The beginnings are the most difficult step in journaling (or any type of writing). Staring at a blank screen, a blank paper or an empty journaling tag can be very frustrating.
After the first sentence is drizzled onto the paper, the rest usually follow in a potent stream.
Having said that, the beginning is many times the most important part of our journaling. The opening words are like a welcoming committee, inviting the reader to keep on reading.
I have a great technique that solves the “opening-syndrome”.
Instead of desperately looking for the right words to come out, borrow the opening sentence from your favorite book, or the book currently on your nightstand, and go on from there.
To help you with this technique here is a list of the 100 best first lines of novels.
Now let see if you are up for a challenge – try to write a complete entry in your journal (or a short story, or journaling for a layout) using ONLY opening lines of other books.
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Have you tried this technique? Was it helpful for you?
Have you challenged yourself with the extreme version of this technique? I’d love to read it, so please share by replying to this post.
Tags: guided writing, journaling, Journaling Prompt, journaling technique, writing
Oh this is brillant! I’ll try it for sure, thanks for sharing Avital!
Thank you for stopping by, Alexandra!