Journaling provides immeasurable benefits.
Your journal can take you on a journey through self-discovery, provide insight into your thoughts and emotions, boost your productivity, or help you feel at peace with yourself.
Like anything, starting is the hardest part.
What do you even write about?
Journal prompts can help.
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What Do Journal Prompts Do?
Journal prompts give us a head start. They give us something to write about on those days when we struggle to come up with ideas of our own.
How often have you opened your journal, staring blankly at an empty page, waiting for inspiration that never comes?
Prompts provide that jolt we need to start writing. They’re the flint that ignites the spark that gets the fire going.
Journaling prompts also have another benefit. Because they’re designed with a goal in mind, they guide you toward specific areas of personal growth and development.
You’ll find self-care prompts that help you take a break; self-discovery prompts that guide you towards your true calling, or creative prompts that inspire you.
Some, like our Money Dreams Journal Prompts, are specifically designed to help guide you to a goal and inspire you to achieve it.
What Are Some Good Journaling Prompts?
There are no “good” or “bad” journal prompts. It’s subjective, depending on your journaling goals.
Consider this whimsical prompt:
“Who really put the bop in the bop-chu-bop-chua, and why did he do that?”
If you journal for fun, you might be happy with a silly prompt like this. It’s quirky but forces you to think creatively.
What about the prompt:
“What does your favorite color sound like?”
The prompt sounds absurd on its surface, but it forces you to think about your five senses and how they relate. Why is red loud and boisterous, while pink is soft and soothing? What does that say about how you, personally, and society as a whole, relate to colors and symbols?
It’s far more profound than you initially thought.
If you love them and want more like them, check out our Fun & Quirky Journal Prompts. We have 75 fun and unique journaling prompts just like these (in fact – those two are included!) available for instant download for just three bucks.
Journaling to Understand Yourself
Journaling is an excellent tool for self-discovery. When you record your thoughts and feelings, you can work through them and understand your behavior in a new light. As you keep up with it, you can review old journal entries, which helps you identify patterns in thought and behavior.
The best way to learn about yourself is via targeted questions. Ask yourself poignant questions, and respond as truthfully and openly as possible.
You can also learn about yourself by asking targeted questions and responding as truthfully and openly as possible.
Coming up with the questions presents a challenge, but this is where journal prompts shine.
Journal prompts for self-discovery are premade questions you should answer in your journal. They often come in sets of about 30 because that’s a whole month of journaling if you answer one prompt each day.
Journal Prompts for Self-Discovery
The fun and whimsical prompts don’t work for people journaling for self-discovery.
They want to dig deep into the core of themselves and determine who they really are and what they want from life. On this journey, they’d probably prefer a prompt like:
“Think back to when you were a child, around 8 or 9 years of age. What did you want to be when you grew up? Would your younger self be proud of what you decided to do instead”?
Self-discovery prompts make you think about your hopes and dreams and how they may have changed over time.
They can help people stuck in a rut and unsure of what to do with their lives, but they can also show you when you’re on the right path.
These journal prompts make you think about yourself, your life, and your personal journey.
Self-Discovery Journal Prompt Examples
We’ve created a set of 75 self-discovery journaling prompts available on our store for only $1.99.
I designed these 75 prompts to get you thinking about your journey so far, where you are, where you came from, and how you might want to move forward. The set includes traditional prompts, like:
“What is your favorite book and why?”
Prompts like this make you think about your likes, dislikes, emotional responses, and hidden desires.
You may not realize it, but understanding why you cherish your favorite book can help you learn much about yourself.
For example, if your favorite book is a Victorian romance like Pride & Prejudice or Jane Eyre, you might be a hopeless romantic. Maybe you love the idea of true love and fighting for your soul mate, or perhaps you identify with the strong-willed nature of the characters.
If your favorite book is in the horror genre, you might enjoy thrills. Or maybe you love how the characters fought and overcame whatever evil was haunting them. Perhaps you simply enjoy the macabre.
Your favorite book might not be about genre at all. It may invoke a treasured childhood memory or give you hope for a better future.
Whatever the reason, considering why it’s at the top of your list can teach you a lot about yourself.
The self-discovery journal prompt package also includes prompts that you might not usually see in a prompt package, like:
“Describe the first birthday you remember.”
On its surface, this doesn’t seem like a self-discovery journal prompt. But if you dig deep into yourself, you will start to write down feelings and memories long forgotten.
The earliest birthday I remember is my 7th birthday. I remember walking down the aisles of the Jewel and falling in love with a Spuds McKenzie stuffed animal. My brother already had one, and I was a bit jealous, so my dad got me this one.
I still have it over thirty years later, and I sleep with it every night.
The memory stirs feelings of nostalgia, love, and understanding about my relationship with my family.
Your memories of your earliest birthdays will do the same for you.
Journal Prompts for Beginners
Regardless of where you are in your journaling journey, journal prompts can help.
Beginners should look for prompts that will help them achieve their journaling goals—whether it be just to start (which, if that’s the case, I recommend my quirky and fun pack) or for self-discovery (clearly, you need the introspection pack).
But as a beginner, you may need to figure out what you want by exploring all the available options.
