Oh my goodness! There are so MANY ideas out there...most of the time it's hard to settle on just one...
But here goes...
Join a journaling group. This is a good way to keep yourself motivated and on track when you decide to keep a journal of your life. You will meet friends who have an interest in journaling and you will get inspired by what other people are writing about. Someone will write about their eventful day and you will remember a day when you did that too - then off you go...grab that pen and write your own remembrances. Join Christian Journaling on Yahoogroups
Join my own Journal Keeper page on Facebook.
Find writing prompts online. This year I hope to publish some writing prompts...so you can subscribe to my blog and find out how to be inspired. If those don't get you writing, google "journal prompts" and you will find MORE than you could ever possibly use. I have suggested a book in the sidebar - 365 Journal Writing Ideas.
Do Morning Pages (or Nightly Notes) Morning pages is an idea that Julia Cameron writes about in her book "The Artists Way" and others. (See the Amazon link in the sidebar.)
Every morning you write three pages - longhand with a pen on paper. You write whatever is on your mind and you do not stop until you have written three full pages. The topic can be anything that pops into your mind. As you are writing, you think of something else and you write about it until you think of something else to write about. Writing triggers more ideas - that's how it usually works! You start writing not knowing what you want to write about and you soon find yourself thinking of more and more to write. I personally enjoy doing this at night because it helps me to wrap up my day and get the thoughts and the 'to do list' out of my head and onto the paper...I sleep better at night because I empty my brain and its saved for me on paper so I can get a running start by re-reading it the next morning. Some people like to make a separate list of "To Dos" after writing their daily pages. Just the act of writing will get you brainstorming and remembering things you want to do.
Buy a new book There are MANY good books out there on journal keeping, journal writing etc. Go to a book seller's website and see what they have. Some of my favorite books are listed in the sidebar of my blog. (you can help finance this blog by clicking the links and shopping on Amazon. I earn a few pennies every time you do that) :-)
You can also find good books when you join a journaling group. Just ask them "what's the best book you've read on keeping a journal?" and you will probably be overwhelmed with the number of choices. Of course you have to weed through the suggestions and look for ones that fit your beliefs and your area of interest - but you will get many recommendations and reviews of good books from other journalers. People who keep journals usually read a LOT!!
Be aware that many writers now are publishing e-books that aren't worth the 99 cents that you can purchase them for. Look and see how many pages there are. Fewer pages = less value. They may have good titles but very very poor writing skills...Voice of experience.
Please leave the names of good journaling books you have read in the comments section at the bottom of this post!
Collect Quotes I like to collect quotes by famous people. Facebook is great for this. Every day people post photos with quotes. Right click and save the photos quotes and print them out to add some colour to your journal! Or, if you are good at handwriting fonts then use some coloured pens and fancy up your own handwriting. Joanne Sharp's Whimsical Lettering book is fantastic for this.
I will write about how quotes are true or not true in my life, how they "speak" to me, why I think I need to remember this quote etc. Maybe you want to write the quote down (or the writing prompt) and put it on a scrap of paper in a journal jar. Pull out the slips of paper one by one until you find one you think you have something to say about today...you choose!
Please add more of YOUR ideas about where you find things to write about below so others who read this post can be inspired to write too!
I love to read your comments, suggestions and questions about journal writing :-)
Just write!!!
Deb E
