9 writing prompts to help you think more creatively

Journaling is a brilliant tool to help you come up with new creative ideas, get unstuck, reduce stress & anxiety and work more productively. I’m talking here about writing with a pen and paper, the act of writing itself is one of the reasons journaling is so effective. By keeping your left, analytic and logical brain side occupied with putting pen to paper, the right creative, intuitive side of your brain can come to the fore unhindered.

Here are just some of the benefits of journaling:

• Clarity of thought
• Processing difficult feelings
• Reducing stress levels
• Writing forces the mind to slow down
• Seeing situations from different perspectives
• New ideas
• Creative breakthroughs

Many creatives (myself included) battle with anxiety and I’ve found journaling has helped me to get out of my head, get the anxious feelings down on paper which immediately reduces their grip and get objective perspective on whatever I’m anxious about. In short, I feel better when I’ve journaled.

It’s difficult to take action when you’re stuck in a negative thought cycle. By getting rid of (or at least reducing) stressful and anxious feelings you make room for creative ideas to come through.

There’s no right or wrong way to journal, simply get yourself a pen and paper, find a quiet spot and start writing for as long as you like.

9 journal prompt to get you started:

• Right now I’m thinking about
• If I wasn’t afraid I’d
• My creative strengths are
• Describe your favourite colour
• What question would I most like the answer to
• 10 book titles I could write
• The happiest time in my life was when…
• What’s your favourite work of art/song/book and why do you love it
• If I had a million pounds to spend in a year I’d…

Like most self development tools and strategies, you’ll see the most benefit from journaling if you do it regularly, even daily if possible.

Enjoy the process and do let me know how you get on!