Have you ever found yourself excited by the prospect of a new journal only to find yourself shutting the cover after staring at a blank page for too long? Me too.

In fact, I’m only just making my way through the collection of beautiful bargain-find notebooks I accumulated in my 30s. I loved the idea of getting everything that was tumbling through my head out on paper but would feel intimated and overwhelmed when it came to actually doing it. I knew that journaling could be a powerful tool to figure out what was really going on, but getting started… well, that was a different story. My perfectionist tendencies struggled with “muddying up” a beautiful new journal.

It took time, practice, and learning new techniques to get to the point where I am now.

These days, I’m a lot less precious about my journaling practice and often find myself grabbing any old notebook I can find to jot my way through my feelings, fears, hopes, and dreams. But even though I’ve gotten a lot better at it, I sometimes still find it a bit hard to get started.

If you’re struggling too, here are a few journaling techniques to help get you past the blank page:

Give yourself a permission slip.

“Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to be our brave authentic selves – to be brave and afraid at the same time; permission slips are a way to state our intention for how we want to behave.”

Brené Brown teaches us about permission slips in Dare to Lead. And while leadership was the focus of that book, I think they’re a pretty great tool for getting out of our own way no matter what the context. As Brown explains, they can be a “practical and familiar way” to get in touch with the things blocking us. And, they serve as a way to explicitly set intentions.

We all know what a permission slip looks like. There’s usually a date, a statement that starts “I ____________, give permission to…” and a signature. It doesn’t have to be any fancier than that. In fact, that’s kind of the point!

Here are two ways you could experiment with permission slips in your journaling practice:

Writing a permission slip to just get started. This one comes in handy if you’re somebody who gets intimidated by a blank page or journal. Try writing out something like “I give myself permission to not be perfect in these pages.”
Writing permission slips for things you need. For example, you might be facing an unjust situation but getting angry doesn’t feel comfortable or accessible. You might try writing something like “I give myself permission to be angry about [this situation] that is unfair.” Once you’ve written out your permission slip, try using it by writing about the situation and/or your feelings.

Make some low-stakes lists.

Most of us are pretty good at making lists. Especially to-do lists. But when was the last time you made a list that said something about who you are? Junior high? High school?

In their book List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery, Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick say that “listmaking turns on the juices.”

It’s a low-stakes way to remember or get to know yourself better. And, it doesn’t have to take a ton of time or energy.

Try starting with these ideas and then go from there:

List your 10 favorite songs.
List your 10 go-to meals.
List the best teachers you’ve had.
List the 5 most memorable moments in your life.
List 5 things you regret.
List 5 things you’re proud of.

Let pictures do the work.

Even though I’m a writer, words aren’t always the easiest way in to my innermost thoughts and feelings. Using pictures to get the spark started often helps me when I’m super stuck, am drained, or feeling particularly tender about something but now that I still want to work through it by journaling.

Sometimes it’s just easier to work with a page that isn’t absolutely blank.

One of my favorite practices is to cut and paste a picture into my journal and start from there. I often write something that thematically relates to the picture I’ve selected but not always. I always find it easier to go the next page when I’ve gotten my pen flowing. All you need to get started is an old magazine, some scissors and a glue stick but you can also embellish with stickers or washi tape.

Ride a musical wave.

Music is another great way in when you’re feeling stuck. Try putting on a favorite or new playlist (or go old school and pick an entire album). As the music plays, start jotting a list of thoughts and feelings coming up. You could even create a mind map of associations.

Or, try this exercise (adapted from one I learned during a generative writing workshop with Casey Sjogren at Write Doe Bay):
1. Pick a song that holds some meaning for you.
2. Get as comfy as you can be, hit play, and either soften your gaze or close your eyes as you let the music wash over you.
3. Listen to the song one more time and write down a list of images, memories, feelings, etc. that come up. Try not to edit yourself. This is just a warm up list.
4. Put your pen down. Soften your gaze or close your eyes again and hit play one last time.
5. Once the music stops, set a 3-minute timer and write whatever comes up. You might find that the warmup list items sneak in. Or maybe they won’t.
6. If it feels good, set another 3-minute timer and answer the questions “what am I learning about myself right now?”

Use structure to support yourself.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of journaling prompts for self-discovery out there. You can even find whole journals filled with them. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using a bit of structure to help support you as you get started. So go ahead and hit up your local bookstore or Google or Pinterest “journal prompts for self-discovery.” You might be surprised at what you find.

This post is the third in the Start With These Questions series, designed to help you show up more fully to yourself and to the world. (You can find the first here and the second here.) If it sparked something for you and you’d like to chat about working together, you can always drop me a line via the contact form or set up a free, no-obligation discovery call to learn more.

5 Journaling Tricks To Get You Past A Blank Page