Cynthia D. Griffin

Category: focused freewriting

Journaling Series Part 3: How to Stick With Journaling?

May 4th, 2018
The content in this journaling series is from what I shared with my recent in-person journaling class. My original idea was to try and create an online class, but ultimately decided to create a blog series in which to freely share this information.

Last week we talked about What is Journaling? The week before we talked about Why Journaling is Important? Now let’s finish up with ways to keep inspired and to keep journaling.

Ways to Stay Inspired

We all know how hard it can be to stick with something, but it helps if we can get some inspiration here and there. Here are some great places to help inspire your writing!
- Journal with Purpose, inspiring creative journaling http://www.journalwithpurpose.co.uk/
- Lavendaire is a blog about personal growth + lifestyle design.https://www.lavendaire.com/about/
- Kaizen Journaling, a home for people who want to have their personalized arsenal for success, which is fueled by their dreams, guided by their courage, and stamped with their unique personality. http://kaizenjournaling.com/
- Creative Writing Now, where you’ll find creative writing courses, ideas, prompts, free online classes, and step-by-step guides to writing fiction, poetry, and drama. https://www.creative-writing-now.com/ (also has a creative journaling section)
- A Writer’s Wings, my writing blog that has posts mostly on writing techniques and writing in general, but also things that inspire me, or books that I read and have really strong feelings about. I’m also using it as an author page to promote my published works. https://cynthiadgriffin.com/
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Journaling Series Part 2: What is Journaling?

April 27th, 2018
The content in this journaling series is from what I shared with my recent in-person journaling class. My original idea was to try and create an online class, but ultimately decided to create a blog series in which to freely share this information.

Last week in this series, I talked about Why Journaling is Important? This week let’s talk about what journaling is and is not. Let’s also get rid of some preconceived ideas and stereotypes about journaling and understand how powerful a tool it can be for every person of any age.

What is Journaling?
- Is first and foremost an expression of the Self
- A form of self-expression that works best if it comes directly from the heart (don’t lie, don’t be in denial, just let it all out)
- Is a written record of thoughts, experience, and observations
- It can be something you do regularly or just when you feel you need it
- There are no rules to journaling, expect for the ones you make yourself (if you decide to make any at all)
- You are in charge of what you write or don’t write and when you write
What Journaling is NOT.
- Something you HAVE to do (so don’t stress over journaling if it’s not something that speaks to you, or you only journal every once in awhile)
- A place where you need to worry about proper grammar, spelling, or punctuation
- Journaling is NOT just writing, it can include paintings, drawings, pictures, stickers or keepsakes that have meaning (like ticket stubs for a dried flower, ect.)
This sounds easy enough, and usually it is, but I think journaling can have a bad stigma because it might seem to only be for “girls” or something that can be considered boring because no one thinks their life is interesting enough to talk about. I say not at all to both these things. Journaling is for EVERYONE of all ages. It can be very fun too. It all depends on how it’s approached. What kind of journal you keep matters too. What might work for one person, may not be as effective for another.

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More on Focused Free Writing

February 11th, 2012

As I already discussed in The Amazing Benefits of Free Writing, practicing free writing on a daily basis can open up writing in a wondrous way. This happens in the best way possible when free writing is focused on a specific topic or question. The topic or question can be anything that you chose, but the more specific the question the better. Having a broad topic to work on can be more confusing than helpful, but allowing freedom to explore inside a narrowed topic or question allows for discovery that might be surprising and quite enlightening. Here’s how I do it…

I like to make a list of things I want to know more about. When I have the time to sit down to write, I chose one from my list to write on. I let the pen take me to where it needs to go. I give myself permission to go beyond the borders of my chosen topic, but only if I think it will help fill in the blanks of the subject at hand. Any stray thoughts that have no relation to the writing “topic” is put in the margins of the paper, so I can come back to it later. At the end of the focused free writing practice, I often find myself surprised at what I come up with. The point is to be flexible enough to explore an idea fully, but not to go off the path so far as to be nowhere near the first original idea. It’s a delicate balance that can only be found through lots of practice.

Not sure where to start in focused free writing? Look at your own work. Do you have questions about the story, the characters, the plot, the ending, the beginning? Do you have questions about a certain topic in your story? Or maybe you have questions about where your writing journey is going? Do you have mixed feelings about the contract deal you’ve just been offered for a new piece of work, or whether to attend a writing conference, or maybe the question is as simple as trying to figure out the optimum time of day to write?

Focused free writing can be beneficial, because it offers a deeper look into current and future writing projects, or even into the actual writing journey. Sometimes just the act of writing out a problem can give a solution that has been illusive for days or weeks. Most often, it is during this act that allows a writer to stumble across solutions never considered before.

Category: focused freewriting

Journaling Series Part 3: How to Stick With Journaling?

Journaling Series Part 2: What is Journaling?

More on Focused Free Writing