How to write a Journal: Starting and Maintaining a Journaling Practice

Just about every self-development/mental health book and blog tells people to keep a journal, but not necessarily how to keep a written journal. You will get out of your journal what you put in. The more engagement with the process, the more you are likely to enjoy and get something out of journaling.

I’ll let you in on a secret – since there are not really any rules about keeping a journal, it is not particularly difficult to do, keeping up the habit is the trick. To start I would recommend you date the page and add your entries chronologically. However, I am sure somewhere in the world, there is someone journaling who is breaking these two ‘rules’ so, perhaps that makes them guidelines only!

Choose tools that fit with you

Choose a format that suits your life and that you think will be fun. You may delight in the feel of a fountain pen gliding over silky-smooth paper. You may want to sketch and write. Or use spelling checkers, grammar correction and search functions may be your thing. So your choice may be to write your journal using a computer, tablet or phone. You may like the idea of an app. Whatever fits with your lifestyle and suits your personality is the right choice for you.

These are a few tips to consider.

A journal kept in a notebook can offer a block of time that is off screen and you do not have to worry about your data being sold or leaked. The act of writing by hand lends itself to mindfulness. Keeping a written journal can become a block of time in your day where you make time for you.

A digital journal kept for instance on your phone allows for quickly dictated and written entries Ideal for busy people. Digital journals allow for easy searching, and multimedia entries. One note of caution with this method is to make sure you can export and back up your journal.

You can also mix the two. I am currently using an app that allows me to dictate any notebook entry. Most evenings I write in a notebook then dictate into the app. The app allows me to add multimedia such as video easily. What ever you decide choose the tool that feels right for you and one you’ll actually use.

Have realistic expectations and keep it simple

Don’t overthink the process. This advice sounds obvious but you want it simple enough so that you can continue doing it each day until keeping a journal is as natural as doing your teeth or having a shower. Doing your teeth is not something you overly think about doing or get in a tiss about you just do it. The activity is part of your day. No matter what type of journal you keep it should be simple enough to fit into your busy life. That way you’ll continue to use it every day. Honestly that is my key advice – keep it simple. All you need is to open the first page, or open a file, write or type the date at the top and start writing about your day.

Avoiding stall points

Sort out why you are keeping a journal. Everyone has a slightly different reason for being attracted to journaling. You need to know why, as this can give you a hint as to the direction your journal may take. Use your journal to write out why you are attracted to building the habit! Knowing why you want to journal will help you when you face that blank page and wonder what on earth you are going to write about.

For instance, you may want to track your fitness and record the exercise you do and the food you eat. Or what about the books you read or the music you listen to. Or you may want to track an interest, such as quilting or stitching and record what you do and capture ideas for projects or may set a creative goal such as learning to draw or write creatively. All these things and many others can be the main focus of a journal or you can include the lot!

In my own journals, I track quite a range of different activities. For instance, I record my morning walks, distance etc, so it is a record of that fitness goal. I also record the birds and animals I see. I started doing this after the Canberra fires in 2004, as so many animals disappeared. But as the forest has re-established, the animals returned and now I can see over the past 22 years what the pattern has been. I track my stitching projects in a studio journal but I often mention them in my daily journal. In my studio journal, I record the nitty-gritty stuff like what thread was used or what stitch. In my journal, I track the general progress of the project. I also sketch in my journal as I want to improve my drawing skills. These sketches are not of great importance other than keeping my hand in and providing a place to practice. You can use your journal to record anything you regularly do.

Be comfortable with your journal

If you are the sort of person who buys a lovely notebook then keeps it unused because to it ‘too nice’ to use the buy a cheap notebook and use that. If on the other hand an expensive beautifully bound notebook is going to make you feel special and committed to your journaling then spend the money on your self. You may be the sort of person who has found that keeping a digital journal fits in with your life. Well obviously that is the journal for you. The best journal is the journal the one you actually use.  

Your life is not perfect so neither will be your journal.

Your inner critic and perfectionism can really kill all pleasure not just in journalling but in all creative endevours! So you need to find a way to silence the Inner Critic. You might feel that your writing isn’t good enough, or that your thoughts are too shallow and undeveloped, or messy, boring and repetitive, or trivial.

Sorry, to be honest I have found that journaling can be all those things. When I look back on my journals not every entry is a dud but I do have my fair share! Here’s the truth: your journal is not a public performance. You are not sharing it on social media and nobody knows, sees or often even cares what you write. It’s a private space for you to explore, vent, reflect, and be real. There are no rules. Spelling and grammar don’t matter. You don’t need to be profound or productive. It’s a space for you.

With the exception of 2 breaks of 6 weeks, I have written a journal daily since 1989. My daily companion has been my journal. I have written some entries of substance on occasion. To be honest, much of my journal is the day-to-day stuff. Stuff some people would see as boring and repetitive. To my delight, the day-to-day stuff can become significant in time. The things I am stitching, the drawings I make, the books I read, the movies I see, the garden I tend, the designs I am working on, or the website I write, become interesting over time as they become part of a greater pattern. The pattern that forms is not just the pattern of my single life but also a description of the culture in which I live, and the times I live through.

