Drop-Dead Easy Guide on How to Journal
I write. A lot. And I love it.
That’s why I’m a writer and not a waiter. A writer and not a salesman. A writer and not a pastor.
I like people. But I like words more. [Pray for me. Seriously.]
And that’s why it’s natural for me to keep a journal.
I’m comfortable on paper. Put me in front of a stranger…and I want out. Quick.
Don’t get me wrong: Before Christ I hated people and sold my soul for words. After Christ I loved people and sold my gift to Jesus.
But here’s my point: That particular discovery occurred while journaling.
So, whether you love to write or not, keeping a journal is a beautiful tool to help you in your spiritual and emotional life. Here are 20 tips to help you get started.
1. Go cheap and big.
You’ll see why in a minute.
2. Write junk.
If you have an expensive journal, you’ll tend to self-edit while you write…which is a big no-no. Freewheel. Give yourself permission to write trash. And go at it like a maniac. That’s when discovery emerges.
3. Keep more than one journal.
But not too many. I’ve got a fatty journal that gets the bulk of my thoughts and ideas. I then have a small notebook I take when the fatty is too much. Then I use Google Docs for an online journal, which I keep open while I’m on my computer so I can easily toggle between work and journal.
4. Make lists.
Grocery list. Saturday task list. Blog post lists. My journal is a dumping ground. This way I have everything in one place.
5. Carry it with you everywhere.
Either the big one or the little one. Don’t rely on your memory. And if you use the little one, copy the notes into the big one.
6. Write your name and phone number in it.
Losing a journal is an agonizing experience. Make sure it can find it’s way home.
7. Explore your feelings.
Disturbed, frustrated or sad? Then document those feelings and ask yourself why you are feeling this way. The idea is to sharpen your sense and heighten self-awareness.
8. Meditate and pray.
I find it very helpful to write prayers into my journal because it makes me aware of what I’m saying. Again, self-awareness.
9. Tape things in it.
Whether it’s an article from Fast Company or your daughter’s still life of a parrot…attach it inside your journal. Remember: Your journal is a dumping ground.
10. Keep a master list.
I’m not a fan of GTD. Too complicated. I go for GSD. The premise is a masters list–everything I want to get done. And I drive my daily tasks from it.
11. Use tabs.
Break a thick journal into sections. Devote half your journal to a diary, a quarter to master list and a quarter to prayer list. Your choice. Post-It Notes make nice tabs.
12. Doodle.
Your journal is not sacred. Be creative in it. Get it dirty.
13. Use highlighters.
I’m writing blog post and short story ideas into my journal all the time. Then I go through and highlight the post ideas in purple and the short story ideas in yellow. This way I can find them easier.
14. Map out your day or week.
I like to write out a blog content schedule two weeks in advance. I do it in pencil in my journal. Pencil so I can erase. Erasing is good.
15. Ask your children to write in it.
I adore the pages of my journal where daughter and son got a hold of it and wrote or drew pictures.
16. Keep your Bible notes in it.
17. Document your dreams.
Not all of them. Just the vivid, startling ones of note.
18. Put your hate into it.
For instance, write an angry email. Print it out. Tape it into your journal. Delete the email. This will save you tons of grief while nurturing that path of self-discovery.
19. Capture all thoughts.
In the shower. Before bed. In the middle of night. Rule is: Journal close, thoughts down in it. Who knows if that’s a juicy answer to a perplexing problem.
20. Adapt.
If all else fails, just grab some blank paper, fold it in half and stick it in the book you are reading. You can later tape the paper into your journal.
I’ll end with a quote from Walter Scott: “What is a diary as a rule? A document useful to the person who keeps it. Dull to the contemporary who reads it and invaluable to the student, centuries afterwards, who treasures it.”
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17 Comments to Drop-Dead Easy Guide on How to Journal
Wow. That is extremely helpful, Demian. Thank you for that. I hate to say it, but I have a love-hate relationship with people versus words, also. I’m struggling and slowly gaining ground with loving people more.
