how to journal like a writer (with prompts)

Local diary enthusiast will not shut up about the art of keeping a diary, it seems. (Alternative title: girl who takes journalling very seriously was asked “but what do you even write about?")

love,
Dakota x

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[haileyfromtheheart]

i just finished my second journal! what lovely timing. may we write and live forever, lady dakota

[etharhamid]

Every Diarist mentioned and the prompt inspired by them:

Virginian Wolf : Reflect on a recent chaotic or undefinable moment in your life. How can you use writing to organize or make sense of this chaos?

Anias Nin : Write a regular entry to your diary as though you are certain it will be published and read by thousands of people. Did you shift your voice or bend the truth with eyes of others in mind?

Maya Angelou : Write passionately and confidently about an injustice that is important to you as though your stance will empower others. How did this experience shape your sense of identity and purpose?

Samuel Pepys : Go for a walk and record a hyper detailed description of said walk, paying attention to as much as you possibly can, especially to the moments or visuals that are seemingly mundane. Read it back to yourself. Do you feel you took the walk twice?

Franz Kafka : Write a letter to your father, mother, or somebody who governs or had governed what you do with your life. Tell them how you really feel about their influence. If you could send the this person the letter with zero consequences, would you?

Anne Frank : Write a letter to someone (or something) you trust. What would you share about your hopes, fears, and dreams for the future?

Sylvia Plath : Write a recent emotional experiences into poetry. How dose this reliving the experience via a poem compare to a regular prose style journal entry?

Kurt Cobain : Start a journal entry with the phrase “I remember …” and write about a significant moment from your younger years. How dose revisiting this memory affect you in the present?

[Sarm]

I lack the self acceptance to embrace the chaos of my own, unfiltered thoughts.

Edit: I'm surprised how far I've gotten in two months. Learning self acceptance is difficult but it's the best I've felt in years. I don't hate myself in the way that I used to. I can let myself be. I'm getting better at doing things just for me. I think a little less about what people things and their opinions don't shape me in the way they used to. I'm by no means perfect but that's ok. Things get better, I see that now <3

[litchrllyjustagirl]

my first ever journal/diary was when I was in fifth grade (12 or 13). the subject of my entries was my crushes and I remember detailing about a dance I had with a boy, how his finger gripped my waist and how nervous yet exhilarating it was to dance with him in front of a crowd. one day I came home from school, my parents burned my diary, they said I was too young for any of those. more than being upset about it, i was ashamed. i never named what I felt back then but I realize now how dirty and perverted I thought of myself. i stopped writing then and wrote again in highschool.

[marniehope]

I love this video. Half of the journaling videos I see are “bullet journaling” and they are all in these crazy formats and if I’m being honest when I’m older I wouldn’t give a single shit about my daily water log in my journal. Plus my brain is not like this, so I started journalling how I really wanted. I normally use to journal not like myself, but then I finally had confidence to write exactly how I feel, I do two pages every night. My journal feels like a window to my brain and now when something bad or sad happens to me a little bit of me is happy I can write it down.

[janoldenburg]

YES! This is how you do it! WRITE, no matter what, no matter where, write! After all, a shoebox can be a journal too. I had one in which I stored empty cigarette packs, paper napkins, pieces of toilet paper and the likes. All with some text I'd scribbled on them. I even wrote on fallen tree leaves. Reading through this journal I see not only the words, but the whole situation in which I wrote it. Love your video, love the way you present your thoughts.

[khushi-rsjs]

Your choice of outfit doesn't require a disclaimer. You're dressed really comfy as though an embodiment of a journal yourself. Also, I am impressed by your great efforts for this video

[ness.ness.]

my prompt (as someone who tends to overthink and ruminate solely on the negative, losing sight of the positive in the process) is: write about a recent happy moment, in detail. however mundane or seemingly inconsequential, if it made you smile write it down :)

[Larats]

Sometimes i forget that i used to journal about anything, and i forget that i can still do it, because our lifestyles just keep us on the go.
Sit down with a journal and write until your hand hurts. When we're awake, our thoughts don't stop, so there is always something to write. Instead of being on the phone, grab a journal. It's just as entertaining but much more rewarding.

[jacoseyes]

Early Japanese literature has a whole genre on diaries ("Nikki") written mostly by women (the ones written by men were mostly boring and dull).
It might be nice to look into that if anyone's interested.

[NerdyNurseReads]

I love this reminder that a journal need not be precious. Just write!

[aidafani]

How can i stop this feeling that people will read my journal and judge me???😫😫😫😫

[imtiredanddone]

journal about the little treats that you gave yourself that brought your mood up! that way you'll have an overview if what makes you happy and what you prioritize, you never know if your older self will remember them

[karissalove]

loved this video! loved that you included kurt cobain and mentioned lyricists, for that kind of writing inspires my own the most! cant wait to try these prompts✨

[EternalYapper]

Glad you’re coining creative exhibitionism because WOW. Your obsession with journaling over the past few months has bled into ME and I’m so glad. It’s taught me a lot about writing for me and performance, because I write my journals as if someone else is going to be reading or publishing them in several years. I’m slowly unlearning that, so thank you :)

[Huhhuhwhuhuhh]

The algorithm dropped your channel on my doorstep. I am thrilled to find someone so thoughtful and engaging as you!

I am both a visual artist and a writer. The most transformative thing for me was creating and practicing as though no one would ever see it. I allow myself to be selfish. I am simply relaying my experiences to myself in an effort to process them. My ultimate goal with my creations is to remain as raw as possible. Telling the world to turn their eyes while I create it has made it flow effortlessly.

[anamaite]

i loved this video so much, was so beautiful, soft, creative and inspiring. i have kept a diary for almost 10 years (im 19) and i´ve always wrote in it through waves and periods until last year when i started writting more heavenly and frequently on it - not just as a necessity to relief and dream and think but also as a necessity to simply wirte. write words on papel. This year i havent written much and a couple days ago ive "found" my taste for journaling again and never felt so good, i feel reconected and "awaken" again, like a part of me was turned off. i need my diary as i need air. i found this video in such perfect timing, thank you so much.

[hero]

An interesting prompt I was told in therapy is Write a letter from yourself when you were a little child to your present self. I found it very hard and even pointless in the beginning, but once you start thinking about how the little you would begin the letter, what the first thing they would say is, there's a lot you can discover about your present self.

[aubs]

You can journal about your characters from their perspectives. How would they react to what you experience? How would they write about their loved ones?

[sweetviolents]

I don't journal because for many years I felt too much shame and fear. The paradox is that the journals of women in my family who have passed out of this life are all items I cherish. In those journals, I've sometimes sensed the same feelings, the same skepticism about the worth of their writing. To live is to leave traces of ourselves and we should all feel that our marks are worth making. Frankly, it could be that none of us is enough to evaluate the worth of our writing, our art, our journals, so we might as well behave as if it's a given that they're valuable to someone. Especially if that can be our own selves.