Journal Writing
Writing in a journal each morning can have a profoundly positive effect on our personal and creative growth as well as our emotional wellbeing.
Throughout his term as Canterbury’s Poet Laureate John invites those interested in making journalling part of their everyday lives, to meet and write together and respond to a provocation. John will be in Canterbury in March, May and July and when not here in person, will send provocations to inspire each weeks journal writing session. These will be very informal meet ups in the wonderful environment of Water Lane Coffeehouse, where you can also enjoy the most scrumptious food and some of the best coffee in town. No previous writing experience necessary just bring a notebook and a pen.
We will share the basic prompt in our own journal here with the hope that those who can’t make it to the sessions can still benefit from the process of writing in a journal on a regular basis. We strongly recommend attending if you can, to gain the most from John’s experience of Journal Writing .
If you would like to find out more about our Canterbury Poet Laureate you can read our introduction HERE
John is currently in India and is publishing his travelling journal on his instagram page. To see what he is up to, noticing and writing about, follow him here @johnsiddique, or if you prefer facebook instead www.facebook.com/johnsiddique
Find out more about his work at www.authenticliving.life
Here is a little film interview given after one of our journal writing sessions, that shows how regular journal writing can support the development of creativity in artists from all backgrounds:
Weekly Prompts
-
A 15 minute exercise. Once you start writing don’t stop. Don’t worry about spelling or punctuation.
Most people want to write their story, to tell it like it is, one of the greatest ways of healing is by looking outwards and studying the world. Telling our version of what happened too often, usually makes the world smaller, and allows us and others to trade on our perceived vulnerability. The more interest we take in the world, the bigger our world becomes.
So for this writing session I’d like you to write about a room you spent a very happy or contented time in, but to describe it only in sound. Do not write about how it makes you feel, this is just about describing in sound. Sounds tough? That’s the fun of it! Why bother doing something you can already do, there is nothing learned by that. 15 minutes, I remember… GO!!!
-
As I write to you, I’m sitting in a cafe by the Ganges in Rishikesh in India. My own trusty journal is next to me. Though it is so wonderful here, It has for my wife and I been a sad week with the death of the singer David Bowie.
My first real memory of him was seeing a video for a song called Ashes To Ashes on a music programme called Top of The Pops, I guess this would be around 1979. He was important to me because I was the weird kid in my family, and even more so at school. This song stood out from the rest of the chart music so much that there was no way to miss it, and for people like me there was suddenly room in the world to explore our ideas, art and intuitions.
You may or may not have heard of him depending on your age, or culture, but for today’s writing prompt, I’d like for you to write about a song or an musician, or singer that really means something to you, and tell us a story if possible.
-
The next few sessions will concentrate on some wide ranging subjects, the purpose behind them is so that you can build up your writing muscles, and learn about your own writing eye, and ear. I’d like you to really focus on being specific, like we discussed last time. Name things, people etc, don’t just say you love something or someone, or you hate etc. Show us why specifically.
Prompt #3
I’ve never met a person who didn’t love something. Even when I used to work in prison as a writer in residence, or when I worked with ex gang members in LA, I found everyone had something they cared about. So this prompt sounds like an easy one, but give it your all.. Are you ready!!! Write about what love means to you. Get it down on the page, it’s a slippery subject, given that it is probably the most talked about subject of all time, it might be a subject you can return to over and again. Everyone’s experience and meaning will be different, and yet love is universal. Enjoy the paradoxes.
-
I’m on a train to Delhi right now with the Indian countryside whizzing by. It’s just into the afternoon, and we’re going through a zone of land where tall tall grasses, higher than a very tall man, is moving gently in the sun. I remember the last scene of Pather Panchali, where Apu and his sister Durga are watching the train from the long grass, they are looking to their freedom and their futures. I look hard from the window to see if I can see them.
So for today’s writing prompt perhaps try using this line as your repeating or bouncing line, ‘I’m on a train to…’ And if you feel like trying a different way try ‘I remember…,’ or come up with something of your own.
Check out my daily travel journal on Instagram @johnsiddique and learn more about my work at www.authenticliving.life
Photo Credit: John Siddique
-
This week we’re at the movies, I love the cinema, especially when we do things our own way. We always sneak out own cake or food in. I like films that are good for the heart, and that don’t insult the intelligence, I also love good sci-fi. I remember being in my twenties, I was in training to be a Buddhist monk in those days, really… It never came to pass however, but that is a long and complex tale. One night I went to watch Terminator, the first one, at the movies. After two hours of Arnie and his relentless cyborg self, I knew I was not one for the quiet life.
For today’s prompt I’d like you to tell us about a trip to the movies, perhaps when you were a kid, or with your family, or on your own. Or maybe the kinds of films you like. Okay 10 minutes, keep writing… GO!
‘I remember…’
-
Stuck
Three days of Delhi belly, aching limbs and a fear of eating any food in case it starts me off again. We were supposed to leave two days ago, but there is no way I can travel right now. However we are fortunate to be sitting in the sun in a balcony overlooking the river, at the next table are an American couple, the next next table two people from Japan. The internationalism is something I love so much about being her. Today’s writing prompt is to write about a time when you couldn’t leave somewhere because of an enforced reason, because of illness or because of duty. ‘I remember,’ is a good repeat to use to help you, but you could also try using a few words or a line from the piece you are writing as it unfolds.
Check out my visual & written journal on Instagram @johnsiddique and learn more about my work at www.authenticliving.life
-
Writing About Writing
So here you are with your notebook and pen. In a room alone or with others. You look around gathering thoughts, as the pen moves to the page. For today’s prompt I’d like you to write about what writing means to you. Don’t write some nice school report kind of thing, go for it and say what it really means to you. No one ever need know, the journal is the best place for these secrets and lives. For me it has been everything from exorcist to lover, from the road to truth to the deepest joy of lying my ass off. Tell the page about your relationship with it.
Check out my visual & written journal on Instagram @johnsiddique and learn more about my work at www.authenticliving.life
-
A Long Journey
Waiting: It is a fact of life that we spend a lot of time just waiting. Creativity in a lot of ways is how we deal with that time. It’s just taken me over 30 hours to get back to UK from India. Sleepless stopovers, conversations with strangers and bad expensive food. For today’s prompt, I’d like to to reflect on a time or times you have experienced waiting’s grip, can be for something tedious like airports, could be the moments before meeting the love of your life. Write your pages….
With kindness
From A Tiny Sleeping Cubicle In Delhi Airport
Photo Credit: John Siddique
-
A Change of Prompt
Usually I encourage you to write using ‘I remember,’ or ‘I don’t remember’ as a trigger to bounce your journal writing along. Today I’d like to throw something different and just as powerful at you, but it works in a different way. It is both the writing prompt, and the repeating phrase.. are you ready with your pen and page.. alright then –
because…
With kindness
John Siddique
Learn more about my work at www.authenticliving.life