JOURNALING HELPED ME BECOME A BETTER WRITER

JOURNALING HELPED ME BECOME A BETTER WRITER — AND PERSON

YUSHA AZIZ

“Why?”

That’s the question people ask when I tell them I journal every day—and have done so for the last three years. I’ll say it’s to improve my writing skills, and that’s why I first started.

But it’s become more than an exercise to hone my writing skills. It’s increased my discipline and self-awareness. It has sharpened my powers of perception and observation, and let me reflect on my past, values, and struggles tangibly.

The above combined have shaped me into a better person—all because I wanted to ‘write better.’

Bryan A. Garner, author of Garner’s Modern English Usage, inspired me to start. He suggested writing non-stop for ten minutes at the end of the day. The point is to flex your writing muscle each day. It builds fluency and confidence. By writing often it becomes second nature. Then, when you start your novel, or your feature length piece, you can dive in with alacrity, writing skills primed, strong, and ready to soar.

Yet the benefits of journaling go beyond technique and confidence.

By journaling often, over weeks and months, you can catch yourself speaking. That means you develop an awareness of your inner dialogue. You see the negative labels you self-attach, the way you twist and distort external events. And you’ll see how kind or toxic you are to yourself.

Your self-awareness of your mental patterns grows. Since they’re on paper, and not in the formless void of your mind, these patterns crystallise. You learn to spot the helpful patterns and torpedo the negative ones.

And journaling can serve as a record of your life in all its glory and awkwardness. You can use it for positive, helpful reflection. You see past struggles, like the nerves before a job interview, or the dread of an upcoming exam, and see how you triumphed over each.

You learn to better accept yourself, and importantly, laugh at yourself. It’s funny to witness yourself stress over something that turned out fine.

In essence, you can witness yourself grow with concrete evidence. You author your own character arc.

Finally, journaling guided me to be a better person. I’m more disciplined because I can keep myself accountable. I plan, brainstorm, and set goals in my journal. And when I fail, I can write and reflect on the why and how to improve. It’s also improved my relationship with family, friends, and the world around me because consistent journaling weaves a narrative of how you treat others. It forces you to see how your actions affect others because it’s there on paper, ready to be analysed, and not shunned away into the ambiguities of your mind. Like seeing the patterns of your thought, you can see the patterns of your behaviours towards others.

Keeping a daily journal was one of the best choices I made in 2018. Start one, write it in often, and I promise you’ll boost your rhetoric and mental health.

ALIF CAESAR RIZQI PRATAMA VIA. UNSPLASH