Journaling can improve your writing … but it does SO MUCH more than that!
The practice of writing down your thoughts in a journal each day – physically, not digitally – is a very powerful thing.
For one, it improves your writing. Not only does it get you into the habit of transferring your thoughts into words on a regular basis, it also helps you become more aware of your feelings and thoughts – ones you may not even realize you’ve been having. As a result, you’re often able to come to conclusions about important decisions in your life.
It also helps you focus. (I talked about this benefit of journaling in the July 2023 issue of my newsletter – “Need to Focus? Start a Journal!”)
Good Advice from a Professional
The professional I’m referring to was my creative writing instructor, whose class I took the last semester I was in junior college.
He not only taught creative writing, he practiced it. Every summer, he’d move to France, where he worked on stories. Not sure if he was ever published, but he was a very good teacher.
One of the things we had to do was write in a journal for 20 minutes each day. We also had to turn in our journals every few weeks.
He’d make notes in the margins, helping us see things that maybe we hadn’t seen ourselves. Like common themes – which are always good “jumping-off” places for stories. (By the end of the semester, I’d written three stories – another requirement for the class.)
While journaling that semester, I became a lot more observant of the world around me. Knowing I’d soon be moving to a small college town about 165 miles north of San Francisco (where I’d grown up) helped sharpen my focus, too.
Writing Becomes Easier
The amount of time you spend journaling each day isn’t as important as the fact that you actually DO it. As with most habits, repetition of an action day in and day out builds consistency.
The ability to write well is a skill that can be developed over time. And journaling is an easy way to do that. (Personally, I think even 10 minutes a day is good.)
Clears Your Head
As I mentioned above, journaling can also help you figure out answers to questions or issues you may be dealing with. Since our thoughts move faster than our fingers, writing thoughts down on paper helps to solidify our thoughts and makes them more “visible” … and often, easier to understand.
Easier to Focus … and More
One of the huge benefits of journaling is getting rid of the “mental clutter” that often distracts us throughout the day.
Less mental clutter = more ability to FOCUS.
Here are a few more benefits:
IMPROVES COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Journaling can give you a safe place to brainstorm possible (constructive) ways to deal with a difficult person in your life or on the job.
EASY TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW IDEAS. Not sure which direction to take? Write down goals and visions for your life and/or business. Or create lists of “pros” and “cons” with decisions that are more complex.
REDUCES STRESS. One of the BEST reasons to journal is to relieve stress. According to JMIR Mental Health, journaling is linked to fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The two resources I’ve listed below (which I also shared in my 2023 newsletter) will help you get started with your own journaling:
Creative Journal Writing (by Stephanie Dowrick) [pub. 2009] includes stories, instructions, writing exercises, AND a list of 125 writing prompts.
Writing Down the Bones Deck: 60 Cards to Free the Writer Within (by Natalie Goldberg) [pub. 2021]. Each card has a writing topic on one side and a short lesson on the back.
