We all set them. Whether it’s for weight loss, achieving financial gain or for personal reasons, we all set out with goals or New Year’s resolutions each and every year. Did you do a lot of journal writing in 2009? Would you like to do more in 2010?
Once way to ‘jump start’ your journal writing in 2010, is to begin an entry by jotting down your goals with regards to your journal writing. Ask yourself questions such as:
- How often do I want to write.
- Be honest and if you simply don’t have the time to write every day, then don’t plan on it. You may choose to have a journal handy and nearby just in case you are ready to write. Maybe there is that one hour out of the week - perhaps while waiting for a child to finish an activity that you can pull out a journal and write.
- What do I want to write about?
- Take a few moments to think of some topics that interest you. Maybe you want to write about goals, relationships, emotions, or events. If you make a list at the front of a new journal (dated 2010), when you feel the urge or have the time to write, but can’t think of something to write about, you can check the list you made and choose a topic.
- Where will I write?
- You may decide to take your journal with you to a favourite coffee shop, or park. If you are the type that wants
total privacy, you might like the bedroom, or den. If you have an idea of the places you like to write, then you won’t feel intimidated to pull out a journal and start writing. You may even remember to bring a journal with you, as you predetermined your favourite places to write.
- You may decide to take your journal with you to a favourite coffee shop, or park. If you are the type that wants
- Do I need a new journal?
- Nothing motivates like a new, unopened journal. No, they aren’t meant for saving for ‘good’. If you were lucky enough to receive a journal for Christmas, then this is a good opportunity to crack it open and start your entry. If you are not quite getting that fuzzy feeling with an older journal, then maybe it is time to seek out a new writing journal - hmm - maybe even a leather one.
- Where will I find the resource topics (prompts) to help me get started with a journal entry?
- This blog entry you’re reading now, gives you a great start to 2010 journal writing! There are also a number of books and resources at the bookstore or library on journal writing. You can use the internet and look for ‘journal writing prompts‘. Prompts are one or two sentences that you can use to open a journal entry. You read the sentence, and then just free write what your brain suggests after reading the prompt. Just like the topics you listed, you can also jot down some prompts specific to your interests to save for a later time when you need something to write about.
By writing the answers to the above topics, you have already created a great start to your 2010 journal writing. When you do pick a time to write, take into account the hours in the day when your mind is fresh and you are feeling creative.