Five Steps to Start an Old Fashioned Journal

1/24/2017

If you are not yet keeping a writing journal, start. Journal writing is a wonderfully therapeutic activity that can reduce stress and anxiety by creating moments of mindfulness. As writers slow down time long enough to reflect on life, a wonderful sense of calm and control can be had.

A few years ago, adults started coloring again and remembered that when we slow ourselves down for a little while, we recapture a sense of self. By closing out the distractions of our technology-based, fast-paced world, people reconnect with a slower pace that allows for mindful self-care.

When we slow ourselves down, we open ourselves up. Journaling can allow for extra time to reflect on our busy lives, can reduce stress, and can open opportunities for creative writing. Many people find it difficult to make time to be creative and express themselves, but journaling for a half hour a day can provide that opportunity.

If you have not journaled in a while, here are some easy steps to get started.

Steps to Start a Journal

1. Choose Your Journal Format

Different writers gravitate towards different mediums. It may take you a little time and experimentation to find what works best for you, but give move towards what appeals to you.

Many people report that writing by hand in a paper journal brings out the most creativity and free-flowing thoughts. If this appeals to you, then get a hold of a journal with the size and type of paper that you most like writing on and a pen that allows you to write as quickly or as decoratively as you like.

If you like the idea of slowing down by have let go of writing by hand, then consider a typewriter. Yes, I said that right—a typewriter. Over the last 10 years or so, a growing number of people have returned to typewriters for writing. Why would anyone in their right minds do this? Well, for the very reason that a laptop is impossibly distracting, a typewriter is incredibly focusing.

When a writer opens a laptop, they often open up apps, check email, glance through social media sites, and eyeball the news before every opening a document to begin writing. An hour can be lost in a flash with the annoying distractions of a laptop.

A typewriter forces a writer to hone in on the writing and disallows distractions in a manner that is freeing and uplifting. A typewriter forces a moment of mindfulness as the distractions of life fall away.

But, of course, writing the old-fashioned way isn’t for everyone. If your laptop works for you, then use it.

Today, people are more overburdened than ever before. Political tensions, climate change, and economic instability create the perfect storm for a stressed-out society. If you aren’t yet journaling, get The Simple Guide to Journal Writing and get started.

2. Choose Your Style

People journal for many different reasons and they use different writing styles to engage in the journaling.

Consider who your journal will be written for, because the audience can change the tone, flow, and function of your journal. If journal entries are written to a child, to oneself, to a deceased parent, to a spiritual adviser, or a general public, the entries will come across differently.

Writers compose personal journals to themselves and can be most intimate and open with this style of writing, because all limitations are removed. But for some writers, capturing the mindset of writing to oneself can be a challenge. By switching the intended audience to a child, a parent, or someone else, writers can capture the spirit of the classic journal without losing its flow and creativity by writing to a different audience.

This does not mean that writers need to share their journal writing with anyone than themselves; switching the audience is just a means for opening up the writing process. Choose the writing style that works best for you, but do not feel trapped by it; styles can be changed anytime.

A journal may begin as a series of entries written to a friend then turn into reflections written to oneself then turn into short stories. Journal writing styles might be reflective, creative, poetic, or in any style that suits best.

3. Write 3-5 Pieces in that Style

As with many activities, starting a journal can be the hardest part. The best way to jump into journaling is to dive straight in with a splash. If you have your intended audience and your writing style chosen, then write your first three to five journal entries.

Need help getting started? Try these prompts to jump start your journal writing.

Prompt 1:
Explain what inspired you to begin a journal. What about it is appealing? What do you hope to gain from your journal writing experience? How might you grow and learn from your journaling? Do you expect that you would share your journal with anyone else?

Prompt 2:
When was the last time that you wrote? Do you have a series of short stories from years ago? Were you writing just last year? Did you once compose poetry to share? What did writing do for you? Did it bring you peace of mind, a slowing of time, or an opportunity to think about life in a different way? Write about your experience with writing.

Prompt 3:
What is the story you hold inside you? Do you have a story that holds value to you? What is that story? Is it a history of your family’s genealogy? Is it a series of poems that reveal the fragility of the heart? Is it the great dystopian novel that changes the world? Is it a story or spiritual revelation? What do you know about this story? Why do you want to tell it? What will happen to you if you do tell that story? What will happen to you if you don’t tell it?

4. Do Any of the Pieces Warrant More Depth?

After you journal, take a glance through them. No one expects that journals will be perfectly written and contain perfectly edited and revised compositions. But you may want to glance back through your journal entries and add any details that came to mind after you finished just for the sake of getting all your ideas on paper.

5. Ask Yourself Questions to Expand Journal Entries

One way to advance your journal writing is to ask yourself questions to drive your journal writing forward. Depending on the content of your journal entries, you may want to brainstorm a series of questions that will help your motivation to keep journaling.

Writing daily is great for people who have open schedules, but some writers will find that writing two or three times a week allows for time in between journal writing to reflect on life and brainstorm ideas to include into the journal.

Journal Writing for Mindfulness and Self-Care

Is life sometimes overwhelming? Do the blues get you down? Today, people are more stressed out than ever before, but journal writing can help. Jumpstart your journal writing practice with this course, which is designed to help you establish a journal writing practice.

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