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Journaling has many purposes, and best of all, it’s fine to change direction or add a new purpose any time you wish. Today, I’d like you to consider some exploration in your journal. Try writing in new and different ways! Experiment a little bit, and you may discover a hidden talent or a new passion. Who knows, you might even find a path to making your journal profitable! If you’ve never tried any of these types of entries, perhaps now is the time.

For many, journal entries are an opportunity for self-exploration. Writers share their innermost thoughts and feelings in a place where no one else will look without invitation. It’s a safe way to express yourself. The entries typically take the form of a monologue, with the author saying whatever is on his or her mind.

Some use their journal as a record of what happened recently. It serves as a diary of sorts, and the writer can look back years later to see what was important in life back then and also get an assist to recall. Friends and loved ones can enjoy the family stories from long ago when the journal is shared.

Your journal can serve as a repository for ideas and inspirations. Describe your genius thought in detail, then it will be available for action when the time is right. This is a great way to capture moments when you see clearly and know just what you want to try out or accomplish.

Try using your journal to record your progress through new experiences. Tell the steps you take as well as your thoughts and feelings, the progress you’ve made, and what you would do differently next time. Record your insights and your challenges. This type of journal can easily turn into a “been-there-done-that” publishable book! In fact, you could journal about the process of taking your journal entries to publication….

How long has it been since you’ve written poetry? Your journal is a great place to explore the many creative ways that words can be put onto paper. You can try your hand at the traditional types of poetry, with rhyme, rhythm and structure, or you can write free verse, or anything else you wish.

A descriptive essay can be a lot of fun for a journal entry. Choose an event or activity that you truly love, and write to intentionally engage the five senses. Use the most vivid language you can muster, and take yourself (and other readers) into the scene. Include the smells, tastes, feelings, and sounds as well as the description of things that you see.

Novels and short stories can spring from journal entries, too. Make something up out of whole cloth, or start with a real, concrete experience or thing. It can be fun to create a backstory for a character that you’ve read about somewhere else, or to tell the imaginary story of someone you happened to see on the street. Take the perspective of a pet or a common household item like a shoe or a potato and tell about its day.

Sharpen your persuasive writing skills by practicing on yourself. See if you can write to convince your internal editor to change his or her mind about an issue. Write in support of things you believe in, then try writing in support of the other side (it’s a whole lot more challenging!).

Record your hopes and dreams. What do you wish for more than anything in the whole wide world? Why? And how can you turn these dreams into reality? Or should you?

This just begins to scratch the surface of ways you can be creative with your journal entries. The key is to remember that you are not locked into ANYTHING. Your journal is your own, and you can write in any way you wish. Set your sights on a new horizon and push the limits sometimes.

No matter what you think you’re doing with your journal, chances are very good that, deep down inside, one of your goals is to have your voice heard long after you are gone. Even if you’re not planning to try to publish your work someday, your children, grandchildren and other loved ones will treasure your written thoughts as a connection to the real you.

Journaling is an opportunity to hone your writing skills. Whether you are describing a special event, the day-to-day pieces of your life, your innermost thoughts or hope and dreams, make your writing memorable by using the most vivid language you can muster.

Vivid language makes your writing come alive for your reader. It will also dance off of the paper when you reread your work years from now. Not only that, but the constant prod to write just a little bit better than you did yesterday will help you continually improve your craft.

How does one go about making writing more vivid? Try a few of these exercises as you journal in the coming days.

Be intentional about appealing to all the senses when you describe events, places, people or things. Describe not only what you see and hear, but also what you smell, taste and touch.
Use the most specific words you can muster. Don’t simply describe something as “big;” try fifty-cent words like “gargantuan,” “giant,” or “huge.” If it was frightening, try words like “horrendous,” “terrifying,” or “petrifying.”
See if you can increase the reading level of your writing by using longer sentences and words with more syllables. You can take a snapshot of a piece’s reading level by typing it into the word processor and doing the more elaborate grammar check instead of a simple spell check. Check your word processor’s documentation to find out how to turn on this feature if it’s not readily apparent.
Wipe a few of your most commonly-used words from your vocabulary. “Very” is a great example. There are much better ways to express that thought. Try “extremely,” “undoubtedly,” or “surely.”
Add in some figurative language. You remember these from high school English class: the simile, the metaphor, alliteration, and so forth. You don’t need to name them or analyze them, but add some comparisons to make your writing sparkle, and pay attention to how the words sound if they are read aloud.

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Expand Your Horizons

Toward More Vivid Writing