|
A journal is something to remind us of our ideas and thoughts. Someplace to write down that great idea for a novel that comes to us in the middle of the night. A journal can be all of this plus much, much more to a writer. Many people keep journals, but a writer’s can be his or hers best tool.
What to Use as a Journal
A journal can be a purchased bound book made specifically for the purpose. It can be a program on your computer. On the other hand, it can be a plain old notebook. The last one seems to be the best. Easy to tote with you, economical, if you fill one just grab another. I personally use the last, taking it one step further. I have several notebooks with a bound, zippered binder to keep them together if I am traveling, or off to the park and want to review something I have possibly wrote down in more than one of them. I also keep a small, pocket sized memo book in my purse for when I am in the car or standing in line and I have an idea or two.
Privacy
The one downfall of any journal is privacy. A journal should be a place that you can write down ‘anything’ that you want. Making sure you are comfortable with who has access to your journal should be done when you first start. You do not want to intentionally hold back something, later wishing you would have wrote it down. The idea of a journal is to help you organize thoughts and ideas, and you should not be intimidated about putting these things down on paper.
Best Time of Day to Write in a Journal
Whenever one feels like it! Some people set aside a time each day to write in theirs. Others will write on and off throughout the day. Overall, the main thing to keep in mind is consistency. Thinking later that you should have wrote something down and then not being able to recall exactly what it was that you wanted written down will do you no good. Try to get in the habit of writing at least a few words or sentences a day in it. Writers lead busy lives and actually ‘forget’ about their journals. You need to set a ‘schedule’ in your mind to the fact that you have a journal and to use it. When, each day, you do this will be a personal decision.
Where to Write
Keeping two or three separate notebooks is perfectly acceptable. This will give you the freedom to write wherever it is convenient too. One by the bed for dreams and ideas that come to you as you are falling asleep or when you first awaken and have thoughts spilling out. One in your purse or bag, or one in the cars glove box. Most writers I know have a central place they do their work and a journal should be kept at hand there. Again, the main idea to keep in mind is accessibility. If it is at hand, you will use it. If it is necessary to keep looking for it, you will never get in the habit of using it.
What to Write in a Journal
Whatever comes to mind, but try to keep it at least a bit organized. Think again of accessibility. If it is so disorganized that you can not find something you wrote down without going through everything, you may end up not using it. Dating your entries is always a good idea. I keep track of nearly every aspect of my writing, daily life, and thoughts in mine. Each day I will write appointments that I have coming up, deadlines to meet, or new ideas for articles. I also write at least one thought about something that happened in my day. This could be about a conversation I had with an elderly person in the supermarket, or the weird looking bird that was on my feeder, or even just a thought or two about something that just popped into my thoughts. If you are the doodling type and even a bit artistically inclined, go ahead and draw. Your journal will be as personal as you are as an individual.
What Not to Write in Your Journal
Is there really anything you should not put in your journal? Yes! Grocery notes are at the top of the list as journal space wasters. Before I said that if you are even a little artsy, go ahead and doodle away. If you are not, save the scratches for the phone book cover. Notes about picking up dry cleaning or when the next scout meeting is should also be saved for a separate list. If you feel that these are things, you want to keep track of, save them for a separate notebook.
Using Your Journal
What do you do with all these thoughts and ideas that you have accumulated? I reread my journals every few months just to see if something sticks out that I can use in a current project or something coming up. If I am stuck in my work, and need insight from a third party, and can not get someone’s opinion right then and there, I will often read back through my journal looking for some little bit of insight that might be useful. After you have kept a journal for some time, you will be amazed at the amount of information you have gathered just from yourself. You will wonder about all your ideas and thoughts that came and went before you discovered this wonderful idea of keeping a journal.
|
| |
