What can be called a journal? It's a kind of chronicle you write to express your thoughts, to make a summary of your activities, to compose a plan or important steps to remember and follow when it comes to different writing assignments, etc. It does not matter what you are going to chronicle, but when you write a journal you'd better know the following guidelines to start and make your journal look and sound good.

Step 1: Find a Thing That Will Become Your Journal

Have you decided what tool you will use to write your journal? It can be your laptop, a notebook, some mobile applications created with this goal, a blank book or a collection of some sticky notes. Whatever you choose to create your journal entries, your first step should be finding a tool to use for it.

Step 2: Choose a Writing Tool

If your journal lives online you can skip this step: it's obvious you'll use a keyboard to write your journal entries. But if you've decided to have an old-fashioned journal, a paper one, you will need a nice pen! Or maybe even several pens of different style for your writings to look cool.

Step 3: Establish a Writing Habit

Do you want to bring your journal with you everywhere? Or do you prefer to set a particular time for writing? Set up your daily routine to make your writing comfortable for you; make this routine a habit, and it will be much easier for you to create journal entries.

Step 4: Set Up a Good Writing Place

Environment plays a very important role when it comes to creative process, as it can motivate and inspire you to write your entries. Think of the best place to fit your writing mood. Is it your quiet room? Or maybe you will feel yourself better in a cafe? Choose a place that will be conductive to everyday writing: for example, when I write entries for my personal blog, Omnipapers, I lock myself in my room to avoid distractions. Classical music helps and inspires me too.

Step 5: Keep Your Every Entry Dated

Putting a date to every entry of your journal might be really helpful. It will be easier to systematize your writings and find them quickly when needed.

Step 6: Write Your Entry

Just write your thoughts and ideas down as soon as they occur. If it appears difficult at first, try writing about your day, the things you've done during this day, the feelings you experienced, etc. The point is to start writing: every topic might lead you to interesting thoughts to write down. A few tips to consider:

Do not worry about structure. Write as you feel, without thinking of grammar and punctuation rules.
Will it be only you who reads your entries? Do not worry about what other people can think of your journal: you write for yourself, and you express yourself with your journal.

Step 7: Be Creative

Do not think of your journal entries as simple text. It's so easy to be creative and make beautiful and diverse writings: try poems, lists, collages, artworks, etc. Make your journal unique and beautiful.

Step 8: Feel the Best Moment to Stop

Stop your writing before you feel drained and exhausted completely, and get back to your journal when you have enough ideas, inspiration and energy to write good texts again.

Step 9: Reread Your Journal Entry

You can do it once you've completed your entry or after a while: rereading your journal might help you improve your writing, systematize your thoughts and learn yourself better.

Step 10: Conclusion

As far as you can see, it's not very difficult to create good journal entries: write about what you like, white how you feel and think, make your entries look beautiful and pleasant for your eyes, reread them to understand yourself better. I hope this article will be useful to read for all people interested in writing; if you plan to write journal entries it might help you understand what to start with.