to draft stories, sketch characters, jot down poems, or record the events of your daily life. Maybe after one year and over a thousand pages, you’ll be able to do some editing and publish your memoir.
Journal writing is also great for commercial writers (technical writers, copywriters, etc.), who spend all day writing and editing copy for clients. This type of writing is a lot different than writing stories or poems, so journal writing can help to get your head out of business and into more creative forms of writing. The creativity you cultivate will then seep into your professional writing and it will become more vivid and engaging.
Sticking to a Schedule
Even if you don’t stick to a rigorous schedule, it’s important to journal somewhat regularly. This helps keep ideas and language flowing and helps you to build the journal writing habit. You may only be able to journal on weekends or on certain days of the week. While I do think sticking to a schedule (preferably daily) is the best way, it’s not always realistic.
The most important thing is that you commit to journal writing and then proceed to keep your journal with you or nearby at all times. You can also carry smaller notebooks or scraps of paper and either glue or tape them into your journal later.
You’ll Need a Journal
I’ve been writing a journal on and off for more years than I care to admit that I have under my belt. Throughout all those years, I’ve tried every type of journal under the sun, and finally, I found my favorite for journal writing.
Technically, the Watson-Guptill Sketchbook is just that, a sketchbook. The pages are blank instead of lined, so you can doodle and write sideways.
Some writers can journal using anything — composition books, legal pads, napkins. I can do that too, but I don’t feel the connection to it as when I have my own sacred space especially for journal writing.
When I journal, I usually do freewrites or describe the goings-on in my life. Sometimes I write about my goals or beliefs. Other times, I draw, and I usually do that with Crayola Markers of all things!
Journal Writing
Recently, I’ve got it into my head that I’ll start journal writing on the computer, now that I’ve got a shiny new Mac. But it’s just not the same as having that pen and paper in my hand. It’s almost like I’m closer to my creativity or my subconscious when I’m using a pen. I’m not sure if that’s true or even possible, but it sure feels that way.
Have you ever kept a journal? Do you keep one now? Let’s talk about how journal writing has impacted our writing or even our lives. And don’t forget to mention what type of book or paper you prefer to use for journal writing — or do you do it on the computer? Online? Is your blog your journal?
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