Journaling Tips

Feeling Stuck?
You can find Journaling Tips here from the
Journal-Write Newsletters archive.

These Journaling Ideas and Writing Exercises will
get you going! A new journaling tip is posted each week.

Journaling Resources - aticles, books, movies and websites.

Ten Minute Missives

Complete a Ten-Minute Missive

First, find a space of your own. This is your time - to and for yourself. Close the door and turn off all technological distractions (computers, phones, pagers, radios, TVs, etc.) Leave all Inner Critics outside (See "Managing MIC (My Inner Critic)" essay). This is a writing, not a thinking exercise. Get a pen and a writing pad or notebook. At the top of the page write:

WHAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY IS...

Write. For 10 minutes. Write. Whatever. Just write. Keep your pen on the paper. Permit whatever comes up to come up. NO THINKING, remember? And keep writing, writing, writing. If you want to keep writing past the first ten minutes, go for it.

After the 10 minutes (or more) are up, read what you wrote or not. What are you feeling? Are you intrigued? Surprised? Disgusted? Frustrated? All of the Above? None of the Above?

Sample Ten-Minute Missive

Contact Me for a WRITING LESSON

When you've finished your Ten-Minute Missive experience, contact me: Mari@CreateWriteNOW.com or call me at 781-834-6331 Monday through Friday 9 - 5 p.m.

Recommended Reading on Journaling

Journal-Writing Secrets

8 Ways to use a Journal to Defeat Writer's Block.

Is the Pen Mightier Than the Pill?
Please take out a pad of paper and a pen. Make that two pens, in case one runs dry. Find a place where you can have 20 minutes of privacy. Ready? Here's your assignment. Write about the most stressful event of your life. Continue writing until the 20 minutes are up. Tomorrow, do the same thing. You may write about the same topic or change topics. The important thing is to keep writing. If you need to fill time, repeat a previous topic, but don't stop early. Do the same thing the next day, three days in all.

Why are we suddenly giving our readers homework? What we just described is the exact exercise doctors used in a landmark mind-body health study that was published last spring in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The "Write" Path to Health - Unique Method of Journaling Can Help You Heal

James W. Pennebaker, PhD, professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin, and author of Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma & Emotional Upheaval (New Harbinger) has developed a form of journaling called "expressive writing," specifically geared to help people cope with illness and traumatic events.

Mental Organization

You may feel confused regarding your social interactions today. Perhaps you've had so many ideas floating in your mind that you can't remember what you told to whom. This confusion could be the result of mental strain, especially if your thoughts are not in order. It might be helpful to spend some time alone when you can put your mind in order. One great way to organize your thoughts is by writing them down... Read the full article

Insightful Reflections

Pondering life and what your overall purpose and meaning in it is can provide a wonderful chance to acquire more profound insights about yourself. This might be a good time to use a reflective tool such as a journal or stream of consciousness writing to guide you in your ruminations.

Chosen Thoughts

You may be approaching your affairs in an orderly and systematic manner and this could make you feel like choosing your words carefully when speaking to others today. This desire to edit yourself might be borne from the need to get your feelings across without causing another person an undue amount of conflict. While it is important to allow some amount of flexibility in your interactions, perhaps you could also spend some time journaling about your feelings before articulating them to someone else. Writing about what is going on inside of you today could not only help you plan your thoughts but it might also give you insight into the nature of the problems or issues that are on your mind, and could provide you with another way of looking at things before sounding them out to others.