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Story Ideas from Journaling
By Deb Gallardo
Today’s article comes from author Sheila Bender who uses journaling to keep her writing fresh and inspired. I’ve picked my top 5 of her 21 ideas on how to keep yourself writing through journals. I also have a Squidoo lens on using a seasonal journal for story ideas entitled Journaling – A Story Ideas Incubator.
Idea 2: Journal Your Journaling
Choose an activity other than journal keeping and keep a journal for several consecutive days about that activity. Some examples might be: training a puppy…or searching for the perfect gift for someone… Whatever you do, capture your thoughts and behavior as you do the activity you have chosen to journal about.
Idea 3: Word Meditations
Locate five words from anywhere around you: your bulletin board, a newspaper headline…a card in your wallet. Write each…on a scrap of paper and put [them] in a bowl or hat. Choose one scrap and…write for ten to twenty minutes without stopping or editing yourself.
Idea 4: Tidbits, Odds and Ends
On some days you might just want to enter an apt phrase or description or an ironic question that comes to mind. Leave them as short paragraphs entered under dates. Someday you might collect them under one title, such as “Winter Thoughts” or “What My Mind Wandered to in Spring.”
Idea 11: Weather Center
Become sensitive to the weather and try describing [it] in your journal entries. Put your eyes and ears to work on how the weather affects the landscape, sky, people, animals, buildings, and vehicles. Write it so that when you reread that entry, you feel as if you are in the weather.
Idea 13: Prompts
Challenge yourself to write using a prompt…Write a list of five to ten prompts of your own that you can use from time to time. Or ask a friend.
Read Keeping a Writer’s Journal: 21 Ideas to Keep You Writing (opens in new window)
Related Posts
- Story Ideas – Seasonal Story Prompts
- More Story Ideas from Journaling
- Story Ideas – As Spring Approaches
- Story Ideas – Getting Creative With Lesser Holiday Ideas for Stories
- Another Set of Writing Prompts & More Photo Inspiration
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