Remind yourself that your journal is for your eyes only. You are under no obligation to entertain or be interesting. Give yourself permission to write badly, skip days, or go off-topic. The magic of journaling lies in showing up, not in being perfect.

Don’t worry about a word count

How much you write is simply not important. You will have some unmotivated days, don’t worry, don’t feel guilty, or beat yourself up. Simply write a basic entry. There will be other days to record and be energised about.

Your life is interesting.

Don’t worry about not being interesting enough. At one stage, I felt that I had to live a larger, more interesting life to keep a journal. I felt my humdrum existence was not worth writing about. However, when I read George Orwell’s Diaries (online here) I realised that even those whom we think of as having important, full and interesting lives, record the domestic. George Orwell recorded many things in his life, many entries are the sort we would expect from a famous author. His diaries are about writing, political events, and about the books he has read and people he met. But he also kept a vegetable garden so he records when he plants out, parsnips, carrots, lettuce and the like. George Orwell also recorded the number of eggs his chickens lay.

When I read the daily egg count I smiled as it illustrated to me that writing about the domestic and the everyday in a journal is OK. So my advice on how to keep a journal is to keep it simple, record your life – after all, it’s what you have got, so work with that!

Observe and look outwards.

I have encountered people describing attempts to keep a journal, but have given up because they got “tired of ranting and writing over-emotional stuff”. You do not have to delve deeply into your emotional life. Over time your emotional life will be reflected naturally. It is not something you have to do to keep a journal. For many people the only time they kept a journal is in their teen years and it is the only model they have. In the teen years, many people keep a journal as they grow into adulthood. As a result, many journals are angst-ridden documents. Keeping a journal as an adult is more about recording what you see and do.

What I call observational content shifts a journal from being one long emotional rant to something that can really be a useful tool. Sure, everyone has the odd rant in their journal, but not all the time – it can get boring! Look outside your emotional life, what have you been doing? What did you see today? Use your journal to record other aspects of who you are such as what you observe and think. Everyone has feelings, but that is not the only topic you can write about! Think in terms of observational journaling, recording what you see, do, and think about the world you live in rather than just the body you live in.

Record what you have been doing in the past 24 hours. Think about your key interests, the people you have met, books read, movies watched, podcasts listened to. Or write about changes in your life. They can be small and apparently insignificant, such as changes in the local landscape, road works or street trees being pruned. What amazes me is there is always something changing. Look at the larger picture too and describe your living situation, work, and relationships or what is happening on the News. World events do affect our life so record them. List the people and things in your life that you appreciate and write in detail what you are grateful for.

Time

Some people find it useful to set aside a particular time of the day and write their journal. Creating a ritual helps them develop a routine and consistency in their journalling. Long stretches of my life were of such regularity that I could set aside a block of time each day.

Other phases of my life, I write when I have some time – morning, noon or night it does not matter as long as I write. Journaling does not have to be done in one session. People often assume that you write a journal entry in one sitting. It is nice if you can as it keeps entries consistent but there are no right or wrong ways to write a journal. There are no rules you can keep a journal your way that also means when and where you write it. You can write for 15 minutes in your lunch hour and another 15 minutes in the evening or you use pockets of time in your day to write a few observations down. Often breaking up the writing into smaller chunks throughout the day means you observe more.

Everyone is different and choosing what is right for you will help you maintain a journaling habit.

Start Small

You don’t need to fill pages of your journal every day attempting to record everything. Writing your journal, does not have to take up a huge block of time. Begin with 5–10 minutes. Write a few sentences about how your day went and that is it. Job done! If you take the pressure off, over time, you will naturally write more. When you start and want to establish the habit of writing a journal the important part is showing up, not writing pages of profound insight.

Don’t Follow the Crowd

Journaling is for you and about your personal development. Creativity is not  keeping up with fashion trend. If you want to write and develop your written skills then bullet journalling is not for you. Or if sketching is your thing and want to illustrate your life then a traditional written journal is not going to be for you. If time is an issue and or if the time you do have is broken by family responsibilities then a journal you can do in small pockets of spare time like a bullet journal is for you. My point is that you need ask yourself “Is this activity a good fit for me?“ Be honest with yourself, as you don’t have follow the crowd. It’s your journal you can keep it as you like.

When You’re Stuck try a few Prompts

It’s normal to have occasions where you stare at a blank page and not know what to write. This happens particularly when you have on partly developed the habit. That’s where prompt based journalling comes in. These questions can spark ideas and help you get started. If you google “Journal Prompts” you will find literally hundreds. One of my standards to the write about what I am grateful for.

Add visual interest

Don’t forget in contemporary journals you can do more than write. If you are happy just writing, that is fine there are no rules. But you can combine visual elements such as photographs, sketching, collage, and painting. Adding ephemera collected during your day is fun and speaks of the times. Adding visual interest to your pages is a huge topic but in contemporary journaling writing a journal, can be accompanied by visual elements too.

Keeping a journal is a a process, an evolving journey. Journaling is a quiet rebellion in a noisy world. Every entry is a small act of noticing, of paying attention. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Start small. Stay curious. Have fun.

Do you have any tips for those who are starting out? Let me know in the comments.