How To Journal For Beginners

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Welcome to the world of journaling to your hearts content.

This week is my 21st anniversary of journaling. Twenty-one years! That’s more than 3/4s of my life. These notebooks, diaries, journals - whatever you need to call them - have shaped who I am on an inherent level. As such, there’s nothing I love more than geeking out over the many ways to live and love journaling. So, in this blog, let’s talk about how to journal your thoughts, and practice introspection, and along the way, this low-pressure practice might just help you grow.

Journaling is for beginners, it’s for people who don’t like to write, who don’t think they’re good writers, for those with bad penmanship, for those who are inconsistent—I’ve heard it all. And let me tell you journaling is for everyone.

So You Want to Journal… But Starting Feels Stressful

I’m guessing if you’re reading this, you want to practice journaling consistently. And maybe have “failed” (in your eyes) in the past. Oftentimes, when I tell people that I journal something inside them spasms. The person instantly brings up their attempts at journaling in a self-critical and defensive way.

Collectively, let’s try to stop this behavior in its tracks and reframe the practice. Being hard on yourself won’t help you stick with it and get what you need from your writing in a guilt-free and productive way. I put together three tips that I haven’t seen written about yet that I think will be an immense help.

3 Key Journaling Tips for Beginners

1. Don’t buy start a new journal until you finish the first.

Don’t buy a new journal until you reach the end of your current one. I hear often from people that they have a few journals scattered around that they started but never finished. Swept up in the thrill of starting fresh and having better habits they buy a new journal to kick off the occasion. Because with this new now they will journal every day. The new journal will help them get life on track. The new journal is untapped potential.

Journaling Reality Check

Hoping a new journal will solve your problems defeats the purpose of why you’re journaling in the first place. The “I just bought a journal and now I’m a better and new person” isn’t realistic.

When I tell people I’ve been journaling for 21 years, by no means have I written in my journal every day. Each journal, notebook, diary—whatever you want to call it— ebbs and flows to my emotional needs. From there the journals were my haven for processing emotions when I went to stay with my dad or dealt with my older sister. Then I needed help processing the emotions that came with boys coming into the picture. Now, the writing is less juicy but it helps me work through my dreams and future plans.

Sometimes there are writing gaps and that’s okay!

Sure, in hindsight, I wish I wrote more about my adventures during my sluttier years. I have so many more well-documented journal entries from my boring pandemic-self, but alas. Those adventures live on solely as memories.

You’re not a better person for journaling if you write in order to check it off a to-do list box. You keep coming back when you need it. I think daily practice is a great goal but I do worry that it can lose some soul in that way if it never becomes second nature.

What aren’t you writing in your journal every day?

I think it’s helpful to pay attention when you’re not writing. If you’re going through a lull and the thought of journaling crosses your mind and you pivot away. Why? Is there a subconscious resistance to facing your own words and thoughts?

For instance, I was at a point of almost journaling every day this past year, again, a pandemic side effect. It was a part of my bedtime routine. I think keeping your journal by your bedside is good. Then I started a new job and immediately journaling stopped. I would tuck into bed at night and a pit in my stomach grew when I thought about picking up my journal.

I hated this new role. From day one my alarm bells went off. My head was spinning in doubt, questions, and regret. What do I do what do I do what do I do? Each night I dreaded the next day. I’d wake up with nerves about this job that I knew I needed to find a way out of.

The moment I got out of my head and back to reality was when I clocked that journaling (something that made me feel sane) was being neglected. It was a sign that I wasn’t taking care of myself.

So when I ask you, “why aren’t you journaling every day?” I don’t think you have to, but I think asking why not can open your eyes to your own barriers.

2. Savor in the process of buying a journal.

Now you’ve finished your current journal it’s time to celebrate and buy a new and beautiful journal! This cherished notebook is a vehicle for your emotions and memories so I suggest you take this seriously. When I finish a journal, I head to the bookstore and pick up the cutest journal that speaks to me in that moment. Trust your gut.

I love perusing the playful and creative art on journal covers. I can clock what’s trendy in designs. Millennial pink had its moment. That bubbly calligraphy cursive was everywhere on journals for a while. Now I am seeing lots of bold primary colors and patterns. I love it and lean in. These are time capsules for the times and for my mindset.

At fifteen, I was shelling out my hard-earned babysitting money on this journal. Choosing the one I wanted was a sacred ritual. Hindsight I can see the patterns and story of each journal design and how it is a visual capsule of who I was in time.

The next section is for those who like to journal pen to paper. Which I am all for! I know typing is easier for a lot of people. I find the pen-to-paper feeling too relaxing and cathartic to give up. So if you’re in the same boat here are my tips for buying the right journal.

Journal Buying Tips

1. Buy a journal with lines. Offroading is hard to keep organized and clear. The graph-like dot ones are fine too. Anything but a blank page.

2. Look for high-quality thick paper. That way your pens won’t bleed through and it’s more pleasant.

3. Buy a journal that matches your need. Sometimes when I travel I buy more bendy books so they fit in my bed. When they’re journals that I’ll be at home writing at night in bed before I sleep then I prefer hard cover.

4. The extra gimmicks aren’t necessary. I don’t need stickers, a pocket, or anything else. I think I nice bookmark is enjoyable but the rest - move on.

5. Bonus Tip: The wrong pen can sabotage the experience. Find a pen that doesn’t get in the way that brings out the flow of your penmanship. But there are moments when ballpoint works for me. Right now I am writing in colored pens because seeing the color pop through my journal just feels joyous. It can seem silly but a pen you don’t like can really get in the way of your journaling flow (personally don’t get the appeal of thin-tipped pens).

3. Remember why you want to journal.

You have to remember why you are journaling. It’s healing, it’s relaxing, and most importantly it helps you process your thoughts and find your voice! The journal is not there to scold you. Any shame you feel around the work is internal.

You might already have an outlet for your thoughts and emotions and really not need journaling. I think journalling has been in recent years seen as a cash grab. With a lot of pressure to do it right. I think the only right way to do it is to keep coming back.

But Victoria, “I don’t know what to write about!” If you don’t know what to write about. Nothing inspires me more than… “Today I XYZ” and it can be “Today I sat on the couch and watched three seasons of Rupaul’s Drag Race” if you follow up on anything you did today with a why statement you’ll haven’t something to journal about. Trust me.

Sometimes I draw more in my journal. Sometimes, I include stubs. For some, I taped a photo of myself during the time that I was writing. There’s something nice about looking back and seeing the face and smile of my younger self working and growing to understand the world.

Journal Tips for Mental Health

I know that there are so many people writing about journaling out there. As someone that gets targeted hard for wellness, productivity, and personal growth content, I started getting in my own head about how I journaled. Bullet journal? Morning pages? Tips and tricks and hacks and oh my god. I did not need to hear more.

Ironically, I am writing this blog with the title that Google loves. But I hope what you take away from this ultimately, is that it’s about what works for you to process your emotions and to give yourself space to think about yourself. A space where no other voices are chiming in— whether it be loved ones, the internet, or otherwise.

It starts clunky and then always I have a few things to say. Somedays my entry has more of a to-do-lists energy, and some are change-my-whole-life energy. When I’m upset guess where I channel those who’ve wronged me? The permanence of putting it down gives you space to feel valid and space to question and change. That’s it. That’s why you journal. Sounds nice right?

I notice I’m a bit more emotionally unhinged and then I journal and feel better. I brought my journal when I visited my dad and

Stop getting mad at yourself and remember your journal does not care one way or the other. it’s a reflection of you and that’s beautiful.

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