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Like many people, writers have reasons for starting and
maintaining written journals. In a writer's eyes, journals are meant to be used, rather than hidden under the bed with the
dustballs or locked away in a closet. These journals provide resources for ideas.
Those dated pages inside are often
filled with impressions, descriptions, rants, raves, and highlights of events. After all, writers are people too and record
stuff that matters to them. And perhaps later, say like two months or two years from now, that writer will peruse those journal
pages for idea gems in words or passages Another way of saying this is that a writer mines the journal for ideas. Which of
those details will become grist for his or her mill?
lndeed, those pages may represent a goldmine or treasure trove
upon which to draw when a good idea is needed. True, not every detail will lend itself to an article, book, story or play
and that is fine! But until a writer reviews what he or she has written, all details are considered. This is only one reason
why recording thoughts and observations in a journal is so worthwhile: one never knows where those notes will lead.
So
how can you make the best use of writing in a journal and mining ideas from it?
1. Don't limit yourself to merely recording your activities du jour. Pay attention, for
example, to that intriguing comment or question you read in a book or magazine or heard on the TV news or talk show. Respond
to it in writing in your journal, then do something else.
2. Pay
attention to your responses to good and bad news. What was the news and how did you react to it? Why? How did your reaction
affect your relationships with others and your daily routines?
3.
Read by all means, but pay closer attention to items that caught your eye and kept you reading. Did your reading trigger strong
positive or negative feelings? Did it enable you to gain a new insight? Help you do something better? If so, what was it?
Record that and your answers in your journal.
4.
Learn to read between the lines in your journal. That is, go beyond the written statements and ask more questions: why did
that happen? Whose fault was it? What if an activity or event happened differently? What would make it more exciting or funny
or mysterious? Why did so-and-so say that or look that way?
5.
Reread your descriptions and solutions to problems. Who else may be experiencing those same problems and how could your solution
help? Consider younger and older audiences and what they may want to know. |
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6.
Raise your own questions, such as whether we should consider ourselves everyday people and why or why not. Answer those questions
in your journal. Become a soul searcher, an adventurer, a wanderer and write your observations from one of those identities.
What is your name? What is your life's mission? What would you change or leave alone and why?
7. Spend some time picking apart the more interesting or intriguing statements in your journal
and consider rewriting them so that they say something different. Similarly, choose a word that you defined or interpreted
a little differently than everyone else.
8.
Record dreams that you still remember. Do any of those dreams suggest stories? Articles? Poems?
9. Think of a stranger that you saw today at the store or library or parking lot or on
the street. What animal did he or she remind you of? How was the stranger dressed and what was he or she doing at the time?
If you needed help quickly, would you feel inclined to approach that stranger? Why or why not?
10. Learn to think creatively about objects, such as the ones that are on your kitchen
counter. How many of them are there? Why are those items there? What will you do with them and why? If you had to arrange
them for a still-life painting, which items would you choose and how would you arrange them?
11. Extend your creative thinking to your pets or favorite animals. What are their names?
Do your pets' names match their personalities? Why or why not? If you had to describe your pet in one word, what would it
be? What other animals, people, places or things could this word apply to and why?
12. Take a closer look at your plans and any changes in your life, such as moving to
a different state or a smaller home. When and how did those changes come about? How did you react and why? Did you want those
changes to happen or not? What would likely happen if you had your own way? Who would most likely support your views and decisions
and why? |
