What do you want out of your writing and creative life in the upcoming year?
- You might want to improve your creative confidence, so you can consistently produce work you’re proud of.
- You might want to develop your craft, so you can create polished writing that delights readers.
- And you might want to strengthen good habits — and loosen the grip of not-so-good ones — so you can get more great work done.
There’s one tool that I find massively helpful to all of those, and that’s a creative journal.
But a lot of journal formats don’t really work, for a couple of reasons.
First, let me introduce myself
If we haven’t met yet, my name is Sonia Simone. For ten years, I was a founding partner and the chief content officer for Copyblogger, one of the world’s most influential blogs on writing and content marketing.
Hundreds of thousands of unique visitors a month visit that site to get writing, marketing, and business advice.
I’ve taught writing and content for well over a decade, as well as managing the production of impeccable content, each and every week, year in and year out.
Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about how to write a lot content, in a way that delights an audience. And I’ve learned how to make that writing enjoyable.
I would love to teach you a powerful tool for making that happen … without charging you anything for it. (My years with Copyblogger taught me the power of giving really valuable things away for free.)
Keeping a journal is one of the most powerful creative tools a writer can use. But most journals sit on the shelf gathering dust. Let’s change that for you.
So, let’s talk about the problems with traditional writer’s journals …
Creative journals shouldn’t have to be “pretty.”
There’s an impressive bunch of videos on YouTube on how to create amazingly fancy journals, particularly in the bullet journal community. They use complex hand lettering, designed “spreads,” and hand-drawn graphic elements to craft Instagram-ready works of art.
I love them as a beautiful craft project. I don’t love them as a tool for creative productivity.
Artists’ studios are not pristine
Professional artists make a very clear distinction between work space and finished work.
Studio spaces, even though they are often beautiful, are not finished work. They are places to create finished work.
And that’s how I see a creative journal. While it may have a beauty of its own, its primary purpose is to give you a place to get work done, and to organize work that’s in various stages of completion.
There’s a trend at the moment of making traditionally private spaces like journals and sketchbooks into public art. And that’s cool, in its way. I’m a sketchbook artist myself.
But it’s worth our while to maintain private creative spaces as well.
I think of my own notebooks as a portable writer’s studio.
My creative journal is a place, like an artist’s studio, where I can put everyone else’s opinion off to the side. It’s a place to work out ideas and hone my craft.
My filled journals are beautiful to me, but they are neither tidy nor precious.
Free workshop!
I hold a workshop a few times a year to teach my process for keeping a Portable Writer’s Studio journal — with lots of room for you to expand, tweak, and edit the process to make it your own.
Our latest session is available now. And if you drop your details below, you can get instant access to the replay.
In the workshop, we talk about:
- How a Portable Writer’s Studio can help you become more productive and more creative
- Recommendations for formats
- How to organize everything so you can find it again
- Ways to make your studio journal a place of play and beauty, as well as work (like an artist’s studio is)
- Exercises for your journal that will strengthen your writing
We mainly focus on writers, but these techniques are suited to all kinds of creativity, including painting, craft making, and even business ownership. I’ll be leaving lots of time for questions and conversation, so we can make this work for you and your goals.
If you want to join us, just drop your information below and I’ll send you your link to the workshop. I’m really looking forward to seeing you there!
