Focused writing, particularly in journaling, can be a powerful tool for self-reflection and mindfulness. My goal is to inspire you to write your story, to get the good, the bad, and the ugly out into plain sight. To slow down your day and take time for self-reflection.
Ask yourself questions and answer them. By writing your thoughts and emotions on paper, you can gain clarity and insight into your thinking and behavior patterns. You may also identify triggers for negative emotions and develop strategies to manage them.
Journaling expresses our thoughts and feelings, which helps us to gain clarity and insight. Writing can be painful. I have many journal entries with dried teardrops. Writing the truth and digging deep into our experiences and emotions can be draining. So why do it? To find the truth. To give your thoughts a form that you can see, digest, and work with.
Introduction to Focused Writing
Focused writing is taking one subject and digging deep. We are all familiar with songs, poems, and short stories. These forms of writing are often a person’s personal story. At some point, they have written lyrics from their heart. This is a form of focused writing. Telling your story on paper. A way of working through your thinking and feelings about a specific topic.
I strongly encourage you to get a spiral notebook to try these writing exercises. You could video yourself or type it out on the computer, but writing your words has value. Handwriting is a less restrictive method of collecting your thoughts. There are no rules on where you can write on the page. You can draw, doodle, and make arrows connecting ideas. Sure, you can do this on a computer, but you have to open multiple programs, which is a distraction from your writing.
Handwriting your journal has several benefits. First, it engages different brain areas than typing on a keyboard. This can improve cognitive functions, such as learning and memory. The slower pace of writing allows for deeper reflection and contemplation. Writing can be calming and grounding. It can help reduce stress and anxiety, which prompts mental health and emotional well-being.
In focused writing, you collect your thoughts on a specific topic, such as your relationship with food, death, seeking a purpose in life, or a relationship with a loved one. Writing is a place to freely explore what you feel. Writing is cleansing, as it gets it out of you into a distinct form. If using a notebook, it is something you can come back and visit on a later day.
We have had something weight on our mind, an argument, a situation at work. The harder we try to push our thoughts and emotions down, the more they bubble up. Some may even keep us awake at night. Holding your feelings in can lead to health issues. Free writing is the practice of writing for a predetermined amount of time without stopping to think, writing about whatever comes into your mind. The key is to keep writing, even when you feel stuck or at a loss for words. Focused free writing simply means free writing with a specific topic or question in mind.
Where to start
Use a spiral notebook; writing on paper is the best method; it allows you freedom of thought. We do not think in a linear manner but in a burst that can jump all over the place. In focused writing, you want to keep bringing your mind back to the topic, but that reflection may come in layers, out of order. Or you might write with art, symbols, and diagrams. A notebook is portable. You can pull it out at the doctor’s office, waiting for a class to get started, or even sitting in the woods. I do some of my best writing when I am stuck somewhere and bored.
Write a little every day. As I have stated, writing can be painful. It is hard to pull that truth out of yourself. Even though the writing is on one topic, it does not mean you must write it all in one day. Come back tomorrow whenever you feel you cannot give more. This means the topic is significant to you. The critical point is to keep focused and let the thoughts flow. A profound reflection on what matters most.
For Your Eyes Only, don’t share your writing. Sharing your story will turn your attention from writing for yourself to writing for others. You are about to take a self-examination. Writing should not be done for the sake of others, as it compromises honesty.
Be honest in your writing. How can you examine your thoughts and emotions if you do not tell the truth? Sometimes it is ugly. Things about us we do not want to face. This is precisely what you should write about; get it out in plain sight. So that you can deal with it. We want clarity, and we are seeking well-being. Hiding any aspect of ourselves is not healthy.
Mindful Journaling
Mindful journaling explores feelings and processes events; it emphasizes present-moment awareness. It shares characteristics with mindfulness practices that sharpen focus, turn attention inward, and increase positive emotions and decrease negative ones.
Remember, you can go back to yesterday, you cannot make any changes. Reflect on the past but live in the present moment. You are missing out on life by spending too much time in the past or the future. Life is happening now.
Journaling for Mindfulness: 44 Prompts, Examples & Exercises, by Alicia Nortje, Ph.D., Positive Psychology
Expressive Writing
Focused writing can also be expressive writing. Expressive writing is a technique where you write freely and honestly about your thoughts and feelings, particularly about challenging or emotional experiences. It’s not about following strict writing rules or grammar, but about getting your emotions and experiences out on paper. Expressive writing is author centered. You are telling a story, seeking meaning and clarity of an experience, or achieving a personal goal. You can write significant pieces of writing, but later. Now, we want to get our thoughts and emotions on paper.
Focused writing is continuous writing. Keep your pen on the paper. What’s on your mind and in your heart? You capture your personal observations, reflections, and experiences in a journal. Expressive writing comes from our core. It is personal and emotional writing without regard to form or conventional writing rules. Dig deep and seek your truth.
Expressive Writing, What’s on your mind and in your heart, by John F. Evans, Ed.D.
Personal Essay
Personal essays are short, autobiographical nonfiction writings that are intimate. They are conversational in nature and longer than most journal entries. The essays can explore significant events in your life or memories. Every question in self-reflection is based on who I am and who do I want to be.
I have some pieces of writing I’ve written that have become like a streaming journal. These journal entries are significant, and I go back annually to review and add to the entries. One is Quality of Life; the other is What I Seek in Myself. These are two important entries because they help me get my bearings and ground what I know about myself. What makes them more valuable is that I go back every year and add to the piece, building a composite of who I am. The value in both cases is that I have grown, refined, defined, and found clarity. We change over the years, yet some of my thoughts have remained steady. Some parts are no longer valid, like a snake shedding its skin. They are no longer me. Yet, other parts help me revisit the reflections, to reinforce parts of who I am. If you take up this practice, date each time you add more to that specific journal entry, this will give your perspective.
