Journaling is great! Journaling changes lives. Journaling improves your mental health, gets you through challenging moments in your life, keeps the good memories alive forever, and it’s the most recommended type of self-therapy known out there.
So far, nothing new. But how to start a journal if you are a total beginner?
Of course, you tried a few times. You got the notebook, you opened the first page, and your pen was hovering above the page for good ten minutes until you decide today is not going to be the day you start journaling.
But you did the same thing a few times. You even wrote a sentence or two once, but that’s unconfirmed, and you refuse even to read it; that’s how stupid it felt.
I understand you! I do.
Journaling is great, but lately it grew to being a trend, and just as any other trend it got its own rules.
Journaling isn’t just opening a new page and putting the pen to it… Or is it?
In this post, I will go over the basics of how to start a journal for beginners, how to make it a habit, the best tools you need, plus some extra encouragement you might need along the way.
Also, if you’re currently trying to reset your life and feel more grounded emotionally, start with my full life reset guide first.
Keeping a Journal
I’ve been journaling on and off for most of my life. My first journal represented the broken relationship I had with my father’s second wife. I was writing page after page things I couldn’t share with anyone else. My big blue notebook was my best friend for years.
Then I continued journaling for another broken relationship – the one with my mother. I mixed it with writing for my first love, my relationship’s failures, my hopes, dreams, getting over anxiety and depression, overcoming some big struggles, manifesting my best self, expressing hopes, searching for answers inside me…
It is all in my journals. Now I do junk journaling, bullet journaling, daily planner journaling, manifestation journaling, gratitude journaling… Ugh, I guess my point is that I’ve got some experience, and you could trust me on this.
See Table of Contents below if you’d like to skip to another point of this post. Take whatever suits you, adjust it to your needs, and enjoy journaling.
How to Get Started With Journaling?
The most straightforward answer would be: just start.
Throughout the following paragraphs, I will give some awesome ideas and ways to make journaling a fun habit you enjoy. However, the only thing you need to start journaling is really three things:
- a notebook (or a journal);
- a pen;
- Yourself;
You already have the first two from that list somewhere near you, so you need to sit and do it. Sounds easier than it is, right?
Here’s why!
Journaling has very blurry borders, and everything that involves pen and paper could be categorized as journaling. Therefore, you might be experiencing a moment of confusion. Let’s answer some important questions below.
FAQ on Journaling
Everything! You could tell how your day was. You could talk of a specific event that happened on that day or in your past. You could dig deeper into a struggle you face at the moment. You could write questions only and let them soak into your mind. You could describe your goals, your dreams. You could manifest your best life. You could do anything and everything. It is Your journal, and you set the rules.
You don’t have to think of structuring anything. My writing is usually just huge paragraphs, and every paragraph is for a new topic or subject I start. I do that since my school years, and I don’t care if it’s eye-pleasing (pleasing who?) or pretty (in whose eyes?). Start with the first thing that comes into your mind and keep writing about it. Then go to the next one.
I’ve had that one so many times. My brain is melting under the pressure of my thoughts, but once I sit to write, everything goes blank. In those moments, I usually start with an emotional sentence (like I’m still a teenager). I express the emotion. Am I happy? Why? Am I angry? Why? Sad? Why? The point of writing a journal (I will repeat that throughout this post) isn’t to be pretty, nice, to make sense, or to be logical. The end goal of writing is writing itself.
You feel like writing, but you genuinely have nothing to write about?
There are a few things you could write about immediately: Plan your future (goals, dreams, random ideas), manifest the future you wish for, write a gratitude list (list everything that comes in mind you are grateful for (100 ideas for your gratitude list here), or simply start with “I don’t know what to write about, but I feel like writing is what I need at this moment…” I bet you will have a second sentence popping in your head afterward.
That would be a personal choice. I see journaling as an extension of myself. It isn’t intended for anyone else, so I don’t need to introduce myself. However, you could write some contact details on the first page, just if you lose it one day and some goodhearted person decides to give it back to you (even after they read stuff about your crazy life, joking).
Absolutely not. Journaling isn’t your next project. It’s a helping tool that gets you through your projects in life, including life itself. Journaling is where you drop the planning, you ignore the rules, and you open your heart.
You could use journaling prompts if you have nothing to journal about and don’t want to give up on it. There are thousands of prompts online. I’ve got 10 gratitude journaling prompts here, or if you’re facing anxiety, I recommend going for these 20 journal prompts here.
If I didn’t answer your question, please leave a comment below, I check those daily.
Ways to Journal
There are probably countless ways to journal. And although they all involve you, the pen, and the paper (some people journal online too), the purpose of journaling could differ from person to person.
Here are just a few types of journals you could have. Keep in mind that I have another list with 110 different types of journals you could have. So, if something below doesn’t suit you, feel free to jump to this post with journals to keep.
- Mental health journal – very good choice if you are overcoming a trauma
- Personal development journal – when you need to keep track of your personal growth
- Recording your day-to-day life – just a normal daily records of your life
- Gratitude journal – see 10 best guided gratitude journals to start with
- Self-care journal – it closely overlaps with the first two above, but it could be narrowed down to self-care ideas and prompts only.
- 5-Minute journal for the morning and the evening that combines self-care and gratitude. That’s the journal I created just a few months ago. See its printable version here.
- Manifestation journal – dream bravely and manifest things you want.
