What to Write in a Journal When You Don’t Know What to Write
You opened the notebook. You found a pen. You even made yourself a drink. And now you have absolutely no idea what to put on the page.
I have had evenings where I genuinely wanted to journal. I had the notebook beside me, a pen in my hand and enough time to actually sit down and write. Then I opened to a blank page and suddenly could not think of a single thing worth putting on it. Which is slightly ridiculous, because five minutes earlier my head had been full. There was the conversation I had replayed twice that afternoon, something I needed to remember for tomorrow, a small thing that had annoyed me, a plan I was looking forward to and probably several completely unnecessary thoughts about what I should make for dinner.
For a while, I thought this meant I was simply not very good at journaling. I assumed people who filled notebooks regularly must always have something interesting to say. Now I think the opposite is probably true: most of the time, they have simply stopped waiting for something interesting enough to write about. Once I stopped treating the blank page as somewhere I had to arrive with a subject already prepared, journaling became much easier. Sometimes I write about something I have been thinking about for days. Sometimes it is half a page about an ordinary Wednesday. Sometimes the first thing I write is literally I don't know what to write today.
And strangely, that is often enough. If your notebook has been sitting untouched because you cannot think of anything important enough to put in it, this article is for exactly those days. You do not need a profound question or a particularly interesting life. You just need somewhere small to begin. And if you are completely new to keeping a journal, you might want to start with my guide to journaling for complete beginners first.
Start with what is happening right now
When you cannot think of anything to write, stop looking for a subject and simply describe where you are. What time is it? Where are you sitting? What can you hear? What is beside you? What were you doing five minutes ago? What is the weather like outside? You could begin with something as simple as It is almost nine and I am sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea.
That may not sound like the beginning of a particularly interesting journal entry, but it does not need to. Once the first sentence exists, the second usually becomes easier. Perhaps you mention that you are tired and start writing about why. That reminds you of something that happened earlier and suddenly you have half a page. The first sentence does not need to know where the entry is going. Its only job is to get you onto the page.
Write down what keeps returning to your mind
If you have no idea what to write, pay attention to what your mind has already been doing without the journal. What have you thought about several times today? Maybe it is something somebody said, a decision you have been postponing, a strange interaction at work, something you are looking forward to, a person you have been missing or a question you cannot quite answer.
Repeated thoughts are often useful places to begin because they already have your attention. Try writing Something I keep thinking about is... and finish the sentence without worrying about whether the subject seems worthy of an entire journal entry. You are not choosing a topic for an essay. You are simply following your own attention and seeing where it takes you.
Write about one small part of your day
You do not need to document everything that happened from breakfast until bedtime. Choose one moment instead. Maybe somebody made you laugh, you took a different route home, your coffee was unusually good, you received a message you did not expect or you stood outside for a few minutes and realised the season had changed. Describe what happened, who was there and what you noticed.
Ordinary details can be surprisingly satisfying to write about because they are often the first things we forget. The major events in our lives tend to survive through photographs, calendars and stories we tell other people. The exact texture of an ordinary Wednesday disappears much more easily. Your journal can keep some of it.
Make a list instead of writing paragraphs
Sometimes the blank page is not the problem. Sentences are. If writing a thoughtful paragraph feels like too much effort, forget about paragraphs altogether and make a list instead.
You could write things currently on my mind, small things that have been good lately, things I am tired of, things I want more of, things I keep postponing, things I have been enjoying or things I want to remember about right now. A list still counts as journaling. So does a page with arrows, crossed-out words, fragments and unfinished thoughts. Your notebook does not require complete sentences.
Write what you would tell a friend
Imagine somebody you trust asks, How are you actually doing? Not the automatic answer and not “fine” because that is easier. What would you say if you knew they had time to listen and you did not need to make your answer neat or reassuring?
Write that answer in your journal. You might discover that you are more excited about something than you realised or more bothered by something than you have admitted. You may also write that everything feels fairly normal right now. There does not always need to be something wrong to have something worth saying.
Write about something you do not want to forget
One of my favourite reasons to keep a journal has very little to do with self-improvement. I simply do not want every ordinary part of my life to disappear. So when there is nothing obvious to write about, I like thinking about what I would want to remember six months or a few years from now.
It could be the song you keep playing, what you are currently reading, the meal you have made three times this month, a phrase somebody keeps saying, what your bedroom looks like right now or what you usually do on Sunday mornings. You could even make an entire page called Things I want to remember about this season of my life. Years from now, the details that feel almost too ordinary to record may be exactly the ones you are happiest to find.
Write the thought you keep avoiding
Sometimes you know exactly what you could write about. You simply do not particularly want to. There may be a conversation you keep replaying, a decision you know you need to make or a feeling that becomes slightly louder whenever things get quiet.
Begin with I don't really want to write about this, but... and see what comes next. There is something freeing about admitting your resistance directly on the page because you are not promising to solve anything or reach a conclusion. You are only allowing the thought to exist somewhere outside your head. If the same thoughts tend to become especially loud once you get into bed, I also wrote about how to stop overthinking at night and a few gentle ways to deal with those repetitive late-night thoughts.
Write a letter you will never send
A journal page does not always need to be addressed to yourself. Write to somebody you miss, somebody you are angry with, someone you have not spoken to in years, your younger self, your future self or a person you wish you could explain something to properly.
You do not have to send it and nobody else needs to read it. That means you do not have to make the letter fair, polished or complete. You can say what you actually want to say and stop when there is nothing left. Sometimes addressing your thoughts to someone makes them much easier to access than trying to write vaguely about how you feel.