We created an Ultimate Super Bundle of journal prompts, including all the prompts in my other three sets (money dreams, quirky, and introspective), plus 25 bonus prompts.
These prompts are inspirational, fun, introspective, and sometimes a little silly, but they are designed to help everyone start a journaling habit.
Journal Prompts Versus Creative Writing Prompts
The internet bursts with various writing prompts, and each has its place. But you want to ensure you get precisely what you want from a writing prompt, especially before purchasing one.
Journal prompts and creative writing prompts each offer writing ideas, but they are vastly different in subject matter.
Creative writing exercises give ideas for fiction writing or to improve your writing skills. These types of prompts are specific to the craft of writing and help aspiring authors figure out what to write about. They can inspire you to write a story, help you practice writing, get your creative juices flowing, and even help you overcome writer’s block.
Journal writing prompts, on the other hand, are designed to help you write about yourself. Journal writing is a journey of self-expression, gratitude, and a deep dive into your essence.
Different Ways to Journal
Journaling is an act of self-expression, so there’s no right or wrong way to fill your journal pages.
You may not need prompts for certain journal styles. For example, a travel journal might burst with lists of places you want to go, travel itineraries, memories, and more, but it doesn’t lend itself well to prompts.
Prompts make little sense when you use a journal for productivity, habit tracking, gratitude, list making, or brain dumping.
You may already have questions for self-discovery or whimsical ideas to journal about. That’s okay – everyone journals in their own way.
But using prompts to get your creative juices flowing is also okay. Maybe you’re ready to dive in and write something amazing but just need a tad of inspiration. This is where journal prompts can help.
Grab our Ultimate Super Bundle of journal prompts and keep on writing. Starting with just ten minutes daily can help you make it a habit.
With 250 prompts, you have nearly a full year of source material. So grab your diaries and journals, download our prompts, and start writing!
What Do I Need to Start Journaling?
You’re inspired to start your journaling habit – but wait – what do you need?
The best part of journaling is the low barrier to entry—all you really need is a pen and paper.
However, it helps to have a little more than that.
Shop around to find a journal that speaks to you – one that begs you to open the cover and fill the pages with your secrets.
The right journal can provide the motivational boost you need to keep up with the practice. Check out our resource showcasing the best journals and planners to find your perfect journal – you’d be surprised at how many options there are!
Next, you need motivation to get to know yourself. You need to want to journal, whether through freewriting or with the help of prompts. If this describes you but you aren’t sure how to get started, our prompts can help.
Finally, although not required, some people (myself included) find journaling more fun with pretty, colorful pens. You can write ideas in one color, jot notes down in the margins with another, and answer your prompts in a third. The explosion of color can take journaling to the next level, making it an artistic process that’s both creative and thought-provoking.
30 Free Journal Prompts
I get it.
You probably aren’t sold on purchasing journal prompts, especially when you can find free ones all over the web.
So we’re giving you 30 journal prompts – absolutely free! You don’t even need to sign up for our email list (though we’d love it if you did!).
These free prompts are similar to those we provide in our Etsy shop, though none are exactly the same. They’re enough to get you started, but if you love them and crave more, you know where to find them!
Get More Journal Prompts at our Store!
Free Journal Prompts
- You get to have a council of 4 people – living or dead – that help you make decisions. Which four people do you choose and why?
- What is money? Define exactly what it is and what that means for your life.
- How would you describe your relationship with your best friend?
- If you could instantly be transported into any fictional world, which would you choose and why?
- You have four ingredients. You can only eat variations and combinations of those four things for the rest of your life. Which four do you choose? Why do you select each item, and what do you make?
- Write a letter to your next boss telling them why they should hire you and pay you more than the job listing offers.
- What is the most satisfying sound in the world? Why?
- What is your favorite childhood game? What memories does it invoke?
- If you could have a 10-minute conversation with anyone who ever existed, who would you choose? What would you ask them?
- What is one thing about how the world works that you wish you could understand better?
- If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
- What does your favorite scent taste like?
- What causes would you be willing to sacrifice your life for?
- How are you feeling today? What do you need to get off of your chest?
- What is your favorite part of your body? Describe what you like about it.
- If you could redo the day, what would you do differently?
- Which fictional character do you relate to the most? What are their flaws? Do you have similar flaws?
- If you could go back in time and observe one historical event, which would it be and why?
- You have the opportunity to ask an all-knowing being one question. What do you ask? What do you think its answer would be?
- Describe an item that you wish someone would invent. How would it improve your life?
- What are sweet dreams made of?
- What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you? How did you get through it?
- Write a poem about your favorite childhood memory.
- You can go back in time to any point in your life and change just one thing. What would you change?
- What is your inner critic trying to tell you? Is it right or wrong? How can you silence it?
- Pretend that you are a famous person. What are you famous for?
- Imagine that you are an alien sent to Earth to study humanity. What is the weirdest thing you discover?
- Think about the best vacation you’ve ever been on. What made it so fantastic?
- Write an essay about a cause that you are passionate about. Why is this cause so meaningful?
- What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you? Did you find it amusing at the time?
I remember I used to keep a life journal writing down what I did for the day so that when I’m 70 years old, I can look back and what my life progressed to to get to where I am at that point.
Ah… I stopped. I wish I kept up with journaling but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to start again.