Journaling Basics - Journal Writing for Beginners

Journaling Prompts #1

by Lisa Shea

Journaling was embraced by Leonardo da Vinci and it kept Bob Dylan's lyrics insightful. Anne Frank's journal shared poignant moments in her too-short life. Basho, the famous poet, kept a journal of his travels. Journals can help you release stress, develop forgiveness, embrace your past, adore your future, and explore aspects of your creativity that you never knew existed.

And the entire process is free.

Journaling Basics - Journal Writing for Beginners takes your hand and guides you on a journey of emotional healing and creative blossomings. From deciding what to journal in to investigating the different styles journals, the 160-page book is there every step of the way to offer insight, ideas, and suggestions.

Author Lisa Shea has been journaling for many years and presents the pros and cons of styles of books, styles of writing, and a myriad of other topics. She's also available on a number of social network systems like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to lend a hand if you get stuck.

Together we can take that first step to achieving your dreams!

All author's proceeds of the Journaling series benefit battered women's shelters.

Genres: Writing, Self Help, Journaling, Nonfiction, How To

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 6, 2014

About the author

Lisa Shea is a fervent fan of honor, loyalty, and chivalry. She brings to life worlds where men and women stand shoulder to shoulder, steady in their desire to make the world a better place for all. Most of her profits are donated to support battered women's shelters.

Lisa's works are all cleanly written with no explicit intimacy and little language. They are suitable for teens and up.

Lisa has written a wide range of fiction stories. She has medieval romances, modern murder mystery novels, sci-fi adventures, Scottish regency time travel romances, dystopian stories, 1800s-era black-Indian novellas, and Blackstone Valley mysteries.

In short stories, there's a thirty-one part story-a-day mini mystery series set in Salem, Massachusetts through the month of October 2014. There's a time travel series, a Biblical-era series, a zoo mystery series, an art museum mystery series, a diner mystery series with an Asperger's heroine, a romantic proposal series, three sci-fi and two contemporary shorts.

On the non-fiction side, Lisa has written nearly 100 books. There are low carb books, relationship books, green living, journaling, ASP programming, sleep and dreams, wine, wedding and courtship traditions, Melville poetry, and history. There is also a collection of books on self-help topics like working from home, reducing stress, yoga, meditation, using Twitter, running an author signing, and conquering a fear of spiders.

Lisa also writes poetry.

Lisa has thousands of pages online to help aspiring authors learn how to develop time management, write that book, lay it out, and get it published. Visit LisaShea.com for all the details, and free to email with questions!

Namaste.

Reviews

[PinkPanthress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been writing in my Diary/Journal since I was about barely 12 years young.
Or rather that was when I started writing a (partially) constant Tagebuch.

There have been a few big chunks of Time in my Life in which I didn't write in my Diary/Tagebuch but I always came back to use it again. Pouring into it my most secret thoughts, at one time even hopes and wishes.

This Book is rather for the Beginners in Diary writing. For me there wasn't much new stuff to learn, but STILL I enjoyed it well enough!
The Author had a gentle style of explaining the basics of the subject and takes your hand gently to pull you into the Book and the world of Diary writing.

¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦

A nice 3.3 Star piece for me.
I can recommend it to newbies but also for people who already know a thing or two but still need a nudge into the right direction. ;)

[Jamie Testa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read

I would recommend this short book to anyone who is thinking about writing a journal. easy to read and get an idea about how, when, why to start journaling

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been keeping a journal off and on for years. I start out strong and then, WHAM! I let it go because I run out of things to write about. In this book, Lisa gives practical ideas and thoughts on this great way to clear the fog from our brains and how she does her journaling so we do not feel so alone if we are thinking about it.

The best thing about this book besides the length is the advice. I was so impressed with the simplicity that Lisa presented this with. I found it easy to think about ways to journal in the future and when I get stuck, I can go back to the book and find a prompt (she gives quite a few ideas) to get me started. Sometimes, if you are really enjoying it and are a writer already, it could become your next project. Nice job Lisa, I very much enjoyed this one:)

[Sheila Jungco · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone wants to start writing.

[Adrienne Power · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read on journalling. Exactly what you need to get started. Great nuggets of info too about possibly keeping a pet journal as pets will hide illness as part of their self defense mechanism & if you make daily notes you would spot these changes.

[Maryann Moffit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a book

more like a cliff notes version, but still made me think I really could write the book I want to write

[Joan]

Free. Basic. Some interesting thoughts on journaling 'your' way.

[Rev. Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a Spiritual Journaling workshop at my church's Women's Conference - From the publisher: Journaling was embraced by Leonardo da Vinci and it kept Bob Dylan's lyrics insightful. Anne Frank's journal shared poignant moments in her too-short life. Basho, the famous poet, kept a journal of his travels. Journals can help you release stress, develop forgiveness, embrace your past, adore your future, and explore aspects of your creativity that you never knew existed. And the entire process is free. Journaling Basics - Journal Writing for Beginners takes your hand and guides you on a journey of emotional healing and creative blossomings. From deciding what to journal in to investigating the different styles journals, the 160-page book is there every step of the way to offer insight, ideas, and suggestions. Author Lisa Shea has been journaling for many years and presents the pros and cons of styles of books, styles of writing, and a myriad of other topics. She's also available on a number of social network systems like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to lend a hand if you get stuck. All author's proceeds of the Journaling series benefit battered women's shelters.

[A.R. Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author excels at making things simple. Her tone is warm, enthusiastic and sincere.

