I have long been an advocate for the value of journaling in all its many forms, a great tool in life long learning, self improvement, memories, making sense of life or even just creative fun. Sometimes though you can sit staring at a blank page and just not know what to write. There are lots of tools out there that provide journal prompts, they can be a bit of a mixed bag but recently I stumbled across a couple of tools I thought I would share here.
Firstly, I stumbled across writer Suleika Jaouad’s Isolation journals project; ‘a global movement cultivating community and creativity during hard times.’ This is a fantastic project design to creatively build community in what are isolating and challenging times. Each day a journal prompt is shared, emailed directly to you if you sign up for the project. The prompts have been contributed by a variety of artists and writers including Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Gilbert just to name two and they are not your normal journal prompts. I won’t repeat them here but if you are interested I do urge you to go check them out. The past prompts for the month of April are available on Suleika’s web page here: https://www.suleikajaouad.com/the-isolation-journals-prompts You don’t have to share your responses but there is a Facebook group set up for sharing if you so choose. This is a pretty inspiring source of prompts and a fantastic idea, so if journaling is your thing I urge you to check it out.
The other journal prompt tool I recently became aware of was paperblanks own journal prompt app, this is a cool tool to overcome writers block, it will deliver a random prompt or you can choose from a particular topic. You can check out a sample of the prompts on the paperblank blog under the tab; creativity and inspiration or check out these autumn themed prompts just as example of what you might get as a prompt. It is a simple but kind of cool tool and I have downloaded the app, it is free and comes in handy if you really feel stuck for something to write about.
If you are feeling stuck or uninspired or if you are new to journaling the above tools might be useful. I don’t use every prompt but I do like the creativity and the extra boost to inspiration they can give. I especially like the creativity of the Suleika Jaouad’s Isolation journals project. Happy journaling everyone.
