Neko

Sylvia's Studio

Journaling

I think that journaling is one of the most essential tools in a creative's arsenal. Here is a list to inspire you to keep one.

Why you should journal

  1. A journal is a great tool for relaxation. Just writing out your thoughts in one go is a great way to clear your mind before you go to bed.
  2. Itā€™s a great, safe place where you can play with ideas.
  3. I love to use my journal as a place where I observe things around me that might spark some writing later.
  4. You can keep a list of adventures to have at a later date.
  5. You can ponder at length about a new creative project.
  6. I also love to use my journal for yearly/monthly goal setting.
  7. You can write ideas for books/stories/art in your journal (and mark the page) so you can keep working on your current project, but still have the new idea stored in a safe space for when you can work on it later.
  8. A journal is also great as a sounding board, a safe space to write out your frustrations.
  9. You can also devote a page to write down positive things that people have said about you and your creations.
  10. A journal is a great space for creative experiments, things you want to try but have no idea how.
  11. You can paste in something that someone else created and that really sparks your creativity or just because it makes you smile.
  12. You can make collages of images you collect from magazines, and start an art journal that way.
  13. You can make doodles, just simple sketches just for you.
  14. You can use older (art) journals as a source of inspiration, and take ideas away from it for new creative adventures when you donā€™t feel inspired to create anything.

There are many more reasons to keep a journal. I hope that there is at least one in this list that inspires you to keep a journal.

Different kinds of journals

There are no limits to the kinds of journals you can keep.

You can start with a guided journal, for instance by printing the free journal, or you can just buy a notebook that you think pretty and start in there.

Don't get bogged down by journal sizes. I've journaled in tiny notebooks that fitted in my wallet and an A4 sized journal I used as a paste book, filling it up with pages from magazines I loved, or collages.

Just pick a notebook or guided journal that you like and start from there.

There's a lot more about journaling in my free e-course Leap into Journaling that I will add to the freebies page before the end of 2025. When I do I will update the link here.

Prompts

Would you like to journal, but have trouble finding inspiration? Click here for a prompt.

blogposts on journaling