This is the third in our series of creative writing tips and prompts for writers interested in our creative writing retreats to Costa Rica and Mexico, and our virtual creative writing classes. Read on for advice for writers on how journaling can help you hone the craft of writing… particularly if you hope to write a memoir, of fiction inspired by life experiences.
The Connection Between Journaling and Creative Writing
Journaling is a way to document your life experiences. Imagine yourself in your late years, sitting by a sunlit window with a pile of journals on your lap, reliving your life, year by year, in stories. That’s how I’ve always seen journaling. But keeping a journal can mean other things, too.
The Advantages of a Dream Journal
Creative writing enthusiasts often keep a journal by the side of their bed, attending to their dreams the moment they wake, and recording them before they disappear. What better material could you have for stories and poetry than the creative workings of your subconscious?
The Connection Between Journaling and Mindfulness
Creative writing requires that we attend to the small details of life around us – the very things that may go unnoticed by others. Use a journal to help focus you on details you might otherwise miss, and you’ll create material you can work into your creative writing in the future. . You’ll open your eyes to things you never noticed before – the changing colours of leaves, the softening of the earth in spring, the migration of birds.
Keep a Character Journal
Record those unique characteristics that make strangers – and the people dear to you – unique. A gesture, turn of phrase, personal object or item of clothing – all these details can be used in your creative writing.
Keep a Magical Places Journal
What makes the places in your life special and unique? Look for small details others might miss, and you’ll create a vital resource for descriptive writing in the future.
Keep a Journal of What MIGHT Have Happened… but Didn’t!
Reality often misses the mark – being ‘almost exciting’, or ‘almost terrifying’. By keeping a journal of what might have happened, but didn’t, you create a terrific resource of plot ideas for future short stories, novels and screenplays.
In Conclusion: A Creative Writing Tip
Journaling can be personal… but it can also be a vital tool for those of us who love creative writing. On those days where you don’t feel creative enough to invent, simply recording reality is one way to keep on writing. Think of it as a default creative writing prompt.
Happy writing!
Julie Hartley is the director of Centauri Arts. Her poetry and fiction have been published in literary magazines in Canada and England. ‘The Finding Place’ – her novel for middle grade readers – was published last year by Red Deer Press. juliehartley.ca
