Invest Time in Writing a Journal to Grow as a Writer
Writers spend most of their day writing or thinking about what they should write next. Which is why maintaining a journal can be a tad bit difficult for writers. After spending day in and day out writing, our brain just does not cooperate further. Why maintain a journal after all that, right? Plus, with our smartphones and laptops being our constant companions, writing down things on paper feels like a task. That’s where we are wrong. Maintaining a journal has quite a lot of benefits, especially for writers. Even well-established authors take inspiration by reading their favourite books or by writing down their thoughts. Keeping a journal can actually help you become a better and more creative writer. Journals could be about anything — from travel journals to dream journals, it’s all about putting down what you are thinking or feeling on paper. As you continue this habit, the benefits of maintaining a journal become stronger. Here are some of the top reasons why you should maintain a journal to become a better writer.
Enhances Your Writing Skills
Practice makes a man perfect. And, this stands true when it comes to writing as well. The more you write, the better writer you become; you get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. Writing a journal does not particularly mean having a specific topic in mind. It just means writing down your thoughts on paper. When you journal consistently, your brain automatically starts looking for and flourishes ideas. Journals offer the perfect opportunity to record ideas and inspiration.
Brings Out Creativity
When we think about writing a blog post or an article, we are limited to a particular topic. On the other hand, when you write a journal, you are not constrained to anything. You can write anything and everything that pops into your mind. This is one of the best ways to let your imagination wander further into your mind to stir creativity. Because you are more relaxed, your mind conjures topics that you would not think off on a regular day. The more you experiment with ideas, the more creativity you stir.
Come Up with Writing Ideas
As a writer, it is easy to find yourself all over the place. It is not easy to sort your thoughts into coherent sentences. That’s where journals can help you out. All your thoughts and ideas are noted down in one place. Writing down all your thoughts gives you the space to come back and brainstorm for ideas when you are looking for inspiration. These thoughts could eventually transform into bigger ideas.
Lessens Stress
Writing down your feelings and thoughts will help you let go of your pent up frustration, anxiety and stress. Writing your feelings on paper can give you the sense of having a personal therapist. All of us have a ton of suppressed feelings that can cause an outburst if it is pent up for too long. Writing a journal can create a positive impact on your mind because you are letting go off negative thoughts and feelings by writing them down.
Easy to Self-Reflect
Life goes on very fast and it is easy to lose track of what our actual goals and aspirations are. Responsibilities can create a huge wall between where we are and where we want ourselves to be. Journaling is a great way for you to reflect upon yourself and your life. Maintaining a dairy is probably one of the best ways in which you can look back and think about how you have changed or worked on your life.
Improves Memory
Writing a journal is all about writing down the feelings and thoughts that you felt during a single day. You don’t need a particular format for a journal, you could write about anything. Writing about your day-to-day thoughts is also great practice for improving your memory. Our brain tends to remember things more clearly when they write it down. Give journaling a try if you are looking for an easy way to build on your memory.
Track Your Growth
If you are a writer working on improving their skills, then journals are the perfect way you can keep a track on your progress. Progress does not happen overnight, it happens with small steps. We sometimes do not realize much we have accomplished in a certain amount of time. That’s where journals can help us see and keep a track on the things that are important to us.
How to Get Into the Habit of Maintaining a Journal?
Set a Routine
Writing down in a journal does not require a particular time or place. However, to get into the habit, it is always better to set a routine in case we get lazy. Pick a time of the day that works the best for you — it could be early in the morning, in the night before you go to bed or even when you are commuting to and fro from work.
Get Reminders
Smartphones are affecting our lives in different ways but they have legit made our lives easier. We have these devices with us throughout the day. So, why not make use of them to get reminders? It is easy to forget about your journal in the early days. That’s where you can use your smartphone to get daily reminders. This way you will never skip a day from journaling.
Reward Yourself
All of us have a fixed routine that we follow on most days. In our routines, we also tend to add things that make us happy. It could be something like drinking a cup of coffee after work or watching an episode of your favourite series. Incorporate journaling into your everyday routine by rewarding yourself. You could write in your journal every day before your coffee break or before watching your favourite series. This way you are more motivated to write in your journal.
Keep it Simple
Journaling is not complex, you do not have to have to make it intricate. Keep it simple. If you try to make it too complex, you will end up spending too much time thinking and then writing. And you will never get a hang of it.