Record what you are consuming
Our lives are partly made up of the things we repeatedly surround ourselves with. If deeper reflection does not appeal to you today, write down what you have been reading, watching and listening to lately. Which book are you carrying around? What song has been playing repeatedly? Is there a film you cannot stop thinking about? A recipe you want to make again?
You can add a few words about why you liked something or simply keep a list. It creates a surprisingly good snapshot of a particular period of your life without requiring you to analyse anything at all.
Write about what you are looking forward to
Journaling does not need to focus only on processing the past. Write about something ahead of you: a trip, dinner with a friend, autumn arriving, a quiet weekend, a book you are waiting for, moving house or even a day with absolutely nothing planned.
What are you looking forward to about it? What do you imagine it will feel like? Is there anything you want to remember to do? Anticipation is part of your life too and it deserves some pages.
Describe something completely ordinary
Choose one object near you and describe it. Your favourite mug, the view from your window, your kitchen table, the bag you carry every day or a coat you have owned for years are all perfectly good subjects.
This may sound a little pointless and that is part of why I like it. Not every page needs to improve your life or reveal something about you. Paying close attention to something ordinary for five minutes can be enough reason to write and you may notice how rarely we properly look at the things we see every day.
Ask yourself what you need right now
Not what you need to accomplish this year or who you want to become. Just what you need right now. Perhaps it is sleep, an evening alone, to answer an email you have been avoiding, to call somebody, to go outside or simply to stop thinking about something for the rest of the day.
Start with Right now, I think I need... and see what appears. You do not have to act on the answer immediately and you certainly do not need to turn it into a plan. Sometimes naming it is useful enough.
Write about something that has changed
Think back six months or a year and ask yourself what feels different now. It could be something significant but it does not have to be. Maybe you have a new routine, a different friendship has become important, your weekends look different or you no longer care about something that used to occupy a surprising amount of your attention.
We tend to notice dramatic changes while missing the quiet ones. Journaling gives you a place to notice the small shifts while they are happening instead of only recognising them years later.
20 journal prompts for when you don't know what to write
Sometimes you do not want to find your own subject at all. You just want somebody to give you a question. In that case, choose the prompt below that makes something come to mind immediately. You do not need to work through the list and you certainly do not need to answer all twenty.
What has been taking up most of my attention lately?
What is something small I have been enjoying?
What do I keep thinking about when things get quiet?
What do I wish I had more time for?
What has felt easier lately?
What has felt harder than I expected?
What am I currently looking forward to?
What is something I do not want to forget about this month?
What have I been avoiding?
What has made me laugh recently?
What do I want less of in my life right now?
What do I want more of?
What is something I have changed my mind about?
Who have I been thinking about lately?
What has been making ordinary days nicer?
What am I curious about right now?
What am I trying too hard to figure out?
What is something I am proud I did recently?
What feels unfinished?
If I could write anything here without having to explain it, what would I say?
The best prompt is usually not the cleverest or deepest one. It is the one that makes you want to begin writing before you have even finished reading the question. If evenings are when you naturally reach for your notebook, you can also save these 15 night journaling prompts to clear your mind before bed for later.
Try the five-minute rule
If none of these ideas make you particularly excited to write, make the commitment smaller. Set a timer for five minutes and write whatever arrives until it rings. You can even spend the first minute complaining on the page that you have nothing to write about if that is genuinely where your mind is.
You are allowed to stop when the timer ends. Sometimes you will want to continue and other times you will happily close the notebook after exactly five minutes. Both outcomes are fine. The goal is not to produce a certain number of pages but to make starting feel less difficult.
Keep your favourite prompts inside your journal
You do not need to search for a new list of journaling prompts every time you open your notebook. Choose five questions from this article that you actually like and write them on the inside cover or on the final page of your journal. When you get stuck, choose one of those.
I particularly like this because it keeps the solution to a blank page inside the notebook itself. You do not need to pick up your phone to search for inspiration and then realise twenty minutes later that you are watching something completely unrelated. Keep the inspiration where the writing happens.
When you want a little more structure
Sometimes a single prompt is enough. Other times you want more guidance, especially if you are trying to explore different ways of journaling or move beyond writing the same kind of entry every time. If you find yourself starting and stopping because the way you have been journaling never quite feels natural, my guide to finding a journaling style that actually fits you explores several different ways into the page.
That same idea is also why I created The Journaling Companion. It is a 60+ page guide and workbook designed to sit alongside your own notebook rather than replace it. Inside you will find different approaches to journaling, guided reflection pages, writing exercises and prompts for everything from everyday life and slower living to overthinking, relationships, personal growth and the future. You do not need to complete it from beginning to end. Open it when you want somewhere to start, choose the page that fits what is on your mind and leave the rest for another day.
The Journaling Companion
Never know what to write?
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The Journaling Companion includes 65 pages of journaling methods, guided reflections, thoughtful prompts and writing exercises for the days when you want to journal but don't quite know where to start.
Explore The Journaling CompanionThe blank page does not need an important idea
The easiest way to make journaling difficult is to believe that every page needs to deserve being written. A page about the strange conversation you had this morning belongs beside a page about something you have been struggling with for months. A grocery list can sit beside a memory you never want to forget and three sentences count just as much as three pages.
Your journal is not a finished book. It does not need a theme and it does not need to make sense to anybody else. So the next time you open your notebook and think I have absolutely nothing to write, begin with exactly that: I don't know what to write today, but... Then finish the sentence. That is usually enough to get the page started.
I hope this gave you somewhere to begin the next time your journal feels impossibly blank. If you try one of these ideas, I would love to know which one got you writing. Leave a comment below and tell me what you usually reach for when you don't know what to put on the page.
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The Femme Space is a free collection of thoughtful guides and printables for journaling, self-reflection, slower living and spending a little more time offline.
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