These are the journaling prompts I used to feature on my page A Goldmine of Journaling Prompts (now retired). I’ll be adding to this list from time to time.
Easy ways to get started
Not sure where to start? There’s no right or wrong way to keep a personal journal, so you can start any way you want!
Here’s some ideas that may help:
- Write about the day
- Was it a special day? A birthday, or a holiday or a special celebration.
- Was it sunny, or cloudy, or windy, or rainy. Write down what the weather was like.
- Write about what you did
- Where did you go today? Did you go to school, or shopping, or to visit someone?
- Did you play sports?
- Did you make something?
- Did you read a good book? You could write a review and talk about the parts you really liked.
- Write about how you felt
- What made you happy today?
- Did anything make you sad?
- Were you worried about something, or excited?
- Did anything scary happen?
- Tell a story without words
- Draw pictures – use paint or pens or pencils or crayons
- Make random doodles, all over the page or just in the margins
- Add photos to your journal and add captions about what each photo shows
- Stick in pictures of things you like from magazines
- Collect things like fruit stickers and labels from food you’ve eaten
- Glue in lots of found objects, like tickets and bottle caps and paddlepop sticks
- Make a collage from a mix of all the above ideas
Some Quick Journaling Prompts – Prompts About Home
Here’s a few quick journaling prompts to get you started. These prompts ask that you look back over the past three months of your life and journal about your situation and experiences.
- Where were you living for this period of time?
- Did this place feel like home to you?
- Were you settled or did you feel the need to move somewhere new?
- What was your neighbourhood like? Describe some of the sights, sounds and smells you experienced when stepping out your front door.
- Were you living in your hometown? If not, how far were you from your hometown?
- What kind of dwelling were you living in? Describe the building and surrounds.
- Did you share this place with others or were you on your own?
Journal Prompts – Chance
When was the last time you took a chance? Was it big or small, serious or trivial? How did it turn out? Were you glad you made the decision, or did things turn out not so well?
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish. – Ovid
How do you view chance? Do you see it as opportunity, or as risk?
It’s choice – not chance – that determines your destiny. ~ Jean Nidetch
Do you agree with Jean Nidetch’s quote?
[Image courtesy of bluegum on stock.xchng]
Journal Prompts – The Seven Wonders
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World represent great works of ancient times that embody the best of mythology, religion, art, power, science and beauty.
They are, in chronological order:
- The Great Pyramid of Giza
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
- The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
- The Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
- The Colossus of Rhodes
- The Lighthouse of Alexandria
Sadly only the Pyramid at Giza is still standing today, the others all having been destroyed by natural disaster. You can read more about the Seven Wonders at Wikipedia.
What are the seven wonders of your life? List them out and write about what makes them a wonder for you.
[Image courtesy of the stock.xchng]
Journal Prompts – Community Service
What does the term Community Service mean to you? Does it conjure up ideas of forced service to the community, the result of a court sentence for the guilty to perform community service hours as a penance? Or is it more like a leisurely Saturday morning sizzling sausages at the local Apex or Lions club charity fundraiser? Perhaps it’s volunteer time spent chatting with residents of a nearby nursing home?- Do you currently get involved in any community service projects? Have you volunteered your time for a good cause in the past? If you haven’t, would you consider doing so in the future or not? For what reasons?
- Imagine that everyone in your city or town was now required by law to perform a minimum of 3 hours community service per month. What would your reaction be? Would you be pleased? Unhappy? Worried? What sort of activity would you choose to do?
Some More Quick Journaling Prompts – Prompts About Relationships
As with the previous list of prompts, these prompts ask that you look back over the past three months of your life and journal about your situation and experiences.
- Did you share this period of your life with a significant other?
- Did you make any new friends?
- Did you reconnect with any old friends?
- Was there anyone you met during this time who had a major impact on your life?
- Were there any major upheavals in your relationships with others?
- Did anyone bring you to tears?
- Did someone make you feel angry?
- Did you miss the prescence of someone?
- Were there any shared moments of pure happiness?
- Did you feel loved?
Journal Prompts – Travel
Are you currently holidaying? If so, where? If not, where would you most like to be holidaying?- Does your perfect holiday destination include the beach and lots of sunshine? Or are you a skiing and snow kind of person? What about an idyllic mountain retreat, or a spot of fishing on the lake?
- What sort of holidays do you like the most? Those filled with lazy, relaxing days just mooching around or the action packed adventure variety, filled with excitement and new experiences at every turn?
- What’s your favourite holiday activity? Do you like to take lots of photos of your trips? Do you like to visit the local restaurants and places to eat? Are you a souvenir person, or do you like to hit the local shops for gifts for those back home? Do you like to visit all the local tourist attractions and activities?
- What was your most memorable holiday? Where did you go and who was it with? Was it the destination or the people that made it so memorable? Have you ever revisited the destination or tried to recreate the experience?
[Image courtesy of somadjinn on stock.xchng]
Journal Prompts – Are You A Dog Or Cat Person?
Do you identify yourself as a dog person or a cat person?- Or are you neither?
- Perhaps you’re just an animal lover in general?
- Was there a specific event or a time in your life that influenced you to prefer one type of pet over another?
[Images courtesy of the stock.xchng]
Journal Prompts – Your Fortune
Have you ever had your fortune told?- What was the experience like?
- Where did it happen?
- What were your surroundings like?
- Was the decor and atmosphere appropriate to the situation?
- Was the reading accurate?
- Would you have it done again?