Personal journaling can be traced back many centuries, and still remains a popular today. Keeping a journal is a little way of preserving moments in life, documenting important observations, and inevitably telling a story that may have otherwise become lost in the passing of time. The benefits of journaling are plentiful; the simple act of releasing thoughts and opinions into your brand new leather journal is enriching to the soul and the mind. But did you know that writing with a personal voice in the unrestricted pages of a journal can also work wonders to improve your content delivery online?
Personal Journaling is NOT Pointless
There is a common misconception that personal journaling is merely a way to keep track of what happens during every moment of every day. In reality, there’s a lot more to keeping a journal than initially meets the eye. In a sense, a journal provides an entire realm waiting to be filled with unforeseen inspirations that, when examined closely, set a strong foundation for content marketing. The key to uncovering those inspirations is knowing just where to look, and how to optimize them once they have been discovered.
“The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.” – Antoine de Saint
1. Keeping a journal is the best way to challenge right and left brained perceptions
The human brain perceives the world using right and left brained types of thinking. The passionate right brain maintains a strong focus on creativity, intuition and a keen sense for inspiration. On the other hand, the logical right brain is responsible for careful calculation, precision to detail and planning. What better way is there to challenge these two opposing life lenses than by taking advantage of personal journaling?
Jotting down ideas in a small notebook or writer’s journal is an effortless way to train right and left brained thinking without even realizing it’s happening. It is universally known to writers that the best way to improve content is to write frequently, an act that is not possible without both the right brain and left brain being able to work together. It doesn’t really matter what you’re writing in that leather journal, every entry is a valuable moment captured.
2. Using personal journaling to find your writing style
A vital key to success when writing online content is establishing a unique voice and writing style. Keeping a journal is among the best ways to pinpoint personal writing style and begin developing it. Whether you operate a small business website, personal site or a blog, it is an unspoken rule that readers want and need to be able to connect with the author.
Writing in a journal helps to embrace your unique voice, train it well and develop a writing style that speaks for itself when unleashed onto the pages. Because personal journaling is effortless, doesn’t require editing and is not subjected to deadlines, it provides the perfect opportunity to explore a different side of yourself as a writer.
3. Keeping a journal is the easiest way to gain access to the best inspirational book ever written
Contrary to popular belief, there’s an entire world of difference separating personal journaling and keeping a diary. A diary is the best place to store written accounts of daily life, whereas a journal is a place for creativity to come to life, unrestricted. Many writers spend so much time documenting daily inspirations into their writer’s journal, paying little attention to the wealth of inspiration that lies within the pages.
Believe it or not, every single thing that you write down while keeping a journal is the seedling of a great article, blog post or webpage just waiting to happen. Perhaps you wrote down a short haiku that came to mind when you noticed an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s at the coffee shop. You may not have realized it at the time, but those 17 syllables you’ve been keeping in a journal tucked away from the world have all the potential in the world to set a foundation for creating new, improved content for your website. 17 syllables that could inspire your next story, provoke an idea and, just maybe, set your intuition on fire.