How to Write a Journal Creatively

Last updated on September 4th, 2024 at 06:35 am

How to write a journal creatively is a fairly straightforward endeavor. It still follows the basic tenets of writing a journal but is done with creativity.

Before going into creative journaling, here’s a quick lowdown on journaling.

What is Journaling?

Simply put, journaling is the act of putting your thoughts on paper. It’s beneficial for your health in so many ways. Some famous people who journal are Warren Buffett and Arianna Huffington.

Related Article: Journaling: 13 Huge Reasons You Need Start

How to Write a Journal

Write About Anything

Writing a journal is basically a no-holds-barred endeavor. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. There are no rules, no restrictions. You can write anything you want as it is a personal activity where you put your thoughts and feelings on paper.

Don’t fret if you come up with only a few pages at first, or even just a few sentences. You’ll get the hang of it in time and churn up more as you move along.

Of course, it would be nice if you can arrange your journal entries according to different topics or the like, but if you’re just starting, then just write whatever comes to mind. The “writing or doing” part is what’s most important, especially in the beginning.

At any rate, these are examples of topics or subjects if you’d rather narrow down your journal entries:

• thoughts, feelings, memories
• daily routine
• plans, goals, progress towards a goal, dreams
• school activities and course lessons
• problems encountered, lessons learned
• books you’ve read and loved, movies you’ve seen and liked

Journal Prompts

Using journal prompts when writing your journal is a great help, too.

Journal prompts or writing prompts are concepts that help you narrow down what to write, so you have a distinct understanding of where you’re going with your journal entry.

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Be Authentic

It’s important to be authentic when writing your journal. Explore your thoughts and be honest. As it is for your eyes only, you will not be judged for it. Don’t edit, remain spontaneous throughout.

Be Committed

Commitment to writing a journal is important as well. Find a time that works best for you. And when you do, make it a habit or a writing routine.

Be Consistent

In any endeavor, practice makes perfect, so be consistent.

Creative Journaling

Now we go to creative journaling.

Basically, creative journaling is everything that basic journaling is, and more. You still do everything discussed above, but add creativity to it.

To go about being creative, you can add to your journal entry some or all of the following: photos, other papers like handmade ones, bills, receipts, ticket stubs, postage stamps, stickers, ephemera, die cuts, dried flowers, wax seals, ink stamps, masking tapes or washi tapes, pearl or other stones, yarns, and strings.

So creative journaling is simply adding art to your journal entry. Do it however you want to.

Here are a few of how I did mine.

As you can see, I still wrote my thoughts or something in my journal, but I added more.

Why Creative Journaling?

Why do I do this?

Well, for starters, I love being creative. Like creating something out of individual pieces that don’t mean much on their own, but become something else when joined with others. Creative journaling allows me to do that.

Second, maybe because I love pretty things–pretty stickers, Washi tapes, dried flowers, etc. Those kinds of pretty. Creative journaling enables me to get hands-on with them.

And third, journaling becomes more fun (and brighter) when you do it the creative way.

Multiple Journals

Keeping multiple journals is great when you have many different things you want to write about and would like to keep them orderly. Many do this, me included.

For instance, I keep a Hobinichi–a Japanese journal–for documenting some of my hobbies and things I love like favorite shows, books, etc.

Here’s an example of a spread I made for Lee Young and Hong Ra On from Love in the Moonlight, one of my favorite couples from one of my favorite Korean dramas.

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I love these two so much, so I wanted something to remember them by.

Canon IVY Mobile Photo Printer

The pictures were printed using Canon IVY Mobile Mini Photo Printer, which is absolutely amazing.

It’s so handy for printing photos. The paper is a sticker type, so after printing, you just peel off the sticker backing and stick it wherever you like. There’s a mini print app that you can download where you can edit your photos and then send them to the printer via Bluetooth. The process is easy and fast.

You can grab your own Canon IVY Mobile Photo Printer below or grab one here.

You can also keep multiple journals, like one for your daily activities, another for your short-term plans, still another for your long-term goals, and so on. It’s not only a neat way to keep track of things but a fun endeavor, too.

What You Need to Start

To start writing a journal creatively, you just need these few materials:

• journal
• pens
• personal photos
• Washi tapes
• papers
• stickers
• quote stickers
• people stickers
• ephemera
• die-cuts
• stamps
• wax seals
• ribbons or strings

You can add anything you like, really. Be creative and express yourself.

Final Thoughts

So that’s basically how to write a journal creatively. Try it and see how therapeutic, fun and beneficial it could be.

Happy journaling!

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