How to Write a Journal

Brief tips and advice on how to write a journal.

You have decided to keep a journal to store new ideas, record your life, reflect on personal issues or simply find the task in your lap. But where do you start? How do you write a journal? The process is much easier than you think:

How to write a journal in 12 steps.

1. Select your type of journal.
2. Gather your journaling tools.
3. Open your journal and record your personal information on the first page, this way if someone finds it they can return it to you.
4. Turn the page.
5. Number your page. Record the number in the top left, top right, top centre, bottom right, bottom left or bottom centre by doing this you have started writing and your page is no longer blank. If you are totally right brained and have a way with words skip this step.
6. Record the date in the formate that you choose, I personally like to write the day, then the date and then the year. For example: Today is Wednesday, the 13^th July 2010.
7. You may also want to record the time of your entry, and a brief note if it finds you at an unusual hour.
8. Write a heading or simply record the subject that you will be writing about, this makes it easier to find entries later on.
9. Refer to the section on journal writing ideas if you need some inspiration, topics and ideas to get you started.
10. Write freely.
11. Don’t censor your ideas or worry about correct spelling, grammar or punctuation.
12. Stay positive in your writing. We all have bad days and things that happen to us, mention them but remember to dig deeper and find some positive inspiration to colour the grey.

Journal Writing Prompts

A quote journal. Collect quotes, motivational messages or poems that inspire you. Write them down making a note of where you found them or how you got them and give a few reasons as to why you have chosen to keep them. It is also a good idea to record the date of each entry.

A free-writing journal. Set yourself a time limit or page limit and write continuously without stopping until your goal has been reached. Write down everything that comes into your head however random and unimportant it may seem. No censoring and no thinking.

More journaling prompts, journaling topics and journal writing ideas

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