What Should I Write in a Journal? Starter Templates to Vent Your Feelings

Let's start a journal. You think that, open a notebook or app — and your hand freezes before the blank screen. "Nothing much happened today." "I don't know where to start." And while you hesitate, writing itself starts to feel like a chore, and you close it. Most people who can't keep a journal stumble at this "starting wall."

But don't worry. You can't write not because you have nothing to write, but simply because you don't know the templates. This article introduces starter templates you can use today, and a set of questions for venting your feelings, with examples. Even on days with nothing, you'll be able to write from a single line.

There's no "right answer" in a journal

First, a premise: there's no good or bad in journaling, because it isn't writing meant to be reread and judged. Typos, incoherent sentences, strings of single words — none of it is a problem. The goal is to get what's in your head outside. Keep just that in mind and your shoulders relax: you really can write anything.

Still, being told "anything" is exactly what freezes the hand. That's where starter "templates" help.

Starter templates for when you're stuck

When nothing comes to mind, pick one of these forms and begin writing.

• What's on your mind most right now. "That reply still hasn't come" is fine.
• An event from today + how it felt. Like, "My boss pointed something out. Honestly, I wasn't convinced."
• What you actually want. Drop the front and put your true feeling in a word.
• A moment your heart stirred today. Something glad, something irritating — either works.

What matters is to write the event and the feeling as a pair. Research reports that writing both the facts and thoughts of what happened and the feelings at the time tends to move things along more than only venting emotion. Write "what happened" briefly, then add "how it felt." That alone brings the shape of the murk into view.

Questions to vent your feelings

On days you want to vent deeper, try writing as answers to these questions. Asking yourself makes words come more easily.

• What moment stirred your heart most today?
• Is there something you wanted to say to someone but swallowed?
• What are you most tired of right now?
• What did you actually want them to do?

These aren't questions for producing answers. They're for using a prompt to draw out what's inside. There's no need to wrap it up positively. Anger and frustration can be written in exactly the words you have.

Negative things are exactly what you may write

Journaling may carry an image of writing reflections or gratitude. But there's no need to force something upbeat. If anything, the swallowed anger and the honest words you can't say to anyone are exactly what's worth getting out.

Negative feelings tend to become a weight on the heart the more they're held down. In a journal, you don't have to dress them up — writing them as felt is fine. That is what helps sort the heart.

Because no one sees it, you can write your true feelings

That said, strong anger and honest words you can't say aloud are hard to write where someone might see. The instant you think "what if it's read," your words get chosen and the truth retreats.

We built Noroi Nikki to be that place. Whichever template you start from, you can leave the feeling that emerges in the form of a "curse," seen by no one. On days you don't know what to write, start with one line about what's on your mind most. From there, your journal begins.

References

• Ullrich, P. M., & Lutgendorf, S. K. (2002). Journaling about stressful events: Effects of cognitive processing and emotional expression. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. A study on the relationship between writing both thoughts and feelings about events and psychological effects.