Tricks for Better Journaling: Write Every Day
It’s no secret: journaling is not one of my favorite parts of doing a layout.
I know it’s important, and I know that if I want to preserve my family’s memories, I have to journal. I know that sometimes journaling a tough situation or confusing feelings can bring clarity and peacefulness. I know that it’s an important design element on most pages. That all being said, I still really don’t like doing it. I’ve learned tricks along the way that help me write more meaningful journaling, and have it be less of a chore. Today, I want to share one with you.
Write every day.
I mean it. Every day you should do some writing. It could be in a journal, on a calendar, in a Word file, wherever works for you really. The point is that you have to do it every day. There are no set topics, you can write about what you want, but you have to write every day. There are three big ways that writing every day can improve your journaling.
Writing every day makes writing a habit. It’s proven that the more you do something, the easier it becomes. With repeated practice in a skill or task, you are going to get better. If you make yourself write something every day, you are practicing writing every day. You are making it less and less scary to sit down and compose some journaling because, hey, you have written every other day up to that. The more you write, the more you will find who you are as a writer, and you will develop your voice more, which will lead to better journaling.
Writing every day expands your creative mind. Go back and look, how many of your pages have journaling that is almost the same sentiment? I am notorious for doing this. I have pages and pages about how I hope my girls grow up to be best friends, or how great they are, etc. Writing every day forces you to create variety when you are writing and will allow you to do this when you are journaling your layouts, too.
Writing every day gives you a lot of material to choose from. Let’s say that every day you write about your hopes and dreams for the future. The next time you decide to do a layout about hopes and dreams, your journaling is already done! As long as you pick topics you scrapbook about to write about every day, you should have a whole library full of material to choose from.
See the benefits that can come from writing every day? It’s something that I try to practice now, and when I do, I find it helps my journaling.
