Over the last few years there’s one journaling prompt that I come back to time and time again.
It’s a take on the ‘five things’ type essay but without being limited to five things. It’s sort of like free-writing but with a little more structure and purpose. It possibly has a name and maybe some background as to why it works (please do tell me if so) but for me it is just called,
“Everything I know / feel about…”
I’m a big fan of morning pages (the loose, ‘doesn’t have to be a certain length because a kid will probably interrupt you anyway’ type - you can find a lowdown on the ‘proper’ version here). When I get a chance I’ll be found first thing in the morning with my coffee and a notebook, clearing my head and making room for my creativity.
But sometimes creativity can be really playful first thing. A thought will arrive that you want to explore further. OR perhaps there’ll be an idea noted down somewhere that you want to return to. Or something niggling you that would benefit from being thought through on the page.
Or for me sometimes I just fancy a bit of essay-type writing. For no other reason than I enjoy it. It’s great fun.
Anyway, on these days I like the prompt: ‘Everything I know / feel about…’
It’s open enough that you can go in numerous directions. But not as open as morning pages or free-writing where you’re left entirely to your own devices. It’s inviting you to ask some more questions and delve into what you really think about a topic. Which if you are a people-pleaser (as I am, in recovery), is both clarifying and empowering. Sometimes you’ll get half way down the page and think, oh, I didn’t see that coming.
But likewise it doesn’t have to be deep and meaningful, if that’s not how your feeling. It can be playful, a way to get the pen moving, kinda mindful in that it lets you forget yourself for a while as you write, ‘everything I know about cornflakes’ or, ‘everything I feel about a decent cup of tea.’ It can also be helpful as a, ‘get it all off your chest’ type writing activity - write everything out, then breathe.
I do tend to use bullet points. This allows me to jump around nice and freely without considering how my writing sits together. I find it allows me to literally follow my train of thought, as a point arrives in my head, a new bullet. This is journaling after all, it can be messy and disjointed and random. Sometimes I’ll start with, say, ‘everything I know / feel about the day ahead’ and end up somewhere entirely different. That’s ok too. We’re not writing to publish here. The writing process itself is the point.
I don’t edit as I go. Occasionally if I get stuck I might read back over what I’ve written so far to see if this sparks up another need to write. If not, a short pause. Sometimes a re-brewing of the coffee. Maybe I’m done.
And then perhaps I’ll throw it away. Or maybe I’ll underline or note down a couple of things I’d like to explore further. Sometimes to journal about again or perhaps, as
writes about brilliantly in this essay about the ‘five things essay’ (which is very similar in form), as inspiration for future creative writing / poems / non-fiction writing:The reason for me keeping these two words in my prompt: “Everything I know / feel about…” is that it gives me that little bit of extra encouragement to explore both. Or it gives me the option to choose one or the other. But that’s just me.
And as with all journaling prompts, I believe they work best when they feel like they’re in your own words.
To achieve this, you could try writing the prompt out (right now, don’t scroll back up) as you remember it. How does it land on the page?
Perhaps the word ‘know’ becomes ‘think.’ Or ‘believe to be true.’ Or whatever. Perhaps this gives you a totally different, but related prompt. Two for the price of one?
This journaling prompt rarely lets me down. It’s one of my regular ones for days when I’m not sure what I want to write, or feel drawn to scroll through random shit on my phone (which I know full well never leaves me feeling as good as journaling but for some reason I still seem to do it). It encapsulates all the things I love about journaling - it’s insightful, playful and gently flexes that creative muscle.
So I thought I’d share it with you.
If you do try it, I’d love to know how you get on.
Nelly x
P.s Below is a highly personal essay that came about as a result of this prompt. I’ve decided to keep it within the paid subscriber community mainly for this reason.
I started with, “everything I know/feel about that dream….’ (I should have said, this prompt works nicely for dreams too!) and by the end I realised that I had something I wanted to work with.
I’ve put the entire piece at the bottom because I don’t want to paywall posts half way through this Journaling Wild newsletter/blog. Not because I don’t think this is ok, I think writers deserve to be paid for their writing. But I personally don’t enjoy it when this happens. When you’ve invested in a story and then you’re left hanging without an ending. I don’t mind it occasionally but when it happens repeatedly my relationship with that writer starts to feel uneasy. I know lots of people do this successfully on Substack (and probably earn far more money than me from their writing as a result, ha) but I’m following my gut with what works for me personally. Currently.
So there won’t be any paywalls half way through. But I do have a few more personal pieces coming up to share, ones that are a bit too vulnerable for the whole internet (and also because yes, I do think it’s ok for writers to make a living and these are pieces that take me AGES to write). So I’ll say something like…
At the bottom here is a piece of writing about xxxxx, or a download, or some further journaling guidance that is behind a paywall. If you think this is something you’d like to read or use, or you just want to support the time it takes to write these posts then I’d be ever so grateful for you becoming a paid subscriber (always message me if money is a problem, no questions asked). But if not, hopefully you’ve not wasted your time reading this piece which stands alone nicely. Thank you for being here.