So often when we journal, we think we have to write everything we think, do, and feel.
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| Photo by Ynsle |
My friend and unofficial mentor Nate Larkin encourages me to use the first few minutes every morning to recap the previous day. This writing is not for publication or note for my future best-selling memoirs. It is to give myself sanity for the day to come. His assignment feels like a daunting task. I want to capture everything, every emotion, every reaction, every sin, and every triumph. Most of the time I don’t think I can get write it all so I write nothing.
A few weeks ago, a new friend, Newton Dominey, and I talked about journaling and the barriers to it. I rattled off a few of ideas I’ve picked up along the way to help us journal more strategically. He encouraged me to write them down. Some are my original ideas. Others are not. [Newton owns The Crag, a climbing gym in Franklin, Tenn. Click here to discover more.]
1. Journal about a Picture
Start by answering one or more of these questions and before you know it, you will be writing about yourself.
2. Journal about a Specific Event
By asking yourself a specific question then writing about it, you’ll get closer to your heart. You’re writing about a few minutes and not about 24-hour period. The good news is, before you’re done, you will have written about more than just a few minutes.
You could also finish a statement like these:
3. Create your own Questions
Hold a brainstorming session with yourself and brainstorm your own questions about your daily habits and rhythms. Keep these handy to answer.
4. Use The Valley of Vision
This book of written Puritan prayers says what I think and feel with such eloquence and economy of words that I can’t improve on them. But I try to add to them by using lines from a prayer as a journal entry starter.
The Valley of Vision is a great addition to your library but is also available online.
5. One Verse a Day
So often we get bogged down in Bible study that we think we have to follow others’ prescriptions.
While all of those are good, sometimes that’s not what we need when it comes to connecting with our hearts through journaling. I encourage you to read one verse and write about it. Starting with Psalm 1:1 or Ecclesiastes 1:2–3 is very helpful.
6. Headlines
I started writing as a journalism major in college. I wrote news articles for class then I wrote radio commentaries for National Public Radio. Writing in a news format can remove yourself from the equation. Do you have a RSS feed of news stories and/or blogs? What if you inserted yourself into a headline? For example, here are three stories in my RSS feed on the day I wrote this post.
If I substituted my name and experience for these headlines, I might have a news story to write:
Mark Whitlock’s New Video Leaked. Confusing.
Top Five Ways Mark got Angry Yesterday
Mark Whitlock ministers at Brentwood Baptist
Write about yourself in the third person with the objectivity of a journalist. Write in the famous inverted pyramid of journalism* or answer the 5 Ws and the H**.
7. Haiku
I have friends who like to write haiku about their lives. This Japanese poem format is most often referred to as 5-7-5. Five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and then five again in the third line. Each line should be a complete thought, but not necessarily a complete sentence
Journal emotion
Nate Larkin encourages
Mad, sad, glad, afraid
This can feel strange but pushes you to use economy of words. As does the next idea.
8. Ten Word Journal Entries
We live in the Twitterverse. Imagine writing about your day in 140 characters or just ten words. This exercise, like Haiku, can push us to get to the heart.
*most important fact the other facts in descending order of importance.
** Who, What, Where, When, Why, How
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