How a consistent journaling practice makes you a better author
Does the word ‘journaling’ make you think about your childhood diary? Or evoke an image of spending hours you definitely don’t have writing self-indulgent prose?
The word ‘journaling’ gets used so often, it’s easy to dismiss it as a valid practice for serious writers and authors.
Let me start by defining what I mean by a journaling practice: a regular habit of writing without any specific outcome or assignment in mind.
This is time for you to write for the pure joy and creative expression of it. It’s a chance to slow down, preferably writing with pen and paper, and taking the time to hear yourself think.
When you take the time to do this deep inner listening, it helps you trust your creative instincts and write more personally and authentically.
In a noisy world of information overload, it’s not your information that helps you stand out, it’s your voice and point of view. It’s your ability to express and communicate your unique take on things that connects you to the hearts and minds of your readers.
Whether you write books, articles, blog posts, or some other kind of content, the practice of journaling as a way to hone your authentic voice is time well spent.
How do you develop your authentic voice?
I once asked a professional writer and editor what her secret was to finding her voice on the page. Her answer? Just keep writing. A lot.
At the time, finishing a vegan scone in a light-filled cafe, I may have nodded in understanding but I also didn’t quite get it. What do you mean, just keep writing? Surely there must be a faster solution. Maybe a checklist of helpful hints to get me there more quickly?
But this advice took root and revealed it’s truth to me over time. The only way to hone my voice was to...practice.
One of the biggest challenges an author faces is feeling you’re not expressing yourself as clearly as you wish. You have the ideas in your head, but wonder if you’ll be able to get them onto the page and into your book in a way that resonates and inspires your readers.
All too quickly, your doubts, resistance, and self-consciousness keep you stuck, anxiously staring at the blank page. I’ve been right there with you, struggling to find the right words for my books, blog posts, and email newsletters.
The only way I know to break through this resistance is to keep writing. Now in my book coaching practice I offer one powerful journal prompt to move through this experience:
“What I really mean is…”
Anytime I’m stuck with my writing, I start a new sentence with that phrase and see what shows up. I let it be odd and nonsensical, because I never know when a golden thread of words will emerge, strung together with grace and insight
It’s this inwardly focused curiosity, the willingness to keep showing up to the page, that helps me and my clients hone their authentic voices and share them with more ease and confidence.
Journaling helps you unlearn stiff, academic writing habits
For the first half of your life, I bet the majority of your writing was focused on pleasing a teacher or professor in order to get a good grade. And if you went on to grad school, that academic writing style might have gotten further entrenched in how you approach any project you’re working on.
Yet when it comes to connecting with real people through your writing, in a way that makes them want to buy your book or hire you, it’s vital to know how to ditch these stiff, dry styles when you need to. This is where a journal writing practice can help you find your voice, just by virtue of practicing in a safe, low-risk environment.
If you journal in a way that focuses on following your natural flow of thoughts, you learn to hear your most potent voice more clearly. The key to strengthening this inner voice is to notice when you are more worried about what others will think, than you are about what you have to say.
Rather than worrying about what others will think about your writing, use this journaling time to make things simple. Ultimately you’re just trying to connect your speaking to your writing voice to find this sweet spot where you can be clear and insightful, without getting lost in making things overly complicated.
One way I practiced dissolving my academic writing hangover was by speaking out loud while I was writing. This helped me hear myself differently, and reach for the words that fit me best. I could literally feel how they sounded in my body and I could more easily distinguish what felt true to myself (rather than an attempt to convince a teacher to give me a passing grade so I could finally graduate from college).
In journaling you can practice writing without self-doubt
Worrying too much about what everyone else is going to think about what you have to say suppresses your best work. Given that most creatives are empathetic and attuned to others, it’s easy to get mired in a self-conscious place of doubt and resistance when you’re writing.
How will my words be received? Will I be misunderstood? Is it safe to express myself?
Journaling offers a no-pressure outlet to express yourself without flipping these switches. Instead, you can write for the experience, joy, and freedom of it. This is why I call it a journaling practice: you’re building the muscle of writing, gaining comfort and power without being hampered by other people’s opinions.
In my intuitive writing groups, I’ve seen writers enjoy success with the invitation I give them to write in a journal and then shred or burn the pages. I call it ‘write and release’ because you pour your deepest truth onto the page, knowing you have permission to then let it go. This is particularly helpful if you’re creatively blocked or fearful of other people judging you for whatever you’re writing and exploring.
Here’s what I find to be true: when you allow yourself to write anything you want, with reckless creative abandon, you’ll eventually feel your way into the sweet spot of your most authentic and potent voice.
Quality comes from quantity (not the other way around)
While working on a book project, a wonderful client of mine recommended the book Art + Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. This short and sweet book explores an idea that validated what I’d subconsciously understood: the quality of your art is a direct result of the sheer volume of your output.
Bayles and Orland describe an experiment where two groups of artists were given different instructions. One group would be graded on the quality of their finished product, the second would be graded based on the quantity of work they submitted.
Are you surprised to learn it was the group tasked with producing a high volume of work that created the higher quality work? It turns out, by trying to get things right the first time, it’s easy to trigger your inner critic. You get all tangled up in perfectionism, stopping the flow of your creativity before you even start.
It’s this stress of getting it right that blocks your intuitive flow. Naturally this principle applies to the art of writing: consistent, copious practice leads to good work, not stressing about the end result the whole time you’re typing.
Journaling is the perfect way to generate a lot of work without worrying about the quality. The more you write, the more you grow and evolve as a writer. By the time you sit down to your book or article, your hands know what to do and the process unfold with more ease.
Finding the time to do your journaling
Even knowing how a journaling practice can help you, the next hurdle I hear from writers is not having the time needed to devote to writing this way. Therefore the last piece of advice I want to offer you as you think about how to incorporate a journaling practice into your life is that you don’t need hours and hours of free time to experience these benefits.
When I lead sessions of Your Brilliant Book, my small group program for nonfiction authors, I always recommend using a timer and committing to write for 10-15 minutes a day. Alternatively, I suggest picking a modest word count, like 400-600, dedicated to a stream of consciousness journaling session.
By keeping your goal realistic and achievable, I know you’re more likely to show up to the page and do the work. Which is the only way to reap the benefits of this creative writing practice.
How this all makes you a better author
So how does this all make you a better author? It’s all about your voice. The books we love to read feel like a conversation. We can imagine the author speaking to us, sharing their story, and speaking straight from their hearts. They feel connected to their inner truth and that helps us connect with our inner truth, too
This process of journaling is more about taking away the layers of resistance and fear that get in the way of authentic sharing and storytelling that makes for engaging, moving, and transformational books.
Which I imagine is the exact kind of book you’re here to write and share.
Have a question about journaling to support your writing and books? Leave a comment so I can answer your questions in a future article!
are you ready to write your nonfiction book?
Save yourself countless hours of searching to figure out how to navigate the self-publishing journey by downloading this free step-by-step guide.
Having self-published 40+ nonfiction books and guided journals, I’ve distilled the process into an easy to follow checklist.
Download it for FREE, now!
I'm Leah Kent, a writer, book coach, and book designer.
I help radiant, creative visionaries just like you to bring their books and sacred body of work to life.
Click here to learn how we can work together to write the book that embodies and amplifies your visionary message.