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Journaling, Freewriting and Poetry
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Keeping a journal, writing poetry or allowing words to pour out in freewriting can be very therapeutic. It can help you to get to know yourself better as well as develop your creativity.
Keeping a Journal
A Journal is different from a diary in that you can use it to explore your feelings and work things out. Each day doesn't have a narrative or story - "I got the train to work... etc" - but is a space to offload worries, write lists of what you want from life, what you value, what changes you need to make or what inspires you. Dating each entry and reading it at the end of the month will give you a good overview of your mood map, and let you know if you are progressing or what you need to look out for - what are your 'triggers' for feeling happy or sad? Journals can be kept on a computer or handwritten in private notebooks. Some people stick pictures or copy poems or inspirational quotes in their journals. Just remember to keep your journal safe.
Freewriting
Freewriting is when you allow words pour out onto paper without worrying about punctuation, grammar or even if the sentences make any sense. It takes practise to let go of our expectations about writing well, but it is rewarding both creatively and therapeutically. Many creative writing teachers, including Dorothea Brand and Natalie Goldberg, recommend freewriting for 10 or 20 minutes every morning the moment you wake up. Timing your session is important as it keeps it contained. The rules are keep your hand moving, don't cross anything out, lose control, don't think, and if you start to write about something that scares you, keep going (Goldberg, Writing Down The Bones, 1986).
If you have never done freewriting before, put your pen to paper and write in a constant stream for five minutes. Try not to think, but let the words flow through you. Read back what you have written - it might be total nonsense, but there might be a line or word that touches you. Take that line and do another five minute freewriting exercise, then read it back again. Do it a third time, then finally read back through everything and write down how the experience was for you, how it felt to write this way and what you may have discovered. The more you practise freewriting, the more you will learn about your own creative and mental processes. Being in the flow of writing can feel very liberating and almost magical. Reading back or reflecting on what you have written and how you felt is an important part of freewriting.
Poetry
There's a reason angst-ridden teens write poetry - it can be a way to transform how you feel, to give it a creative form and find new ways to express yourself. Poems can be anything you want them to be; they don't have to rhyme, they can have rhythm or like a song and the words on the page will have a shape that appeals to you. You can freewrite a poem - just let the words flow out of you maybe prompted by an experience, a line from a song, a painting or poem that really spoke to you - then go back and work on it until it feels right.
Reading
Keep reading novels, poetry, and non-fiction. Writing although done alone is connective: we don't write in a void. Everything we are is a result of our connectivity. Writers connect through books and words like the roots in a forest. We are lucky to have access to so many beautiful minds, even when we are alone. If people ask you to imagine your ideal dinner party, it's often with famous people you haven't even met or are dead. Reading is meeting all those people and having conversations with them.
Some inspiring books and sources:
Grief is the thing with Feathers - Max Porter
Mouth Full of Blood - Toni Morrison
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
Brain Pickings
Keeping a Journal
A Journal is different from a diary in that you can use it to explore your feelings and work things out. Each day doesn't have a narrative or story - "I got the train to work... etc" - but is a space to offload worries, write lists of what you want from life, what you value, what changes you need to make or what inspires you. Dating each entry and reading it at the end of the month will give you a good overview of your mood map, and let you know if you are progressing or what you need to look out for - what are your 'triggers' for feeling happy or sad? Journals can be kept on a computer or handwritten in private notebooks. Some people stick pictures or copy poems or inspirational quotes in their journals. Just remember to keep your journal safe.
Freewriting
Freewriting is when you allow words pour out onto paper without worrying about punctuation, grammar or even if the sentences make any sense. It takes practise to let go of our expectations about writing well, but it is rewarding both creatively and therapeutically. Many creative writing teachers, including Dorothea Brand and Natalie Goldberg, recommend freewriting for 10 or 20 minutes every morning the moment you wake up. Timing your session is important as it keeps it contained. The rules are keep your hand moving, don't cross anything out, lose control, don't think, and if you start to write about something that scares you, keep going (Goldberg, Writing Down The Bones, 1986).
If you have never done freewriting before, put your pen to paper and write in a constant stream for five minutes. Try not to think, but let the words flow through you. Read back what you have written - it might be total nonsense, but there might be a line or word that touches you. Take that line and do another five minute freewriting exercise, then read it back again. Do it a third time, then finally read back through everything and write down how the experience was for you, how it felt to write this way and what you may have discovered. The more you practise freewriting, the more you will learn about your own creative and mental processes. Being in the flow of writing can feel very liberating and almost magical. Reading back or reflecting on what you have written and how you felt is an important part of freewriting.
Poetry
There's a reason angst-ridden teens write poetry - it can be a way to transform how you feel, to give it a creative form and find new ways to express yourself. Poems can be anything you want them to be; they don't have to rhyme, they can have rhythm or like a song and the words on the page will have a shape that appeals to you. You can freewrite a poem - just let the words flow out of you maybe prompted by an experience, a line from a song, a painting or poem that really spoke to you - then go back and work on it until it feels right.
Reading
Keep reading novels, poetry, and non-fiction. Writing although done alone is connective: we don't write in a void. Everything we are is a result of our connectivity. Writers connect through books and words like the roots in a forest. We are lucky to have access to so many beautiful minds, even when we are alone. If people ask you to imagine your ideal dinner party, it's often with famous people you haven't even met or are dead. Reading is meeting all those people and having conversations with them.
Some inspiring books and sources:
Grief is the thing with Feathers - Max Porter
Mouth Full of Blood - Toni Morrison
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
Brain Pickings