Create Your Own Writing Practice
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” William Wordsworth
Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a space to share my slow and gentle living philosophy - alongside my love of plant based living and food. Please do subscribe to join me on this gentle journey of discovery and receive my Slow Sunday Letter straight into your inbox.
Recently I responded to a Substack note from Molly at Slow Scottish Stories (Hippy Highland Living) which simply invited a response to- ‘I want to write because …’
My answer was …
I want to write because our words are everything, and when I'm writing I have a quiet power that I'm addicted to … I want to write because it gifts me with more peace, calm and focus than I can ever hope to achieve without it.
This year I have been committed to making my writing a priority, and trying to create my own writing practice. Writing has always been an important part of my life, but something that had diminished, particularly after hitting a wall with my original blog www.generosityofspirit.co.uk. Not only did I stop posting on my blog, but my personal writing suffered too.
I set myself the goal of publishing my writing again this year. I joined Substack in August and I have published my Slow Sunday Letter every week since. Substack has been a wonderful place to start writing again, it has a wonderful community feel and I’ve never felt more inspired by the incredible writers around me. I have a real renewed creative energy.
As I have been writing more, I realised the absolute obvious … that I really needed to devote more time to my writing practice and create more structure to support my goals.
Cultivating a slow life and regular writing habit
Writing is at the very heart of my slow living life. It is a moment to slow down and reflect. It is a moment between you and you. So much of my writing is personal, and then every now and then my journaling practice will springboard into an idea or a topic I want to share with others. I use these ideas to plan and create my Slow Sunday Letter.
I love sharing my writing, but I have realised committing to my own journaling and writing is just as important as committing to publishing every week on Substack.
Recently, I have started using journal prompts and have really enjoyed the free flow ideas that come out as a result. This got me thinking about different ways I could expand my personal writing practice – which in turn would help inspire and encourage my published writing.
Top tips to create your own writing practice:
Plan - Schedule in time for writing.
Read more!
Write every day – a lot or a little.
Mix medias – use a journal, type on your computer or use your phone.
Use journal prompts and sentence stems.
Believe in yourself!!!
‘Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic’ - Albus Dumbledore
One of my earliest memories is of a tiny little diary with a golden padlock and miniature key that I would hide under my pillow. I would write and write, filling up book after book. I did this throughout my childhood and teenage years, until I had a box full of journals and diaries.
Before I started University, I took a GAP year to backpack through Europe with my best friend. Before I left, I had a huge clear out. Eighteen-year-old me, found my childhood and teenage diaries and journals and shuddered at their very existence. I remember delving into the pages of a few and wincing at myself – I threw them all out. I can’t remember what was written in those pages, but I can imagine tales of school crushes, teenage dramas with friends and family fall outs … I am sure written with a lot of passion and teenage angst! Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t thrown them all away and I could read them again now as a thirty-five-year-old- embarrassing or not, they were a part of me.
While the box of my old journals is long gone, my love of writing and journaling has never left me. I always dreamed of calling myself a writer… I love words, I love writing and I love journaling.
My journals are full of thoughts, dreams, wishes, pain, and little pieces of me that I have often hidden from the world. Writing helps me make sense of and organise the thoughts in my mind. I write to no one and to everyone, and when I think I don’t have the answer to something, it will form, like magic, on the page in front of me.
Journals, like books really give our minds the chance to be totally free. We can explore our thoughts and feelings and create a totally safe and nonjudgmental space of our own. Journaling has taught me how to slow down, and how to listen and learn from myself. It can be done anywhere by anyone, and that’s what makes it so powerful.
If you look around your house, right now, this second… could you find an untouched notebook or journal? I know I could (but that is mostly because I have a slight addiction!).
Now is the time to put that untouched and unopened journal to good use… so go and get it! I want to introduce you to five different writing ideas and journaling prompts.
5 Writing/Journaling prompts
1) Getting to know yourself
We constantly change over time, and I love that journaling can be there for you as you evolve. Using writing to regularly check in can help you learn more about your authentic self.
Sentence stems act as a perfect starting off point and provide direction to our writing practice. Try completing the following sentence stems which focus on getting to know yourself.
Sentence Stems -
My perfect day would be…
I feel most like myself when…
I feel disconnected from myself when…
2) Journaling in hard times
Journaling in hard times can be a powerful tool for self-care and help cultivate self-compassion. Having a conversation with yourself and writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly can really help you gain control of your emotions. If we can find a way to honour hard times and allow them to be a learning, growing experience the more equipped we are to move forward with compassion and kindness.
Journal Prompts –
What is something that you can do today to show yourself some love and kindness?
How are you feeling in this moment? Describe all that you are experiencing within yourself.
3) Defining your own success
Journaling and writing is an opportunity to be completely free, align your thoughts and goals and increase your self awareness. Using journal prompts focused on success creates space for true insights and ideas. It is a great way to maintain a positive mindset for personal growth.
Journal Prompts -
Write a letter to yourself, reflecting on your strengths and the progress you've made recently.
What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
How does success look to you in 3 years? 5 years? 10 years?
4) Finding inspiration and tapping into creativity
Regular journaling is an invaluable tool for building creativity. Letting your thoughts flow onto the page of a journal can be an inspiring creative release, but it's also a great way to reflect on how you're feeling.
Journaling doesn’t have to just be writing, you can draw, write poems, have doodles and collages. You can use colours, and photos, and truly make your journal as unique as you.
Journal Ideas-
Journal about a significant memory from childhood.
Create a collage about yourself in your journal
Writing Prompt -
Pick a quote you love and use it as a writing prompt
I love quotes, and I am often scribbling quotes down. But often that is it. What happens if you dig a little deeper?
Write down one of your favourite quotes… consider why do you love these words? Why are you drawn to this quote? What does it spark in you?
5) Free Flow
‘Free flow’ is a continuous writing technique. When you’re free writing, the goal is to let your writing flow without worrying about grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or even word choice. Just keep writing.
Journal Prompt-
Think about a situation or feeling that has been taking up space in your mind.
Write it at the top of your page or in the centre, set a timer for 10 minutes and begin by writing the first few words that come to mind. Springboard from there, try not to overthink and just write what is coming into your mind. Keep going until your timer goes off.
Creating your own practice
“let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences” ― Sylvia Plath
I hope this Slow Sunday Letter has inspired you to create your own personal writing practice, and given you some new ideas to get started. If you are a writer, I hope this also serves as a reminder to not neglect your own practice. I’ve been firmly in the mode of sharing and publishing lately, and I know my own personal writing has been neglected, so I am looking forward to returning to it with renewed energy.
Grab a journal and experiment to create a writing practice that speaks to you. Start slowly with the prompts you enjoy the most – don’t put any pressure on yourself. Enjoy the process of exploring and gift yourself the freedom to discover your own writing practice in your own time.
Don’t worry about being perfect, your writing practice is raw and real, just like you.
With Light & Love
Emily xxx
I still have all my teenage diaries. It does not make for pretty reading.
Six months ago I started journaling, writing morning pages each morning before I get out of bed. It's been such a transformative practice not only for my writing but for my mind. I love the suggestions you share here!