A Creative Journal

Why Keep a Journal?

by Heather Goldsmith on October 17th, 2005

It’s a good question to ask yourself, especially if this is the first time you’ve even kept a journal. When I first started writing a journal I asked myself why I wanted to spend time writing down my thoughts. My answer, at the time, was to improve my writing skills. Over time the reasons I continue to keep a journal have changed. I still want to improve my writing skills, but I also want and expect a lot more from my journal these days.

For those new to journal writing you could try using this as your opening entry. As simple as I am writing in this journal because… will do. Try to think of every reason you want to keep a record of your thoughts. Do you want your family to know what really happened? Do you want to express yourself in some way? Do you want a place to play around with ideas? Do you want to work through some issue that troubles you?

It doesn’t matter what reasons you write down. The pages are for you to use in any way you like. Even if you don’t end up using the pages as you first envisioned, you have not failed. Your expectations may need some adjustment, that’s all. What better place to learn that, but in your first journal? It’s the very place to try out ideas and express your opinions. Writing a journal will also help you develop your own voice or style, too.

So, why did you begin keeping a journal? Please, go ahead and share with me in the comments section below.

Share This

Related Stories

No related posts

POSTED IN: Journal Writing Prompts