journaling tip tuesday: letter writing

journaling tip tuesday: letter writing

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Do you ever find that when you are writing with a reader in mind that your writing is a little bit more descriptive? I find that when I write a letter to someone I add more details, more explanation, more anecdotes because I think that I need to fill my recipient in. If I am just writing for myself, I tend to leave details out because I figure that I already know what I am talking about. But by doing so I leave out so much richness!

Or do you find that when you are writing to a person that the tone of your writing changes? For example you may write with a more humorous tone because you want your letter to be entertaining. Or perhaps your tone is more direct and to the point.

Try writing a journal entry as if you were writing a letter to someone. You can even pick a specific person you are writing to. Write to your spouse or significant other one day. Write a letter to someone you have lost. This is not necessarily a sad exercise, but rather a way to reconnect.

Write to a sibling or best friend or even a historical figure. Get creative! Write to your child- tell a story about them, tell them who they are at that point in their life, give them advice for the future.

visual journal entry by Julie Prichard

Mixed media artist Julie Prichard often creates visual journal entries around advice she would like to pass on to her young daughter. She says of these journal entries that, “I often find myself giving advice to myself or my daughter on the pages,hoping that one day she reads through the journals and is inspired. As I look through my journal collection, I find many pages written to her.”