This book is short, often only a paragraph or so per page. But filling the page is not Lisa Shea’s focus… empowering the reader is.

I would have liked more tips, tricks and info on how to make journaling a consistent habit, but everything else was covered in enough detail that an intimidated slightly scatter brained* person coming out of a crisis could process. And that’s a gift, because not everyone can teach on this level without talking down to the person they’re attempting to teach.

A portion of Lisa Shea’s books go to support women’s shelters, so writing for that audience and intimidated newbie journalers is awesome.

*Note: I'm not saying only scatter brained people are involved in crises. We all get scatter brained when we hit stressful moments in our lives. Trauma does impact the brain, so when writing for people in crisis it is good to keep things short and soothing.
Lisa Shea has achieved that soothing tone and mastered it.

[Poetic Diva504 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a lot of information that is useless to me. But the table of contents allow me to go to what I need with ease. I only needed about 20% of the information in this book, and I was able to touch the screen and skip to the helpful stuff. I’ve always been big on journaling, but this gave me clarity on why I don’t do what I know I should be doing. To summarize, a brain dump can be done at any time of the day. You’ll feel much better offloading to the pages than talking to people who have their own problems they low key can’t solve. But I digress. Anyone looking to journal for therapy or self improvement can benefit from this book.

[April Papke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was free so I figured might as well pick it up since I'm interested in journaling. I can't really say anything negative about it, other than perhaps it's a bit simple, and you could've arrived at the content yourself just by thinking a bit about journaling. But it's short, and what I really enjoyed was the author describing her own experience with journaling, which really gave the whole book this sort of wholesome feeling. Cute book, but I can't say it's really changed my views or thoughts on journaling.

[Peaches CoatesL]

Thanks for the win

I've been really focusing on completing a book without distracting from my inner-me. This was no new subject for me, but I loved reading someone else's thoughts on my passion. I LOVE journaling. I also LOVE keeping designated journals so that it's easy to come back to a subject. I LOVE creating & publishing journals as well. This was a good read without a lot of attempting to extend the word count at the expense of the reader. I needed a quick win as we enter into the new year in a few hours. Keep up the amazing work. 💕👏🏾

[T. Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, this is an excellent, well thought out and well written guide to journaling, although I have kept journals all my life. Exploring someone else's journey into journaling helps me to expand my own way in new and varying subjects of life. I love this book! She covers everything from writing supplies to styles of writing. I have read fictional books by this author, Lisa Shea, and have very much enjoyed them. Looking forward to using many of the author's concepts in my own journaling. Inspiring! 😊

[Roxana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journaling for me is really helpful, I believe that it keeps me from going crazy over my daily life. As everyone else, life has very hard moments and this rutine is helping me a lot. So I was curious when I found this book. And what I love the most in it is that the author is not dictatorial. She keeps saying, write where and when you feel is fine for you, this is for yourself... I really liked this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for someone who wants a quick intro to journaling. She does a great job of giving the highlights of the types of journals, writing tools, and I like that she encourages you to journal how YOU want to, not beat in a prescribed method. If you want someone to tell you the "correct" way to journal, this book is not for you.

[Kingue Georges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journaling Basics Indeed

This little book provides me with just everything I need to delve into journaling; a practice I once thought could help me, but fear would not let me enjoy it.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads a little like a brain dump, which, I guess, is okay when talking about journaling. I, however, was hoping for a bit more. Having said that, there were a couple of ideas I will be taking away.

[Matthew Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect Primer on Journaling

I excellent primer on journaling. It follows more of descriptive approach not a prescriptive one. Perfect for person just exploring and dabbling in journaling. Also a great refresher for the experienced journalists who is look for ideas.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been carrying a note book for several years now, amazed how the time flies, and I thought I would read up some to figure out whether or not I was doing things right. Turns out I am. Anything you do, when you write, what you write, where you right, is all OK, just do it.

[Rob Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for beginners

This book is a great resource for anyone thinking about Journaling who needs to know what options are available and how to get started. It is easy to understand and a very quick read.

[MzTonka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas











I don't want to today. I just want to read a book in peace and quiet without having to think

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short easy to read book

Most of the ideas in this book were obvious but the author still inspired me. I liked the short chapters that focused on one aspect of journaling.

[S. Spelbring · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very much beginners guide to journaling. Lisa Shea starts with what to write on, and what to write with, including electronic journals. Then she moves on to types of journals: diaries, dream journals, health logs, and so on. Then onto prompts and what to write about.

The author also throws in her thoughts and opinions, and how she uses her own journals (which I really liked).

Personally, I've been journaling since middle school and have several diaries, notebooks, journals, and notepad full of my thoughts, projects, daily life, and dreams, but it was nice to have someone else's objective and personal take on the subject.

[Elaine Marriott]

A great book if you are starting out or looking for a different way to do things.

[Tasha Vance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay book.

I mostly read this book because I was bored. Sadly it didn't help much with that. I didn't find any new information in this book.

[Yiannis Miliatsis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit generic and short

While it is a helpful read, it does not inspire to start keeping a journal. It is more of a catalog of all things journalling...

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The very basics of journaling that get the beginner started.

[Ben Goldin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but very high level.

[Daria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick easy read

Basic journal information. Common sense, really - but a nice description of different journaling types. Quite good for a beginner.

[Cheryl Corbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

A good starting point. Good notes. Rudimentary. I will probably delete this from my kindle. Thanks for putting this out in the universe.