Journaling About Feelings: How to Explore and Express Emotions, by Hannah Van Horn, MCMHC, LPC-C
10 Amazing Personal Essays, by Mountford Writing
10 Personal Essays Every Man Should Read, by Ben McEvoy
Two of my favorite essay writers are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emmerson wrote essays about art, friendship, self-reliance, and nature. Thoreau’s essays discuss nature, life without principles, and walking. Both are writing with introspection. Check them out when you have time. Reading what others have written can help you find clarity, as their stories and searching are often similar to ours.
What should I write about?
What should you write about? Explore topics that will give insight into who you are. Topics that you want to understand better and explore. One of my rules in life is to face my demons, which guides a lot of my writing. Demons are subjects I would rather not think about, not talk about, and pretend they do not exist.
- What keeps you awake at night?
What are you afraid of?
What has gone wrong in your life lately?
What do you dislike about yourself?
Write about your happy, sad, melancholy, excited, angry emotions.
750+ Journal Prompts to Inspire and Motivate You, By Kate, Refined Prose
86 Expressive Writing Prompts, by Paul Jenkins
Here is what I wrote about:
I walk every morning with my dog, which is my best thinking time. My mind is clear; the fresh air and sunshine just seem to relax me and let my mind work. I have explored most of my demons, so I write every day about ideas, art projects, and goals. Most of my writing now is positive and directed. But I had to get all the cobwebs out of the way to see the tranquility in my life. I use a combination of free-flow and personal essays and then organize the information later.
You can reflect on your goals and dreams, what you want from life, and who you want to be tomorrow. Explore a relationship with a significant other, your child, or your boss. Write about what type of relationships you want and how you can improve your relationships. Don’t write about all relationships; pick one relationship at a time. This is a self-examination about this one relationship. You can write about what the other person is doing and how it affects you, but remember, you can only change yourself. What can you do differently? How can you be better as one half of the relationship?
My journal entries of focused writing helped me overcome some major issues in my life.
One of my issues was my relationship with food. I was an emotional eater, eating for comfort, boredom, or anger. I now am an average weight because of those written conversations I had with myself. Writing about what I did not want to face helped me find clarity. It gave me perspective. I could identify the underlying issues. One reason is that I had a poor upbringing. What stood out was that I needed to take responsibility and stop blaming my upbringing, poverty, and poor lifestyle skills. What can you identify from your childhood that is haunting you today? Do you have the power to change it? Identify the issues and seek a solution. Take Responsibility – Zero Excuses. In doing a thorough analysis of a specific topic, food, I gained perspective. I had to change my thinking, my habits, and lifestyle choices.
Another example of focused writing that helped me deal with my emotions was my mother’s death. As a caretaker for my terminally ill mother, I struggled with life and death issues. Many times, I did not feel I could deal with it, a situation I had no experience dealing with, and no training. Cancer is a terrible disease to watch another human being battle. There can be trigger points in some writing that can push you over the edge. My emotions were hard to define and express and were extremely painful. But this is facing our demons. What haunts you? What is out of your control, and what part of the situation can you control?
In these cases, take a break and write the same journal entry over many days or months. Do continue to date your writing, which will give you perspective. The point is to explore your emotions and get them out where you can see and deal with them. Make sure you take time to read what you wrote and reflect on your words. Writing helps you to make sense of your emotions and to face them.
You will write about your deepest thoughts and feelings. Being 100% honest with yourself is vital. Facing your demons, your worst fears. In some situations, you are helpless. That is a hard emotion to experience. Writing is therapeutic. It may trigger emotions. As I said, there are journal entries with dried teardrops. I poured my soul out on the paper.
Transferring negative experiences into words forces you to organize your thoughts and create a story of what has happened. This gives words to the experience, helps you find meaning, and gives you a sense of control over the situation. Focused writing is not just about traumas. You can write about your goals, hopes, plans, and dreams.
Conclusion
You can start journaling any time, grab a notebook, find a quiet spot, and begin your mindful writing journey. Explore these forms of expressive writing to convey your unique perspective! Experiment and see what works for you. I have changed my approach many times. My focused writing is longer than a journal entry and closer to a personal essay. A journal entry can be scattered thoughts or ideas. Focused writing is a thorough analysis of one topic.
The slower pace of handwriting allows for deeper reflection and contemplation. It encourages intentional thinking and complex ideas to emerge, exactly what we are seeking in keeping a journal. Writing in a notebook allows you to combine words, diagrams, and doodles. It can also become a historical reference tool.
Try to write every day about something extremely personal and meaningful to you. You will get into the habit, even if it is a few sentences. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about big issues in your life. There are many issues that we deal with on a day-to-day basis.
Health Benefits of Expressive Writing + Tips to Get Started, by Iryna Horkovska
Often, I reach into my journals and format and repurpose the piece for other uses. One way I repurposed the writing was to write a autobiography for my grandchildren. As I roamed through my journals, I remembered many parts of my life that would have otherwise been forgotten. The journals genuinely reflected who I was and who I am now. It also is a clear map of what I wanted in life, my hopes, plans, and dreams. Many of these have become a reality.
Focused writing and journaling can become an outlet for your emotions, a collection of thoughts, and a map of a better life. Socrates said that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Get the good, the bad, and the ugly out in the open so you can redefine who you are.
Recommended Reading
Opening Up by Writing It Down by James W. Pennebaker together with Joshua M. Smyth
Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within, by Janet Conner
Citations
Photo by Ashlyn Ciara on Unsplash
Photo by Prophsee Journals on Unsplash
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