keeping a journal: where to start

It’s Tuesday again already?  Guest posting our tutorial today is my sister, Jessie. [Writing this is really intimidating because she is my editor – she rewrites everything I write so it actually makes sense. But this time she’s not.] She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her family (also around the corner from my brother and his family. Lucky!) She reads and writes and edits all while keeping down the fort.

I’m pretty sure Jess has been keeping a journal since she could hold a pen. She’s not the kind of journal keeper that gets a journal and keeps it. She writes in it. Every. Single. Day. Amazing, right?! I love this girl! Keep reading and you will too.

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i know you’ve always meant to keep a journal. i know that you have a book stashed next to your bed (underneath the mattress?) or a file on the computer. i know you’ve started and stopped. written a few sentences here or there. but now you’re wondering to yourself, why keep a journal when you could just print out your emails or your facebook status over the past few months or ye olde family blog?

this is where i step in. i am a self-proclaimed expert and advocate of journals (and of writing with actual pens and/or pencils on actual paper). this is not to say that technology is bad, this is just to say that there are some things that a computer screen simply can’t replace.

books can slip into your pocket or purse. they can be romantic or stoic. they can feel comforting to your fingertips. their paper can be intoxicating, exhilarating. they are important.

so, write in a journal. your handwriting, your choice of book, your pen, your paper, your ink, your words will all tell an important and irreplaceable story.

first: pick a journal that feels right to you. make sure it’s not intimidating. make sure you don’t feel like you need to have something really great to say before you put a few words inside. make sure it’s a book that feels safe and inviting.

your assignment: pick a journal this week. make sure it’s lovely and it screams “this is me. this is the place where i can be me!”

third: start to write. a little bit. whatever you feel like. don’t be nervous. no one’s going to give you a grade. no one’s looking over your shoulder. write down whatever you feel like writing. don’t pretend. just be yourself.

tune in next time when we’ll talk more about the actual writing. what to say? how to say it? get a little practice first. and if you have any specific questions about journal writing that you’d like me to address, drop me a note at sqzuni (at) gmail (dot) com.

write more. write happy.

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Thanks, Jess! Find more of Jessie on her blog. And if we are lucky, she will move to Texas and all you local Houstonians out there will get to meet her in real life.