By Eleanor Murray
Writing a journal is the perfect way to harness your creativity. And if you are not a creative person, journaling is still a great way to help you process and communicate complex ideas. But how do you get started?
Writing a journal is the perfect way to harness your creativity. And if you are not a creative person, journaling is still a great way to help you process and communicate complex ideas. But how do you get started?
1. Do not fear the blank page
Start by thinking small. You just need to write or draw something in the journal every day to get into the swing of it. When you first sit down to try, you may think your life is pretty boring and you have nothing to put in your journal, but as you start to think harder, you'll realise how much you see each day. Challenge yourself to easy tasks such as writing a list of everything you consumed in one day, or a list of five things you saw, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. Another exercise is to drip a blob of ink on to a page and blow it with a straw. It's so simple but incredibly satisfying to make spidery, tree-like shapes.
2. Avoid screens
The experience of keeping a journal is much more creative on paper than on a computer. When you write, you’re physically immersed in the world and slow down, whereas on screen, your senses are used in a less engaged way – you skim more. Something different happens when you put pen to paper: the pace of writing or drawing slows you down and gives you more time for thoughts to come in.
3. Be destructive!
Give yourself permission to experiment, play around with material and make a mess. What does it feel like to rub dirt on the page? See what happens when you do. Above all, stop caring about the outcome. It doesn't have to be great, but exists as something you did that day. The whole point is getting stuff on the page.
4. Make it yours
Take chances, just drop stuff onto the page and see what happens. One great exercise is getting a magazine or newspaper, something with lots of nice colour, then cutting out circles from several pages of it, so you have around 50 of them you can play with; combine the colours, see how they mix and match or drop them randomly and glue where they fall. It's so fast to do and very satisfying.This could work with anything: piece of paper found on the ground, labels, ticket stubs, anything with numbers on it, a thin piece of bright orange fencing from a construction site; anything you love or enjoy the colour of. Sometimes you may find these bits and bobs more expressive than words.
5. Just try it
Often, we don't try things, because we think we know what's going to happen: we make assumptions about outcomes. When you keep a journal, you realise that the really interesting thing is not knowing what will happen, and discovering an unexpected result. Give yourself permission.
All of us have a constant monologue that runs around in our head, and journaling can be as easy as tapping into that subconscious conversation and writing it down. For some people that monologue is not one of words but is rather series of images or colours. No matter how you think, you can find a style of journaling to express yourself.
How do you express yourself? Any tips on how to keep motivated and write successfully your own journal? Please let us know down below.
Start by thinking small. You just need to write or draw something in the journal every day to get into the swing of it. When you first sit down to try, you may think your life is pretty boring and you have nothing to put in your journal, but as you start to think harder, you'll realise how much you see each day. Challenge yourself to easy tasks such as writing a list of everything you consumed in one day, or a list of five things you saw, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. Another exercise is to drip a blob of ink on to a page and blow it with a straw. It's so simple but incredibly satisfying to make spidery, tree-like shapes.
2. Avoid screens
The experience of keeping a journal is much more creative on paper than on a computer. When you write, you’re physically immersed in the world and slow down, whereas on screen, your senses are used in a less engaged way – you skim more. Something different happens when you put pen to paper: the pace of writing or drawing slows you down and gives you more time for thoughts to come in.
3. Be destructive!
Give yourself permission to experiment, play around with material and make a mess. What does it feel like to rub dirt on the page? See what happens when you do. Above all, stop caring about the outcome. It doesn't have to be great, but exists as something you did that day. The whole point is getting stuff on the page.
4. Make it yours
Take chances, just drop stuff onto the page and see what happens. One great exercise is getting a magazine or newspaper, something with lots of nice colour, then cutting out circles from several pages of it, so you have around 50 of them you can play with; combine the colours, see how they mix and match or drop them randomly and glue where they fall. It's so fast to do and very satisfying.This could work with anything: piece of paper found on the ground, labels, ticket stubs, anything with numbers on it, a thin piece of bright orange fencing from a construction site; anything you love or enjoy the colour of. Sometimes you may find these bits and bobs more expressive than words.
5. Just try it
Often, we don't try things, because we think we know what's going to happen: we make assumptions about outcomes. When you keep a journal, you realise that the really interesting thing is not knowing what will happen, and discovering an unexpected result. Give yourself permission.
All of us have a constant monologue that runs around in our head, and journaling can be as easy as tapping into that subconscious conversation and writing it down. For some people that monologue is not one of words but is rather series of images or colours. No matter how you think, you can find a style of journaling to express yourself.
How do you express yourself? Any tips on how to keep motivated and write successfully your own journal? Please let us know down below.