by Norma-Anne Chattin

Created on: December 31, 2010   Last Updated: January 12, 2011

Journal prompts guide the journal keeper into pages with more meaning and depth than just noting daily activities or making to-do lists. The most interesting and stimulating journal entries arise from the more open ended journal prompts as opposed to the specific, detailed, questions offered by many online and print resources.

Topic prompts for journal entries don’t have to be daunting questions that sound more like an essay assignment than a thought provoking prompt. Keep a revolving reservoir of journal prompts handy that allow you to exercise more creativity in your entries. Visual prompts, word games, character sketches, dialogues, and descriptive exercises are accessible and stimulating journal prompt habits that enhance entries without limiting them. 

Visual Prompts

 To set up a simple cache of visual prompts grab a magazine that is on the way to the recycle bin and tear out pictures that draw your attention. Do this quickly without thought as to why you are attracted to the picture. Collect them in an envelope and draw one out when you are ready to journal. Study the picture briefly and begin noting your reactions, creating a back story, describing the photo to a blind person, or just analyzing why you may have torn it out in the first place. 

Word Play

Word games for your journal offer a structured starting point for entries yet also allow freedom for discovery and growth in your writing. Select a letter of the alphabet and write your three favorite words that begin with this letter. Use those words to create a mission statement or a story. Take each of the letters from a favorite word and break them down into more words. Rearrange the letters of one word to create more words from the same letters. Discuss multiple meanings for your random words or write jokes, riddles, puns, or tongue twisters for those words. Make up a story about how the word came into being. Just play with the words- that’s why we call them games.

Create Characters

Character sketches allow you to develop your skills for fiction writing and explore traits present in your own personality. Choose a photo from your visual file of a person and create their biography. Create your own super hero or villain with names and background information. Assign personalities to inanimate objects. Profile a scarcely mentioned character in a novel or historical event. Draw or doodle your character’s face, favorite accessory, or wanted poster to supplement your characterization. 

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