My notebooks or journals have been instrumental in turning around my attitude to writing. It has increased my focus, encouraged my ideas and helped me turn one sentence into a fifty thousand word workbook.
They’ve helped me discover who I am as a writer, they’ve enabled me to explore different ideas and themes and they’ve been the biggest driver behind understanding my unconfident mindset and how I can push on regardless.
Without my notebooks by my side I wouldn’t have taken a step back from YouTube and Instagram which enabled me to gain focus, clarity and a new direction. I wouldn’t have taken on clients and I wouldn’t have written and published a workbook through my blog. Because not only have my journals helped me with my writing they have also provided me with a growing business. I could not do what I do without them.
That all sounds pretty powerful stuff right? You might be thinking that I must have some powerful prompts that enable me to explore my mind. Or there must be some trick or magic that I know of in order to create such powerful change within the confines of a notebook.
But there isn’t. There’s nothing but me, my notebook, a pen and the contents of my head. There is also time, persistence and - this is really important - not discounting my thoughts in the fraction of time it takes between thinking them and writing them on the paper.
I try to write everything down. As an example I’ve just been out to run an errand in the car. I was listening to a podcast as I drove and it gave me an idea. I couldn’t write as I drove so I’ve just written it in my notebook now. I don’t know if this idea will come to anything. My brain did tell me I wouldn’t be able to pull it off but I’ve still written it down. Over time I may discount it OR I may add to it, expand on it, and one day it could become an actual physical fully formed thing. That’s how my workbook started. Just from a list of four sentences. I took one of those ideas and slowly built on it over the course of two notebooks. Just sporadically, as the ideas came to me. With mo pressure just allowing my experiences and ideas to build. Then when I read through my journal I found the ideas came together and I had an almost fully formed idea for a workbook.
But that’s not all I write. I write a variety of things. A mish-mash of thoughts from my head pour out of me into my notebook that helps me to untangle my creative ideas and to push forward with my writing and creative business.
The pages in my notebooks include:
Dear Diary type pieces. These pieces might not relate to my creative work. But by emptying my head of drama, anxieties, low thoughts and so on I make space for my creativity. Obviously when I say anxieties I’m not talking about those that affect your mental health but general day to day worries that can turn and swirl around and around in your head and stop you from focusing. Once they’re out of your head and onto the page they tend to lose their power - but this only works if I tap into the honest truth of what is bothering me.
‘Wish’ pieces. I don’t know who I am writing to when I write these pieces. Someone higher up? Is it God, is it a beloved grandparent or someone else who is sadly no longer with us, is it putting it out into the universe or is it simply to myself and by writing it down as a wish I am manifesting it or acknowledging it and therefore ensuring I make it happen? I have no idea but it provides me with comfort and peace just because I have acknowledged that this is a concern or a requirement for me. They’re also gentle reminders when I come to read through my journals that these things are important to me. Sometimes I find I am already working on something to get me closer to these ‘wishes’ or I find they no longer interest me.
Draft pieces for blog posts, mailing lists, essays. That’s exactly how this blog post started out a few weeks ago whilst waiting for the children to finish school. That’s how my journaling workbook started out and how my free ebook started out. It is where I organise my creative thoughts and think about what I really want to say.
Positive comments. Comments people have said to me online or offline. Recording them - not because I’m seeking validation - but because I can be very hard on myself.
Quotes. I’m not a big quote person but occasionally I’ll come across one that resonates. I find they are useful not just as reminders but also they often appear at a later date in my work. Those that stand out to me are often indicative of where I want to go. And sometimes I create quotes of my own.
Lists of books, blogs, names of people, articles so I can Google later if I lose them. Again these often shed light on the sort of thing that is guiding me towards my goals.
My fears. Nowadays I try and face my creative fears head on. But to do that I have to understand what they are and what’s causing them. So I wrote about them. Am I scared of success? Am I comparing myself to another creative’s output or path? I wrote a few pages under the heading “scared of being left behind”. This proved cathartic and instead of fearing it I used that energy to move forward so I didn’t get left behind.
Morning pages. This concept was introduced by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. The idea is that you write first thing in the morning about whatever comes into your head. You fill a number of pages and see what comes out. I’ve found it can be insightful. I also do this freestyle writing when something is bothering me but I don’t know what it is. I’ll keep asking myself questions, describe what I was doing when I first became aware of the knot in my tummy and keep going until I strike gold.
“Dare to suck”. I heard about this concept from the American rock group, Aerosmith. They had a “dare to suck” session once a week where they shared crazy, possibly rubbish creative ideas with the rest of the group. Occasionally they found that some of these ideas weren’t rubbish but ones that resonated with the rest of the band. These “dare to suck” ideas became some of their biggest hits. I use my journal as a place to “suck” or to write down what my brain is telling me is a stupid idea. You never know, where these so-called rubbish thoughts might lead.
Every few weeks or perhaps once a month - I’m not particularly structured about this - I will read through my notebooks. I use post-its to mark what I think is a good idea, particularly those that seem to fit together. I have post-its that say ‘potential blog post or essay idea’. I’ve got post-its with the working title of my next ebook. Lots of jumbled thoughts dotted throughout the journal with the same post-it heading. And I’ve got post-its that point to what my goals are or what my purpose is. Taking time to read and sort through your writing in these notebooks is important. You’ll come across ideas that were good but it wasn’t the right time to execute them. Perhaps the time is now or you could add that idea to Q3? There is so much within all those pages. Take time to draw out what’s important.
My journals are precious. They’re the foundation of everything I do with my writing and creativity. But they’re not just to write in and forget about. They’re working journals. That’s why I have all my journals on my desk and I’m constantly and consistently flicking through the pages and referencing them.
If you enjoyed this post:
If you feel really unconfident when it comes to your writing or creativity I have a Membership club called The Confident Creative Club. This is a gentle, friendly group where we analyse and work on our creative mindset blocks in conjunction with taking action on our projects. This won’t just be a place to learn but to push forward with our creative goals and make real progress.
I write about journaling and how it can help reach your creative goals in my recently published workbook, called Journaling Your Goals. It can help you find your creative purpose and to become more productive, more motivated and less scared. To find out more and to order then click here.
I also write tiny essays in my newsletter which I send out about twice a month.
