Magazine
How to Start and Keep a Journal
Tips from writers, artists and a social worker that might make the practice less daunting.
It’s a familiar story: You buy a beautiful notebook, intent on starting a journal, only for it to sit untouched for years. While the benefits of journal-keeping are well established — it “can raise levels of optimism and life satisfaction,” says the psychology researcher Justine Richelle, 25, and strengthen creative writing skills (“The lines between what I write for myself and what I will ultimately write for publication are pretty blurred,” says the novelist Pico Iyer, 67) — that knowledge doesn’t necessarily make the blank page less intimidating. Here, a handful of longtime journal-keepers share advice that may inspire you to try again and stick with it.
Consider why you’re writing.
If you’re just starting out, what do you hope to gain? You might want to record memories, untangle your thoughts or lay the foundations for a new creative project. For the writer and actress Tavi Gevinson, 28, a journal “is a place to dump psychic garbage,” she says, and to leave “notes for my future self. It reminds me that there’ll be a future where I’ll feel differently.” Iyer, who’s kept a journal for almost 50 years, sees the practice as “looking at the sky within yourself.” He meticulously logs his days, capturing little details like a song playing in the background to “fix” memories. If one goal is boosting your mood, the social worker Amy Krentzman, 60, who’s developed a journaling method for people in recovery, suggests listing “all the good things that happened in the past day,” things you’re grateful for that “you normally take for granted,” as well as “good wishes for others.”
Credit…Ilya Milstein
Don’t be too precious about how your journal looks.
When the filmmaker Albert Moya, 35, needs a new diary, he grabs whatever’s nearby — hotel notebooks being a favorite because “they remind you where you were at that time,” he says. Iyer uses Southworth’s 24-pound, loose-leaf, unlined A4 paper, which he organizes in “endless folders.” Gevinson likes journals from Season Paper, Cambridge Imprint and Midori but encourages those new to journaling to “use a legal pad if it helps you feel less pressure.” You can also keep a digital journal: The journalist and T writer at large Aatish Taseer, 44, recommends Day One, an app he uses to color-code his notes when he’s traveling.
Find a pen you like.
Krentzman suggests “experimenting with different kinds of pens and paper” until you land on a combination that “gives you some tactile enjoyment.” Iyer gravitates toward fine-tipped Pilot Razor Point markers. Gevinson uses .38-millimeter Pilot G2 and Muji ballpoints. Moya loves a hotel pen. When you find a model you like, buy it in bulk so you always have spares.