the craft. journaling works.

Writing is a muscle. At the end of the day, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes and that’s why writing prompts and journaling can be instrumental in our development.

I’ve heard many writers tell me that they can’t stick with journaling and honestly, I don’t think it has to be an everyday practice. However, it could help you begin the journey into discipline but I feel like that’s another email in itself. I don’t journal every day. But I try to do it as often as I can because this brain of mine works overtime. What journaling allows me to do is dump everything in my head out, so I can free up space to think about other things. Things like a work in progress.

There are many things that weigh us down from our jobs to home life, building for the future, finances, you name it. And I think it’s safe to say that when we’re bogged down by fifty million other things, it can be difficult to be creative. That’s where journaling can be a major lifeline.

Typically, I’ll have a resounding thought that I start with and pretty much stream consciousness from there. I think the last entry I wrote started, “So much can change in four years.” I’d watched the season finale of This is Us and when they flashed forward, Kate was marrying a whole other man, child. Spoiler alert, I guess if you haven’t watched already. But that meant in those four years, she’d divorced Toby, found another man, and fell in love enough to be marrying him. It blew my mind. It got me to wondering where I could be in four years. Do not recommend meditating on this cause that’s how you get anxious. Looking too far into the future.

My brain never stops. Writing it all down not only helps me free myself of these types of random thoughts, it also helps me to understand my voice. How the things I think translate in writing. It also works the muscle. I’ve written many entries that have become pitches for articles or blogs. It takes the pressure off and gives me space to be as brutally honest as I can. It’s important to develop that kind of courage in the writing we also decide to share with others.

If you’re not like me and don’t just think in random bitesize concepts like that, that’s where prompts are great! There are a million different journals and books that you can nab prompts from. Even on social media, folks like @ggreneewrites and @byamberburns among many others will share different prompts. I’ve even enjoyed writing in the “Becoming” journal by Michelle Obama.

It’s difficult to be only in your own mind and sometimes you need a jump start and that’s exactly what a writing prompt can do. One of the most important experiences I had as a writer was in college where I learned how to use all of life as my creative inspiration. It’s why I don’t have to wait for some miraculous thing to happen to be able to write. That came from prompting. It was seeing how a photograph made you feel. A word. An audio experience.

Don’t be afraid of doing the work that it takes to become a great writer. That may include expanding your creative influences. Below, I’m sharing a couple of prompts from great books that I have in my own arsenal. Feel free to try them this week.

From GG Renee’s Self-Care Check-In

Reflect: When it comes to self-expression, it’s important to have an outlet. How do you share or promote your creativity?

Focus: Do you feel self-conscious about your creativity? If you think of yourself as an empowered messenger for your gifts and ideas, how does that make it easier for you to share them?

Do: Take some aspect of your creative expression and plan a way to share or promote it. Don’t worry about it being perfectly executed, this is about the practice of sharing what you love. Take some time to write about what you will do and how you will do it.

From JaQuette Gilbert’s Write. Reflect. Create

Write about a moment when you didn’t think someone could change, but they did.

From Michelle Obama’s Becoming journal

Reflect on your greatest struggle. What was it and how did you grow from it?