How to Journal (4 Different Methods) - JEC

This article was written for Juniper Editing & Creative (JEC), a Canadian small business that specialized in book editing and writing life coaching. As of December 2022, JEC is no longer active.

Do you often find yourself too distracted to get your story done? Maybe you’re uninspired, or not quite sure where to start on a written piece?

These are common problems that writers—or any creative person—struggle with. Keeping a journal where you write frequently is a great solution to all of these problems.

There are many different types of journalling, and there isn’t a wrong way to do it. Today we're focusing on four types that we find are most useful: focused journalling, free-writing, brain-dumps, and prompts.

Free-Writing

Free-writing is best during the beginning stages of your work. From vague facts to obvious statements, writing down everything you know about a topic can help you see which aspects you’re an expert on and which ones you need to research a little more. Let your mind take the writing on whatever path it follows; it might even show you a new idea.

Brain-Dumps

Brain-dumps are great for when you feel distracted or overwhelmed. It's hard to be productive when so many thoughts and ideas are running in different directions in your mind; that’s why brain-dumps are a incredible tool to use right before working on a project. They help you get out and work through the jumble of thoughts and approach your work with focus and clarity. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar—just write down whatever is in your mind, whether it’s your to do list or something you observed on your way to work.

Focused Journalling

There’s a wide variety of focused journals for different needs, like gratitude journals, dream journals, travel journals, and art journals. These are especially great when you’re experimenting with something new and want to document the process and the results so you can know how to do it again—or maybe what not to do again. 

Prompts

Prompts are perfect when you’re feeling uninspired and unmotivated. They can help you develop your ideas, understand a character, or help you get over creative bumps in your path. Using prompts allows you to stay focused on something specific while still giving you an open space to let your mind run free.

If you don’t have any prompts in mind, here are a few to help you get started:

• You and your character are stuck in an elevator. What happens?

• What scares me the most about this project?

• Go on a rant about something that’s been bothering you.

  
  

Where Do I Start?

If you’re not quite sure where to start with journalling, you can start with one page about yourself and about why you want to keep a journal. It’s okay if it feels weird and unnatural—most new things do. The importance is to keep practicing and schedule in five to fifteen minutes each day to make it a habit. Soon enough, it’ll feel natural and the benefits will show themselves. Learn more about the benefits of journalling.

Want more writing tips? Check out the other #writing articles on my blog!