Writers First Aid

Multiple Journals

November 27, 2009

journal How do I journal? Let me count the ways.

Recently I gathered all my beautiful journals (eight of them) and saw that in each one I had filled about twenty pages before I quit. And I LOVE journaling! So what was up with that?

In the December 2009 Writer Magazine an article called “Stay on track with 6 types of journals” caught my eye. I realized as I read the article that here was the answer to my problem with journals over the years.

Do you ever do this? You receive a neat journal for your birthday or Christmas–something really pretty chosen just for you, the writer. You write meaningful insights there, uplifting passages, maybe some goals. But then the day comes when you’re upset or depressed or stuck, and you don’t want to dump that drivel into your beautiful journal full of inspiring stuff, so you don’t journal. After a while, the book gets stuck on a shelf and forgotten.

What’s the Purpose?

The author of the journaling article (Ann Edwards Cannon) suggests keeping different journals for different purposes. Her six types are the free-write journal, the idea journal, the dream journal, the quotation journal, the submissions journal, and the what-I-wrote-today-and-how-I-felt-about-it journal. I do have a quotation journal and idea journal, but not the others.

But I gathered my stack of mostly empty journals and read through them, deciding what “theme” each one represented, and decided to entitle them as such. Then, depending on my need and mood, I will get out the appropriate journal.

Divide and Conquer

My six journals include five spiral bound ones and one on the computer:

LifeJournal computer software: This is my password protected journal for ”dump and flush” sessions. This is where I write the nasty letters that I never send, where I process something hurtful said or done to me, or process personal problems I wouldn’t want others to find and read about. There’s also a special LifeJournal for Writers you might want to check out. (Put it on your Christmas list!) This is also where I keep the “wild reactions” I wrote about here.
Work Journal (with typewriter on front): This is where I talk about what I’m working on, troubles I’m having with a project, ruminations on getting another form rejection from an editor or agent [yes, I get them too, as do most writers], and keep track of hours or words written. I count words when doing a rough draft–I count hours when revising and editing.
Simplicity Journal (with Jane Austen picture and quotes): When feeling frazzled by time pressures and To Do lists longer than the hours in the day, I know I need to simplify. Here I make plans to declutter my life (physical environment, emotional baggage, etc.)
Gratitude/Prayer Journal: spiritual insights and quotes, answers to prayer, spiritual struggles, quotes from favorite authors, prayer requests from other people.
Idea Journal: This is where I make notes to myself of that brilliant idea I had in the shower for a series, the weird dream that woke me up, the funny thing my grandson said that would make a great story, etc. Just remember to go back and thumb through your ideas from time to time, if it’s going to be of any use to you.
Quotation Journal: Since I read a lot, I come across quotes I love and want to remember. I need to get into the habit of reading with my quotation journal right there as well. If I don’t write down the quote when I first see it, I rarely go back and capture it later.
Before/During/After Journal: for mental, physical, or emotional “addictive” behaviors. For example, when I’m tired or feeling neglected, I want comfort food. When I’m happy and want to celebrate, I want chocolate. When I reward myself after a long writing stint, I gravitate to food. When I’m really exhausted, I want to pick a fight or not write at all that day. My healthy side knows that none of that is a good idea. By journaling how I feel before I do the behavior, how I feel during the behavior (either pigging out or using self-control), and how I feel afterward, I see the patterns. I can read previous entries and remind myself how I felt after indulging in certain behaviors. Often that’s enough to propel me to make the right choice.

If you like to journal, try having different journals for different purposes, and see if you find that helpful. Or have a three-ring binder with colored tabs for each separate section. Whatever works for you!

Post tags: journal

Posted in: journaling | | Comments (9)

9 Comments »

Hi Kristi,
Awesome idea. I have a few empty journals lying around that I thought were neat but somehow I never seemed to get started writing in any of them. I guess I was waiting for a purpose; and this is a great purpose. I’m going to make labels for my journals today.

Comment by Ally M — November 27, 2009 @ 11:12 am
I’m glad you found the idea helpful, Ally. I’m finding I need to clear a small shelf for the journals so they are very handy to grab too. When they’re out of sight, they’re out of mind. Hope it works for you!

Comment by Kristi Holl — November 27, 2009 @ 11:31 am
One year my husband bought me a lovely leather bound journal. I couldn’t write in it … my thoughts weren’t pretty enough. LOL. This is why I write in cheap composition notebooks or spiral bound ones. I’ve only ever kept one at a time, but it’s hard to find things. Recently, I started a notebook just for my novel, and another one for quotes. But my catch-all notebook goes everywhere with me.

By the way, one summer, I took the leather bound journal camping and that cured me of having it pristine, on the inside or outside

I like the idea of keeping a separate prayer journal. Thanks.

Comment by Vijaya — November 27, 2009 @ 12:00 pm
Vijaya, I was exactly the same way with my special Jane Austen journal last year. Then I took it overseas with me and carried it in my backpack, and it began to look “well traveled.” NOW I can use it.

Comment by Kristi Holl — November 27, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
I LOVE journals. But like Vijaya, I feel like my thoughts or messy writing aren’t pretty enough. I didn’t realize it until she put in into words. It seems silly, but I like looking at the clean, blank pages and pretty cover. )

The prayer journal sounds wonderful. Being able to read back over the things God does in my life, answer to prayer that are large and small, would be an encouragement. Here’s a link to some pretty journals available online for anyone who’s interested: https://edmbookstore.com/Additional_Gems.html

Comment by Beth — November 28, 2009 @ 8:40 am
Beth, thanks for the link to the journals! I think I’ll get the camo one for “moms in the trenches” and journal about my daughter while she’s in Iraq again. Perfect! I’m like Vijaya too–and I think I’ll journal more now that I have a couple places especially for the messy kind of stuff!

Comment by Kristi Holl — November 28, 2009 @ 10:23 am
Great post! I love the idea of multiple journals. That frees me up from feeling like everything important has to get down in one.
I also have bunches of empty journals around because my thoughts “aren’t pretty enough”. Great way to put it! In the meantime I’ve lost years worth of great ideas, prayers, etc. I simply must get past my fears of imperfection and mess them up. ‘Cause pretty but blank pages aren’t anything special to look at anyway.

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