The best advice I can give to anyone starting out journaling is to find what works for you, and stick to it.
There are no rules.
Choose the time, place and medium that suits you.
Personally, I love the process of writing with pen and paper. It allows me to choose from a wide range of beautifully designed notebooks and journals, as well as colourful pens. For fun, I also like to use glitter gel pens.
But journaling is a very personal thing. It’s your space to unload, where you can let out your most personal thoughts out, and so it’s also your safe place. What works for me may well not work for you, so when you start out, thing about journaling like buying a car. You wouldn’t buy a car just becuase your friend likes it. You’d do a bit of research and try a few options until you find the right one.
The same applies to journaling.
Pen and Paper
These days there are lots of beautiful notebooks in all the colours of the rainbow, and with all sorts of covers. Take a look at etsy.com, and you’ll find people who have made the most beautiful books with covers in silk and leather, as well a colourful designs inside. On Amazon, you have people creating guided journals and personalised notebooks that can have delivered in a few hours or a couple of days, or you can pop down to your local shop and get a simple notebook and pen. We live in a day and age when your choices are limitless.
If you’re like me, there’s nothing quite like the smell of a book, and by writing by hand, your brain is doing several things as once so it slows down to allow you to think about what you’re going to write. This allows you time to reflect, but also allows you to connect with your creativiity in the way that you express yourself.
Word document
Alternatively, you may just want to open up a Word document and start typing. And that’s ok. You can add clipart, use different font and colours and play, whilst pouring your heart out. The advantage of using a computer is the you can password protect you Word document so that no-one by you can read it. You an also save the document to an external drive or storage space like dropbox, and then access it via your phone and tablet as well as your pc.
The down sides are that:
- you an lose your document if you something happens to your computer
- you may not type as fast as your write
- when working woth technology, you leave yourself open to distractions. You maybe writing when you get notified about something on social media or a new email. In which case you may switch gears to deal with them.
Digital journals
Recently, a new alternative has developed which makes use of technology but still allows you to write. Digital journals and planners are essentially pdf files that have been enhanced by a specific range of apps (like Goodnote) that allows you to write to it. Think of it as a piece of paper that you can write on directly on your tablet or phone. Again, there are loads of creative people creating different versions that you can try out. Check out etsy.
Blogs and vlogs
A blog is a website when the blog page has a series of posts like this. Some people use blog posts like journals, sharing their day and their thoughts. Some are even creating vlogs (video blogs) to create videos of themselves talking, and sharing their thoughts, experiences and day. Blogs are really cool in that when you read someone elses experience, you realise that you’re not alone. Then downside is that you have to be really comfortable sharing what you do. When you go public like this, you not only encourage support from others, but also invite trolls who like nothing more that tearing people down. And if you’re feeling vulnerable, they’re like sharks who smell blood and will circulate quickly and go into a feeding frenzy.
Saying that, my first books started out as blog posts, and I’ve helped a friend publish her book which was also based on her own personal journal. Once you’re happy sharing, you can choose how
Which one is the best choice?
That’s completely up to you.
Like I said, test drive those that you feel comfortable with, and when you find the right tools for the job, stick with them.
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Don’t forget, you can join my 30 day journaling challenge any time and if you’re looking for a journal to write in, then I’ve created one or two on Amazon.