Hello, fellow readers and writers and everyone in-between! I hope you are doing well, keeping safe and doing something wonderfully creative.
I’ve been feeling a little burned out lately, mostly because I’ve been writing a lot of KLM content where I write as a contributor. It has brought me access to many things I normally wouldn’t get access to, and it has taught me a lot in a short space of time. But I think I need a break, so I am taking one by writing on my blogs instead!
Today I was thinking about the benefits of keeping a journal. I am not sure if any of my readers keep journals or diaries. Still, if you do, this post is specifically for you and anyone else interested in writing about life daily.
I’ve always kept a journal or diary off and on since I was a teenager, so I am not new to the journal-keeping process. But I have found that when I do write, I write sporadically at best. It is a commitment to write every day in a journal because I find it difficult to do this. Which is why I am teaching myself to be disciplined. But it’s a struggle. I am one of those writers who writes when feelings need expression or have experienced something that has impacted people in my life, such as the pandemic. I started my journaling process shortly after the first pandemic outbreak in New Zealand, back in March of last year. I have been writing in my journal every day since then.
Some days I have one sentence and others I have 2000 or more words. The thing with writing in a diary or journal for me is having somewhere to safely put my thoughts that’s entirely private. This is extremely therapeutic. I don’t like to write when other people are around me. That’s something I’ve noticed as well. I don’t even like being around people when I write in general. I guess I am more creative when I am entirely alone, and everything is quiet. Some writers love the complete opposite of this scenario. This is why I can’t write in cafe’s or outside or anywhere that’s likely to attract other people. How do you write best? Let me know in the comments, dear readers!
So if you were wondering about starting a journal or a diary or even gathering thoughts in a notebook, I say go for it and start as soon as you can! As writers, we must be creating and thinking and writing about those thoughts. I think writers are there best selves when writing daily. This can be in any way, but keeping a daily journal is extremely helpful because it disciplines me to write every day.
Let me know if you have a similar process or whether or not you write daily or sporadically! I’d love to hear your stories.
If you’re new to my blog, welcome dearest writer! On this blog, you will find a lot of content about writing, the writer’s life and thoughts on the writing process. You will also find tips and tricks and a specific focus on fiction writing from a first-time fiction writer (that’s me!) I wish you the best in your writing endeavours and would love if you’d join me on the writing journey by following me here.
Thank you for your support! Stay safe and keep writing.
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Categories: Books, Personal, The Craft of Writing
I have a private one in wordpress for years, and before that in office software. I tend to write alone, and use it to get my thoughts together.
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Ah that’s awesome 🙂 Do you still use it? I am glad I am not the only one that likes writing in complete solitude lol was beginning to think I was a little odd 😂
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Yes I still use it, and another for to do lists with images.
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Nice one 🙂 Good to hear you have an outlet for your thoughts and feelings. I think it’s important for everyone to have something 🙂
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I’ve kept a journal off and on for most of my life. I prefer to write in actual notebooks, and I tend to do better in a cafe or coffee shop rather than at home. Mostly because there are too many distractions at home: a spouse, a child, the refrigerator, the computer, the phone, etc. Lol. If I just have a notebook and a coffee in front of me, and the white noise of cafe chatter, I’m in heaven. I tend to write in my journal when I’m not busy writing anything else. Right now I’m busy blogging, but before I began doing that, and after I stopped writing fiction for the time being, I wrote everyday in my journal for a year. I’d like to get back to it, though; I miss it.
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A perfect example of what I was trying to say in in my post 🙂 It’s so interesting to me how different we all are as writers and even people. I mean I start to ask myself questions, how did I become this type of writer? I am still thinking about that one 🙂 I get what you mean about distractions, I find other people are the biggest distraction which is why I guess I like the solitude. Amazing, thank you for that awesome reply 😀
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You’re welcome!
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And the problem these days is Covid–I can’t sit in a cafe anywhere anymore, and haven’t been able to for a year now. I can’t wait for the Dunkin Donuts down the street to open up it’s tables and chair space again! Or anywhere, for that matter. I’m stuck at home, which is not conducive to journal writing, for me.
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Hmm, this is great feedback, I never thought of that side of things. But I know there are people in my team at work who are missing the interaction when we used to go into the office every day. Some people in my team are not coping with the social distancing very well. I hope things get better for everyone soon but if I look at things as positively as possible, I don’t know when that will be 😦
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Yeah, I can’t wait until I can be alone with a bunch of strangers again! Lol.
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LOL when you put it like that lol
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