What if you are passionate about keeping a journal but struggle with knowing what to write? How do come up with enough ideas and creative things to write in a journal?
I use journals since my childhood, and I’ve always been on and off with writing in them regularly. Turning anything into a habit once or twice doesn’t mean it will stick forever. Therefore, I often end up slacking off the journaling sessions. I sit down with the pen in my hand, and I let it hover over the top of the page for a few seconds before I realize that I have nothing to write about.
Well, it’s not that I have nothing to write about, but I am tired of chewing the same problems and issues; I have no “deep thoughts” on life and the Universe I’d like to lay on the page. So, what do I write about in that journal then? For sure, I wish to sit and scribble a few paragraphs… but what’s the topic?
Can you relate to that?
Do you also often lack ideas on what to write in your journal?
In moments like that one, there is only one thing that helps: journal prompts. And a lot of them.
So, if you are in a journal-writing slump, I’ve got you! I will gift you with 50 fun and creative things to write in a journal, and I will also give them to you as a printable you could keep inside your journal. Next time you are out of ideas, instead of scrolling half an hour on Pinterest (and forgetting the initial reason to log in to the app), you could pull the printable out and choose your next journaling topic.
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How To Keep A Daily Journal
In case you are absolutely, completely, and totally new to journaling, you might be wondering how to keep a daily journal. How do you turn journaling into a habit, and how do you allow it to change your life. Yes, that’s correct; I just said you “allow” it to change your life and improve your mental health and overall happiness. Those are just a few of the benefits of journaling, so I congratulate you on your decision to start journaling in the first place.
Keeping a journal isn’t as hard as it sounds. Everyone says it, but you still can’t believe it because you ARE struggling with keeping a journal, and you ARE frustrated with yourself for not making it work.
There are three reasons you might be struggling to keep a journal:
- you didn’t choose the right journal to keep;
- you didn’t choose the right time to journal;
- you didn’t prepare yourself for journaling;
How To Choose The Right Journal To Keep
There are so-so-so many ways to keep a journal (no joke, I’ve listed at least 110 types of journals to keep) that it could be overwhelming which one to go for. However, if you are trying to turn journaling into a daily ritual, I suggest you start small with any of the following types:
- Simple daily log – you just write what happened on the day, dairy style journal;
- Gratitude journal – my most favorite type of journal that changed my life (see best guided gratitude journals here);
- Happiness journal – super easy and fun guided journal that focuses on what truly matter in your everyday life;
- Morning/Evening pages – in this post, we focus on this one as it gives you more creative space to expand your thoughts.
How To Choose the Right Time To Journal
Once you have the right journal to keep, you should focus on choosing the right time to write. Don’t leave it to chance or for “whenever I can”, as those could never create habit nor make a long-lasting change.
Choose a time of the day where you are usually with yourself. To me, that would be early in the morning while everyone’s still sleeping. Journaling is part of my 10-step daily routine. However, I do gratitude journaling in the evenings too, it requires just a few minutes of my time, and that’s always doable.
How To Prepare Yourself For Journaling
You’ve got the right journal; you chose the right time… What do I mean you have to prepare yourself?
Imagine this…
You’ve decided to journal in the mornings. You get up, go through the bathroom, do your morning rituals, get to the kitchen, and half-asleep, turn on the coffee machine and get your morning glass of water. Then you sit on the chair and decide to journal… Oops, your journal is still resting in your purse… which is in the bedroom… where your husband is still sleeping.
What if you decide to journal in the evenings? You’ve had a long and stressful day; you just took a shower and finally rested your tired back on the pillow. Now it’s time to journal… but your journal is on your desk … in the living room… on the other end of the hallway.
You might have guessed it so far. Preparing to journal means you have everything ready for you when your journaling time comes. If you have to make an extra move to get to the journaling, you would most likely just skip it. Make it simple and easy for you.
I keep my morning journal in the kitchen, next to the coffee machine, and my gratitude journal always rests on my bedside table. If I change their places, I will most likely just skip on journaling.
Make journaling simple for you!
Creative Things To Write In a Journal
The same goes for the things to write in your journal. If you sit with your journal and don’t come up with something fast to journal about, you will just get frustrated/bored/tired and put the notebook back aside.
Make it simple!
