From the time I was a little girl, writing was my go-to form of therapy — cheap, easy, and always accessible. I write when I’m happy, when I’m sad, and when I’m angry and seeing red. The goal is always to record my thoughts, feelings, and experiences, to make them come alive on the page, so I can relive them again and hopefully make sense of them.
During a seven-plus hour road trip this past Thanksgiving weekend, my sister, Shannon, glanced over and saw me writing in my journal. “What do you write in there?” she asked.
I was genuinely perplexed. What did she mean? I write what I think, what I saw, what I felt. I write scenes, dialogue, sensory details.
Shannon explained that she has tried to write in a journal before, but it always reads something like this: “First we did this. Then we did that. And then we did the other thing.” “It’s boring,” she said.
I get it. During my early journaling days, there was a whole lot of “A, then B, then C.” But now? Now I’m more intentional about how I journal, and if I write shortly after an event or experience, I often discover I have the bones of an essay.
Journaling Your Way to An Essay
Journal entries DO NOT make for salable material, BUT they do help bring you back to the place of raw emotion. So when topics are really heavy — my dad’s death, my son’s near death, or my own medical missteps — I transcribe relevant journal entries into a word document then try to carve out a cohesive narrative.
The key is to be selective about what you put on the page. Here are my non-negotiables:
- Capture the scene. When you’re writing, imagine you’re filming a scene in a movie, but like an actor, you’re actually experiencing the scene firsthand. What do you see? What do you hear? What can you smell in the air? The goal is to capture all of the sensory information so you can essentially recreate it on the page. When my dad was dying, I sat at his bedside for hours writing. I wrote about the humming machines, the coldness of his hands, his crepe paper-like skin, the stagnant air. I have all of that information recorded in black and white composition notebooks. So now, when I’m writing a piece about my dad’s death rally, I can insert myself back into the scene and feel the emotions all over again, albeit with a safe distance.
- Reflect on your feelings. In addition to capturing the scene through sensory information, examine your thoughts and feelings in your journal. When I crafted a piece about my son’s fabricated memories, I wrote about the thoughts swirling through my mind. Should I tell him the truth; that he wasn’t even there? I also wrote how I felt. How cool is it that my son grasps who my dad was, even though his firsthand experiences are so limited? It makes my heart smile to know that, at least on some level, they really did know each other. Of course, I also wrote about the intense heartache I feel when I think about what my children — and my dad — missed out on.
- Jot down dialogue. When you’re journaling for an essay, verbatim dialogue is one of the most important things to capture. Using dialogue can make your essay come to life, just like a scene in a movie. Those bits and pieces of conversation may even become the crux of your story. That’s the stuff you want to record when it’s fresh in your mind. A bonus: Your readers will get a better sense of the characters in your story from the dialogue they use. Does your neighbor always say, “Oopsie daisy!” Does your son greet you with, “What up, scrub?” Does your sister use the word “truly” after you say just about anything? That type of dialogue helps define your characters for the reader — and helps move the story forward.
- Pay attention to the details. When you’re journaling for an essay, the nitty gritty details are key. So while it’s important to include the big events and moments when you’re journaling, it’s almost more important to capture the details. Here’s a favorite example by writer Nikki Campo that illustrates how details help bring a character to life: It was in that library where I first noticed Paul. He had a long face, short eyelashes and a highlighter he used to drench pages of text in yellow. His backward ball cap and bad plaid shorts gave me pause, but I liked his hands. Thick knuckles, chewed nailbeds — they reminded me of hard work.
- Search for truth. It’s no secret that most of us vent on the page. Our journals might even reflect mostly negative days and events in our lives. They might even act as a stand-in for a punching bag when we’re seething with rage. While that information is relevant — and should find a place in your journal — it’s also important to be able to step back from it and search for the real truth. Are you overdramatizing events or viewing things through only one lens? Are you capturing the scene as it unfolded or are you coloring your words with your take or perspective? Are you giving the villains in your life a fair shake?
Putting Pen to Page
Journaling is something I do at regular (but certainly not daily) intervals. I usually turn to my journal with a ballpoint pen at least once a week — more during emotionally heavy times. And I always use pen and paper. It turns out writing by hand was John Updike’s preference, too, at least according to a snippet of a letter he wrote to his New Yorker editor:
I’ve bought a word processor and we’re slowly coming to an understanding. It’s quick as the devil, but has very little imagination, and no small talk.
Just a few of the perks of handwriting your journal entries:
- Writing by hand reduces distractions. I write when I’m lying on my belly with my head near the foot of the bed with my device in a different room. There’s no rhyme or reason to this setup. It’s just what I’ve been doing since I was a young schoolgirl.
- It taps into the memory centers of the brain, so you’re more likely to retain what you write.
- It unleashes creativity. The simple act of drawing letters by hand involves pathways in the brain that go near or through parts that manage emotion.
Want more reasons to break out your pen? Check out this Fast Company article.
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