5 Journal Ideas for a Blank Notebook
It's beautiful. It has a gorgeous cover, cute clip art, and delightful stickers. It's your new digital notebook that you bought so you could start keeping a daily journal from the convenience of your iPad.
But now that you have it, you have no idea where to start. What if you mess up? What if it's not pretty enough? What if you can't think of anything to say? What if what you do think up is dumb?
We've all been there. Hi, I'm Lynn and I have a "what do I write in my new notebook" problem.
I've been keeping journals on and off since I was a kid. Writing and journaling has been one of the great creative joys of my life. It also can be quite frustrating. I don't know how many composition, spiral bound, Moleskin, bullet journals, and now digital notebooks I've bought over the years, but facing that first blank page is always daunting. I have bought notebooks because of their beautiful covers and then failed to write on more than one page. I have carried a single notebook with me everywhere and kept writing random notes, creative writing projects, gift ideas, directions to friends' houses (this was before smart phones, don't judge), and little bits of self reflection until every page, front and back was filled. I've done everything in between.
Love of writing, love of journaling, love of note taking and keeping a record — there's no wrong way to express it. But it can be hard to get started, or even re-started after a break. Over the years, I've developed a few go-to ideas to get me back in the journaling groove. I hope these help you conquer your own blank page.
1. Introduce Yourself to Yourself
"But wait, don't I already know who I am?" I hear you say. To which I reply, "Do you know who you at this moment in time?" What are the little details that you're dealing with today that you may forget in five years, or next year, or even a few months from now? Who are you today? That's what I'm talking about.
This is a one to two page exercise that I like to do when starting fresh. It's a good way to center yourself and really feel where you are as a person in your life at this moment. I start with "I" statements, beginning with simple facts that often evolve into more complex facts, dreams, thoughts, and feelings. Sometimes I keep it as a simple list. Sometimes it evolves into writing paragraphs about what's currently happening in my life. Here's how it goes:
"Today, I am 40 years old. I am married and still stupidly in love with my husband. I have a cat Josie, who is ridiculously cute. I'm a writer. I've published my first book. I'm working on the second, though it's hard right now. I have a small digital planner business, which is a new creative outlet even though I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a sister, I'm a daughter, I'm an aunt. I worry too much about my parents. I love chocolate but can't eat it anymore. I dream of quitting my day job, even though I also still love a lot of what I do. I don't like my commute, that's the real reason, and wish I wasn't so tired at the end of the work day. I don't spend enough time taking care of myself. I want to get into shape again, but I struggle with finding the time…."
And so on. You can keep writing short statements, or expand on any of them to dive into a topic. You can write them in a paragraph or put one on each line. The goal is that when you look back and read it later, the words evoke the You you are today.
2. Write a Letter to Past or Future You
This is a classic. I was first introduced to the exercise in my high school English class. It has a lot of similarities to introducing you to yourself, but the style is in the form of a letter. You are writing to your past or future self as if they are a friend. I recommend approaching this entry with kindness.
If you decide to write to your past self, remember that you were younger and maybe not as wise. You were still learning (as you are still learning today.) A letter to your past self can be a way to look back on a past hurt or shame and acknowledge it from a new, kinder and wiser perspective. It can be an acknowledgement of past dreams where you tell your past self how things turned out. It can be a reminiscence of a fun time you had, or an adventure that you still think about even though you didn't know its impact when it happened.
When writing to your future self, tell them what's going on right now. What's top of mind, what are you struggling with, what are your hopes and dreams. You can use the introduction prompts or chat — any style that suits you. I sometimes like to write letters like these in later pages of my notebook, so I stumble across it a few months later.
3. Narrate You Day
"Boring!" you say. I catch your hand. "No wait, don't go. Come back and let me explain."
Some people are diarists and journal about what happens every day. They'll write down what they had for breakfast, what time they got up, what they wore, if they were late or on time to work, little stories from the work day or family life, how the kids drove them crazy or how they're growing. The little struggles and little wins that happen every day, as well as the big life-changing moments that can catch us by surprise.
If that's you, then go for it! It's a fantastic way to create a journaling habit. Entries don't need to be long, just a quick summary. Expand when you have something to say. Historians or your kids or grandkids will love you for sharing what life was like in the early 21st century! (I'm not even kidding. Diaries about daily life are how we know about what daily life was like in the past, not to mention give perspective about what else was going on during turbulent times!)
However, if you're thinking your life is the most boring and have no desire to record the minutia, then that's okay too. I do encourage you to try it, though, just to see, because you might surprise yourself with what comes out of your fingers or pen. I say that as someone who is not a diarist, but who often needs a simple path to get me writing so that I can get to what I want to say. Starting with what happened during the day and how I'm feeling is like a warm-up that makes it easier to slide into other topics that my subconscious wants to talk about.
4. Write About a Hobby
Are you a reader? Are you a fan of a tv show? Are you obsessed with the Dune movies like I am? Maybe you draw, or make pottery, or are a bird watcher. Creative writing, Whatever passion you have in your life (your love life counts too!) is a wonderful thing to journal about.
Some prompt ideas:
How did you get into your hobby?
Who is your mentor or teacher or inspiration?
What do you love about it?
What projects are you working on/ books you are reading/ shows or movies you are watching?
Write a review or a recap of your project.
Write about the goals you are setting, then keep notes on your progress.
Make a list of things you want to do next.
Make a wishlist for things related to your hobby, like classes you want to take, or materials or techniques you want to try.
I've been writing fanfiction for *mumble*mumble* years, and half my past notebooks are filled with a combination of lists of stories I'm writing, notes about stories I want to write, complaints to myself about how much I'm not writing, and then more notes, outlines, and sometimes drafts of the stories themselves. It's fun to go back, check the dates, and see what I was working on back then, see which stories I ended up finishing and which I dropped, or reading early drafts that turned into really good fics. I can see a my progress as a writer from high school and college and through my twenties, which is really cool. Seeing that growth is one of my favorite things about keeping a journal!
5. Write About a Picture You Took
Camera roll time! Either pick a picture you took today or close your eyes and scroll or roll a die (or use random number generator), or just pick your 7th most recent picture. With a digital notebook it's easy to drop your photos straight into your journal. Then commit to writing 100 words about the picture. You can describe what you see, tell the story of what was happening, talk about why you took the picture — whatever inspires you.
I don't know about you, but I take at least a couple pictures every day. Sometimes they're from a walk in my park of the heron that lives at the lake or lovely flowers. Today I took one of the little cucumber sprouts coming up in my garden! Sometimes the photo is of me and friends and I'll write about the night out we had and how wonderful it was to see them, or sometimes (often) I'll stick in a picture of Josie, my cat, being ridiculously cute and tell a funny story about her. Pictures are worth a 1000 words, so put 100 under one to get a little writing practice in there, then boom, entry done. And for the public-friendly pictures, you've got something ready for social media too!
I hope these are helpful journal ideas. Give one a try! Let me know how it goes!
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