Writing The Journey: Online Journal Writing Workshop

Writing The Journey™

Are There Journal Writing Rules?

I believe there are no absolute rules for how or when you keep your journal. I have kept my journal since 1969 and I have been through a variety of phases. I have discovered that I want to change the way I write and my writing tools occasionally.

I have done each of the following:

	Write at a specific time every day
	Write a specific amount every day
	Write whenever I feel like it
	Write as much or as little as I feel like writing in the moment
	Write on special occassions
	Take a sabatical from my journal
	Carry my journal with me everywhere and write a little bit every chance I get
	Keep my journal in a special place and write only in that special place
	Write without using any words

Principles I Write By

What I have learned about the rules of keeping a journal from my own experience can be distilled down to three simple principles:

	Date each entry to keep things in perspective. At the time I am writing, it doesn't matter if I add the date, but when I look back over my journal, it helps me to see when I wrote each entry.
	Write when and how you want. I frequently change writing tools and find it gives me a different outlook. Each time I have forced myself to write, the writing has become dry. I'd rather quit writing before I felt finished than force myself to write when I don't want to.
	Always tell the truth. Why bother to write if you aren't going to be honest with yourself?

Last updated on: Saturday, December 15, 2007 4:44 PM