The Reality of a Journal

As writers, we shape reality through the story and pieces we write. It’s our way of creating an alternate universe where we live, breathe, and work.

But how do we shape this reality? How do we create a reality on a page?

The best system I have recently discovered for creating realities is by keeping a journal. If we write about everyday occurrences, we have the building blocks for the fictional realities writers create. It becomes one of the best resources for the imagination.

Our daily “hurts, loves, and joys” provide a basis for us to draw from because they are real. We can transfer those realities to our characters and ideas using our creative minds.

For instance, a close relative to you lies about something connected to you. In your journal, you jot down how that made you feel, the repercussions it produced, and the outcome that happened.

Couldn’t that be the basis for a story?

I have recently been consumed with writer’s block. And for the record, writer’s block is very real. I have sat down and stared at my computer screen and had absolutely nothing. But a solution for a scenario can be found in my journal of what has happened to me over days.

A journal also solves the challenge of making characters and situations relatable. Why? Because they really happened. Let’s face it, many of our trials and tribulations are not uncommon in their nature. Readers can relate instantly.

We all have lost somebody we loved. We all have had heartbreak. We all have felt joy in accomplishing goals or doing something we love. The only difference is the elements involved. Keeping a journal is like life doing your creating for you.

Journals also provide the emotional component needed to create realities for the page. In your journal, you can recount how you feel about the episodes you’re recording. Your emotions are real. You can transfer those emotions to a written page through character and instance.

Keeping a journal requires time and dedication. In the past, I looked at writing in my journal as something outside of my usual writing ritual. But it’s not! Think of the journal as your preface to the writing you are doing. It’s like the morning stretch before exercising.

Honestly speaking, I haven’t been dedicated to my journal. I don’t know how many days go by without me writing in it. But writer’s block changed my way of thinking.

What do you mean I’ve got nothing to write about?

I just received a letter from my mortgage company telling me they are canceling my homeowner’s insurance. That alone is a basis for a story where maybe my character makes phone calls that lead nowhere, and he/she decides to do something about it.

But will that character do about it? This is where our creativity takes hold, and we buckle in to create that story and that reality. My real-life instance just became the impetus for me to write.

It’s plain and simple, and I may repeat what has been said a thousand times. But as the victim of writer’s block, this epiphany about the journal has offered me a way out of that hell.