- Travel journal – for the moments you explore the world around you.
- Daily goal planner
- Business journal – for ideas and projects
- Bullet journal – trendy in the last few years. Perfect for people who hate rules when planning their days.
- One-line-a-day journal
- Book journal
- Morning pages
- .. and more. See the complete list with ideas here (I will leave a link to it at the end of this post too).
How to Journal Effectively
No matter the goal behind your journaling (either it’s for gratitude, daily planning, or day-to-day events), you want your journaling to be effective and to make the most out of it.
Surprisingly, the only way to make journaling effective is to lose your boundaries and stop limiting your thoughts. The goal of having a journal is to 100% honest with yourself. Let your ideas flow freely. Forget the grammar, ditch the formatting; nobody cares about the words you will use. Want to swear? Please, do so!
Too often, the only place we allow ourselves to express our thoughts freely is… in our thoughts only. This creates an inner conflict of negative emotions that just circle between our mind and heart, unable to go out and leave us in peace. But here’s the thing…
Your journal doesn’t care about you!
The white page doesn’t care about you. It will not judge you. It will not correct you. It will not bring it up when you make a mistake. It will never slap you through the face for the way you talk, it will not ignore you, and it will never, ever let you down. The white page is there to take whatever you give to it and to help you feel lighter. Your journal will be the silent friend that never betrays you. It will be your coast and your biggest supporter. All it asks for, though, is your honesty.
Best Journaling Tools
As I mentioned above, the only thing you need is a pen and paper. However, if you are a perfectionist like me, you might be excited to get some cool journaling tools. Here are my favorite:
Awesome Journals to Inspire You To Write More
I've selected three of the most inspiring-looking journals on Etsy to motivate you to open the pages and write more. I hope you enjoy them.
If you love old paper, vintage-style leather journals, and feel poetical and mystical regarding journaling, this is going to be your new best friend. Handmade, absolute bestseller, and one of the most beautiful leather journals I've ever seen. It would sit so well on an old dark wood writer's desk, soaking the events of the years to come.
This is another handmade journal. If you enjoy everything bohemian, this is going to be your top pick. It has its own closure, soft paper, vivid colors, and it's an awesome choice of a journal. I imagine myself sitting on the porch in front of the house and writing in this beauty while the wind is playing with my hair—the perfect inspiring experience (and too many romantic movies, I guess).
This is another favorite journal, handmade, perfect for a diary and recording dreams, probably even manifesting your best life. Imagine yourself sitting next to the window on a rainy day, wiring about the life you wish to have. I guarantee it's a moment you will remember long.
Perfect Pens To Write With
When it comes to writing tools, you could really get lost with the choices offered. I would suggest you decide if you will just write or draw and underline thoughts and ideas. Here are a few good options.
- Bullet journal brush pens – perfect for drawing lines, boxes, maybe even calligraphy.
- A fountain pen in a leather sleeve that speaks of class and elevated lifestyle.
- Classic highlighters for the moments you wish to make something pop on the page.
- A beautiful feather calligraphy pen with an ink holder for the poet in your soul.
Extra Tools You Might Need When Journaling
Wonder how to make your journaling creative? Stick photos, draw, cut papers out, play with the pages as much as you want. This is a form of art journaling, and it can be combined with some deep personal growth journaling.
Wonder what creative journaling is exactly? See one of my latest TikTok videos of how I journal. Follow me if you’d like to see more.
@myasmrjournal ASMR journaling! What do you think of this spread? ##journalpage ##chillax ##chilledtunes ##asmrjournaling
♬ Bad, touching, ballad, piano, for video – Dream Side Records
Depending on the style of journaling, here are a few extra tools you might need at some point.
- Glue tape to stick papers, photos, and anything else you’d like to hold onto.
- A watercolor set for your artistic moments
- Washi tapes to make your pages pretty if water coloring and drawing aren’t your style.
- Stickers that make everything prettier.
If you have patience and like to get cheap stuff, AlieExpress is a good place to get your supplies from. I shop from there for years, and I am in love with the products (and the prices). See what they offer here.
How to Make Journaling a Habit
How often should you journal? How to make it a habit? This one depends on your goals. Do you wish to journal every day? I would suggest you start with journaling at the quietest time of the day. If you usually wake up earlier than everyone, journal in the mornings. If your evenings are your alone-time, then journal in the evening.
The best way to turn journaling into a habit is to attach it to an existing habit you already practice daily. If you drink coffee every morning, instead of scrolling on Facebook or Instagram, go for journaling. If you always have your lunch break in a restaurant near your office, take your journal with you then. Alternatively, place it on your nightstand and use it every night before going to sleep.
It takes a while to turn journaling into a habit. However, sticking to it for a few weeks is enough to make you fall in love with it. And once you love it, that will be your priority every day. That is how you turn anything into a habit – fall in love with the process.
Conclusion to How to Start a Journal For Beginners
There you have it – the complete guide to how to start a journal if you are a total beginner. Don’t forget that the only goal of journaling is writing and expressing yourself in whatever way you feel like it. There are even journals you could wreck! The journaling world is so big, that whatever you go for, it is going to be the right thing. Your journal – your rules (or no rules at all, of course).
If you enjoyed this post, comment below and share your style of journaling.
How To Start a Journal (For Beginners)| The Easy Way To Change your Life
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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.
