Journals can help writers like you

A journal can help you organize your writing activities and at the same time hold you accountable for what you are doing daily. By keeping a journal, you can keep track of your progress.

If it is easy for you to get lost amidst every day tasks, keeping a journal will sustain your efforts to add more discipline to your routine and produce a regular form of writing. When it comes to finding the time to write or just sitting down and writing, many writers become complacent. To be successful in your chosen career, dedication, consistency and persistence are essential traits. A writing journal will certainly help you identify which are the missing elements in your daily routine.

Keeping a journal is by no means a difficult thing to do, nor is it complicated or expensive. If you are a novice writer, keep your writing journal simple to begin with. Get a monthly calendar with plenty of blank spaces so that you can write on it each day. This is an inexpensive method to keep a journal regardless your form of writing, or to make notations concerning your submissions. All you need to do is jot down brief descriptions of your daily writing activities, such as "write 500 words for the novel" or "emailed 2 articles to the Classical Literary Magazine."

Place your writing journal in a visible location so that you can check your daily progress at any time and honestly assess your efforts to get better at your craft. You can review your journal every week or at the end of a month to evaluate your productivity. If there are any blank days, try to understand what kept you from writing something on those days. Your blanks may bother you at first, but they will also serve as a great motivation, and you will soon learn to eliminate them through sustained work.

After making some progress with your writing journal, you will realize that tenacity was what distinguished you from other writers with more published credits. Even if it may seem like a waste of time, having a journal is in fact a way of perfecting your craft. Unless you are disciplined and dedicated, making a profession and a living out of writing is probably not for you. So if you need something to help you maintain a positive attitude, try a writing journal.

Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

About Shery: Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com