Just how big is your journal? No, seriously, do you find it cumbersome to tote around? I go back and forth from small pocket size to large ones. I may need to just suck it up and train myself to take a big one everywhere. I also need to discipline myself to write every day.
And the Google Docs idea is brilliant. I’m in Google Reader at least 2 or 3 times a day, so that’s a natural.
Grace and Peace to you.
I can dig digital journals. But I cannot read my own handwriting.
I used to cop-out and say blogging was my journal.
Demian FarnworthMarch 30, 2009
Van: My journal is about 8 by 5 inches, 300 pages. I just grab whatever’s on sale. 
—
Don: I have a hard time reading my handwriting, too. And I think blogging’s a legit way to journal. Not the only way. But legit.
I helped teach the Diary of Anne Frank to a group of sixth grade students recently. The students knew little or nothing of journaling, yet by the time they were done with the book, and through many creative writing exercises, they grew to enjoy journaling about the events of their lives.
Demian FarnworthMarch 30, 2009
Nice, Steve. We’ve been teaching our 7 year old daughter to do the same. Incredibly enriching exercise.
Parker McGeeMarch 30, 2009
“I like people. But I like words more. [Pray for me. Seriously.]”
Your words in this blog show your love for people. It is certainly a God-given gift of words. Be blessed as you have blessed others with your words.
Demian FarnworthMarch 30, 2009
Thank you Parker!
I love writing, but because I have a monkey-paw grip my hand cramps up before I get even a paragraph in. Political punditry scratched that itch online, but I went into hiatus after my stint with the non-political Witnesses, and then I didn’t want to tread those waters again after my conversion to true Christianity. Most of the old crowd I ran with have either drifted away or became as rabid as the groups they opposed.
I’ve been feeling that nagging urge to return to writing, though, especially now that I have Christ so thoroughly enriching my life now. So much to write about now, because when you have the holy Spirit in your life even the mundane becomes sublime!
–Denita
Aargh, I should preview before I hit Submit. Three “now”s in two sentences? I just committed syntactical homicide! Yipes!
–Denita
Between 1987 and the day before I got married in April 2001, I kept a journal. For the first few years I hand wrote everything. Then went I got a computer, I transcribed those written journals into WordPerfect and then eventually Word. I then wrote exclusively on the computer because I could get my thoughts downs quicker than on paper. I was obsessed with it for years, fearing that if I didn’t get everything down, I would lose my memories or something. I’m not sure how I weaned myself off of it. I guess I just quit cold turkey.
Looking back on it now, I think it was very healthy and in a lot of ways, made me think more of possibilities.
Mmm…maybe I should start again. But then I barely have time now just keeping up my blog!
Thanks Demian! I’m link-loving this post for Friday.
Demian,
Thanks for the encouragement to get back into journalling. I kept a journal for many years…then life got fuller and busier. Then I started blogging. I’ll have to rethink the journalling thang—Posts like this one are the reason I visit with you often. Many thanks.
March 30, 2009
[...] Topic: journaling [...]
Demian FarnworthMarch 31, 2009
Martin, Joe and Denita: You guys might enjoy my post 5 Reasons Why I Waited a Year Before I Launched This Blog. I think both our Christian walk and the business of life create that back and forth, feast or famine relationship with writing. Very interesting that you all sort of came at it from a different angle. I appreciate your thoughts.
Jon ClarkApril 3, 2009
Great post! Thank you very much for sharing these ideas. I have enthusiastically started journaling on a number of occasions throughout my adult life only to lose momentum and stop altogether. The trend I have noticed is during those times in life when my affections for God have been stirred up keeping a journal is more compelling. As for some of your suggestions, my 5-year-old daughter is always drawing pictures for me. I never would have thought to tape them into my journal. Also love the idea of breaking it into sections to include your to do list and your prayer list. Very helpful!
Demian FarnworthApril 3, 2009
Thanks Jon!
May 29, 2009
[...] Drop-Dead Easy Guide on How to Journal | Fallen and Flawed (tags: writing journal reference) [...]
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March 30, 2009