Self Help

By Angela Baca

Here is something that you can discover as a writer. The random thoughts that you have are really important. They are not just wacky, stream-of-consciousness words, phrases, sentences, and mental images. They are important milestones in the evolution of your writer’s mind. They are your mental map, telling you many things that have become important to you as you stretch your mind in a continual creative process.

Did you know that your random thoughts and feelings are useful in the future? Your thoughts and feelings should be recorded in a journal or other medium. These ideas tell you what was foremost in your mind and heart on a particular day. You can reflect back on random thoughts and emotions when you are searching desperately for greater self-awareness.

A classic human condition is to engage in self-criticism and self-doubt. Aren’t you tired of living that way? If you can keep a journal of your most important thoughts and random thoughts, you can witness on paper the evolution of your mind. You can engage in a self-reflective dialogue that leaves no room for second-guessing yourself. Your written journal is proof that you are not crazy, ineffective, horrible, or insignificant. You are just human.

Another important way to use the journal as a future resource is to connect your thoughts with important dates. For example, wouldn’t you like to know what you were thinking around the time that you lost a parent or got married? Your past experiences form an important part of who you are.

Remember that you are using life, your life, to write. If you aspire to write fiction, the creative process of writing is really important. In order for your characters and your stories to be believable, you have to write from a set of experiences that ring true with your readers. Every day that you live and record your thoughts, emotions, and experiences in your journal, you are developing an invaluable resource for future storytelling. You are writing about the stuff of life, and your journal will contain that stuff of life. If you commit yourself to the daily reflective journal, you will never run out of material to write from. Writer’s block will become a thing of the past.

The most important thing that you can do as a writer is to keep a journal of your random thoughts. You need to chart a course in your development, and the journal is the perfect way to view your evolution as a creative, verbal being over time.