Ah, the empty journal and the blank page, the land of white open spaces, vibrating with opportunities and possibilities, an adventure just waiting to happen. But nothing’s happening. It’s just you and that empty page and your empty mind and you’ve no idea where to begin. You need something to get you started, something to get your thoughts and your pen’s ink flowing.
There’s Only One Rule of Journal Writing: There are No Rules
The trouble with journal writing, like the trouble with so many other things, is our tendency to think there has to be a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your journal should be the one place where there are no rules. Your journal should be the one place where you can speak the truth or tell a lie, whichever you choose. You can be brilliant or thick headed, sweet or sour, creative or analytical. It all depends upon your mood.
You Just Need Something to Get You Started
But even when you know this, sometimes you just don’t know where to begin. That’s where journal writing prompts come in. As their name would imply, they’re meant to cue you to start writing. Here’s one kind of journal writing prompt I frequently use.
Life Sentences: Getting Your Life on the Page
A journal, at least in part, should be drawn from your daily life. The things you think about, the things you long for, the things you love and are grateful for: these are all fodder for turning blank pages into keepsakes. So today I’d like to suggest that if you aren’t already doing so, you might want to introduce yourself to the practice of writing Life Sentences.
Don’t worry. Life Sentences have nothing to do with going to prison. They’re actually quite freeing because they free you to collect all the things going on in your life without requiring you to think a great deal about how to express them and organize them. They’re also a great way to fill a page when you think you have nothing to say.
You simply begin with a phrase and fill in the blank to complete the sentence. Then, using the same opening phrase, you do it again and again until you’ve created an entire page or even several pages of Life Sentences. Once you finish, you’ll have a pretty good picture of what’s going on in your heart and mind. I promise you’ll be surprised by what you discover.
Here’s a list of suggested Life Sentence prompts you can use to get you started, but feel free to create your own as well. And if you find or come up with some really great ones, please don’t hesitate to share them in the comments below.
Life Sentence Prompts
I am thinking about . . .
I’ve always wondered why . . .
I’d really like to know how to . . .
I believe . . .
I hear . . .
I see . . .
I am . . .
I’m really glad I . . .
I want to change . . .
I have decided to . . .
I have learned that . . .
I’m afraid of . . .
I’m excited about . . .
I think it’s beautiful when . . .
I’m really good at . . .
I’d like to get better at . . .
I am becoming . . .
I love . . .
Yesterday, I . . .
Today, I . . .
I’d like to thank _________ for . . .
I’d like to tell ___________ about . . .
I once saw . . .
I remember . . .
I never want to forget . . .
Right now I am . . .
I know that . . .
I am grateful for . . .
Remember. The only thing you have to do is keep filling in the blanks until you’ve filled the page. You’ll be amazed by all the things going on in your life that have been slipping by you and through your mind without your noticing. Feel free to share anything you discover. I’d love to hear about it.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
This was a great list of statements.
I was surprised to see myself respond with “I am becoming an adult” I still don’t think of myself as one on some levels and other levels I feel much older than my 34 years.
Oh, Cecilia. You picked my favorite one of all. I am becoming . . . Whenever I feel as if I’m not who I want to be, I remind myself that I am becoming who I want to be and that gives me peace.
I’ve been wanting to write a blog entry about getting past that blank journal page. For years I collected really beautiful journals which remained blank for, well, years. My thoughts weren’t “important” enough to record.
The trick I used to start putting my thoughts and ideas into my journals was to think about those unimportant thoughts in a different way. For example, if my grandmother had kept a journal about things she considered unimportant, I would have treasured those little glimpses into the real parts of her life.
They only have to be important to you. That’s the beauty of it.
I’ve written “a” (various) journal(s) since I was a child, and it has accompanied me till now. I think it isn’t easy for all, because not all can write their own emotions and feelings and thoughts. But according to me it’s a good activity and, as you say, it’s creative and perhaps “liberating”.
I would say anyone can write about their emotions. A simple way is to say something like, “I feel sad that . . .” “I feel happy that . . .” “I feel angry that . . . ” “I feel grateful that . . .” Emotions almost never occur in a vacuum. They come with a “that”.
Hey, hey, what’s with saying there are no rules and then giving us some?
Still, good inspiration for those journal-stucks.
Guidelines, Natalia, guidelines. And it’s only meant to get you started. Once you’re started, you can go any direction you choose.
I love to journal. My challenge is that the things i write tend to be very personal and i wouldnt my journal to get into wrong hands. I am married and i am afraid if my spouse read my journal it could bring big problems to our marriage. Anyone who has had to deal with such a case?
If it’s not so important to you that you come back and reread everything you write, you could opt to simply dispose of the pages you find too intensely personal for roving eyes. Another trick is to simply write the first letter of each word. You’re still going through the act of working through your thoughts and emotions, but no one will know what the heck you’re saying. If you’re comfortable with a keyboard, you can create a blog and make it private. Most blogging software provides this option. I know Wordpress does.
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