Is your journal too hot to handle?

A while back, a fellow writer confessed that she tried to keep a journal but found that she had a tendancy to sugar coat everything she wrote. When I asked her why, she said, "I just can't force myself to write down my deep, dark secrets? I try to tell myself that the journal is for my eyes only, but what if I die tonight and my children find it?"

Although I find it helpful to look back on journal entries a week, a month, or a decade later; the most beneficial aspect of keeping a journal is to get the thoughts out of my head and onto paper. It's not mandatory that your journal become a permanent record of your life. The process is enough. So if you're in the category of those who are shy about revealing all, write it down and then shred it. Another answer is to use your journal for writing practice sessions rather than for revealing the secrets in your heart.

Tip of the Day: If the potential content of your journal is too hot to handle, write it down to enjoy and benefit from the process of jounaling and then shred it.

Get Ready to Write in 2008

You say you want to be a writer? What do writers do? They write. So, let’s get ready to write in 2008. I had a woman ask me if I wrote in my journal every day. I don’t. Not every day, but pretty close. I have found that my writing is better on the days when I take a few moments in the morning to write in my journal. I think it has something to do with clearing the head and waking up that muse that was snoozing while he/she waited for me to make the commitment.

Tip of the Day… In the next few days, we’ll get to some points on how to make the most of a journal. For now, just make the commitment to write … fun writing, practice writing, just blowing off steam … every morning for the first week of 2008. I think you’ll be converted if you stick to it for a solid week.