Keep a handful of journal prompts and ideas to write, so you never get to the point of finding an excuse not to write.
I have some truly awesome 10 gratitude journal prompts you could grab for free by clicking here.
However, the prompts below are a little bit different. They are much more focused on being fun, self-exploring, and bringing the creativity inside out.
These journal writing ideas will make you dream and imagine other worlds and different possibilities. What I love the most about them is that they don’t sound serious at all, but they might give some pretty cool outcomes that could work on your mindset and the way you see yourself.
Ready for them? Yes, I’m giving them as a printable, too; you will get that option just at the end of the post (you want to make sure you like them first).
50 Interesting Things To Write About In a Journal | Creative Journal Prompts
1. If I had a magic wand and could perform one spell only, that would be…
2. I am most proud of…
3. I feel excited every time I have to talk about…
4. If I were to re-live one full year of my life, that would be… (explain why)
5. The one thing I never wish to forget is…
6. If there were no phones and no internet, how would my life look like?
7. If I were to write a book, it would be about…
8. If I had all the power in the world, I would…
9. The biggest milestone I’ve ever reached was…
10. If I could choose a different life, how would it look like?
How To Find What Makes You Happy
11. If I could achieve one thing only in my whole life, that would be…
12. I wish I could invent…
13. What if… (write the first things that come to mind)
14. My biggest fear no one knows about is…
15. This is how my day would look like if my life were absolutely perfect…
16. I wish to create more…
17. These are the words I wish to live by…
18. I cannot imagine my life without (a thing, not a person)…
19. If I were a Disney Princess/Prince, I would be…
20. My very first childhood memory is…
List of Creative Things To Write About In A Journal
21. This is how I met my best friend…
22. If I was the scriptwriter of my life, this is what would happen in the next few weeks…
23. The best conversations I’ve ever had were about…
24. If my life were a movie, the name would be…
25. 10 years from now, I want to be (where | with who | doing what)…
26. The most creative thing I have ever done is…
27. The best life advice I would give someone is…
28. The thing I think the most about is…
29. If I were to organize a glamorous event, it would be for…
How To Make Your Journal Creative Despite Lacking Creativity
30. If I weren’t lazy/tired/out of time, my perfect morning would look like this…
31. I could easily write an essay on…
32. One year from now, I want to be grateful for having/doing…
33. If I were to live forever, these are all the things I would do…
34. The funniest prank I’ve ever done on someone was…
35. The most unusual thing I have ever seen in my life was…
36. I wish people asked me more often about…
37. If today were a color, mine would be…
38. If all my dreams were to come true, this is the one I wish it to be last…
39. The most ridiculous thing that could possibly happen right now is…
Last Journal Prompts To Make Writing Interesting
40. If I was in a locked room with the person who annoys me the most in this world, how would we spend our time?
41. The one superpower I wish I had is…
42. If my life was a poem, this is how it would be…
43. If I could choose to be a comedy TV show character, I would be…
44. The most favorite year of my life so far was…
45. If I could choose what to dream about every night, I would choose…
46. Write a note/letter to yourself for one year from now (Ideally, find a way to remind yourself a year from now to read it)
47. Write a letter to someone who has passed away (a parent/grandparent/friend/even someone you never knew).
48. Write a letter to someone you wish to enter your life (a child/a partner/ a mentor/ even a celebrity).
49. Write as many positive words as possible in 2 minutes (use a timer).
50. You have 5-minute to describe your biggest dream in the smallest details (use a timer).
Download the full list as a printable PDF by clicking here.
Conclusion on Creative Things to Write In a Journal
Journaling could have different looks and purposes, but one thing always relates to it: it’s creative, enriching, and life-changing. Learning to put your thoughts in order and give them real verbal expressions gives you a different perspective of life… of your life.
Journaling by itself is an act of self-care and self-love because it shows that you pay attention to the way you feel, respect your ideas and feelings, and are willing to dig deeper into your true Self.
I hope these 50 creative things to write in a journal sparkled a few more ideas and made your creative wiring juices flow even more.
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50 Creative Things To Write In a Journal That Aren’t Boring
Blogger, dreamer, procrastinator, and lover of everything soul-touching. My mission is to make you laugh, provoke your thoughts, light up your day and inspire you to fall in love with life and yourself.
