When writing in a journal the last thing you want is to have writer’s block which is why a lot of people might only write when they are inspired or feel an urge to write. However, this often means that important things get overlooked, lost in translation at a later date or are write without passion because the moment has passed.
Therefore, as well as writing journaling goals you will also want to reflect and think – Is this working? Am I writing how I want to or am I suffering from writer’s block? Particularly if you are trying to schedule an ideal time to write.
Conquer your writer’s block by trying one (or more) of the techniques below:
- FREEWRITING – One of your journaling exercises should be freewriting in any event. So if you are writing a specific entry and are struggling to get momentum why not do some more free-writing. Even off topic free-writing.
- SCHEDULE YOUR WRITING TIME – I always try to schedule my writing time. It helps me commit. However, I try to think about when I should be writing to maximise my creativity. For example you might want to write early in the morning… or just before bed.
- ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS – Hide your phone, and unplug from the internet. I write my journal – a physical journal on paper (rather than on the computer so I can minimise these distractions as much as possible).
- STEP AWAY – if you are really not getting anywhere. Stop what you are doing and change to another one of your projects – for example I might write a blog post instead.
- EXERCISE,GO FOR A WALK or MEDITATE
and finally… it might just be your WRITING STYLE – there is nothing that says your journal has to be written in perfect prose – why not change your writing style, or write in bullet points?