Hot Take: Journaling Is The Most Important Thing
Here’s what I think: yes and no lol. I definitely think it depends on the person. If I journaled Every. Single. Day. I know my songwriting would thrive in a way that it maybe suffers now, because I don’t write everyday. But that also could just be me. Take this with a grain of salt because every songwriter is different.
Your Creative Vault
Journaling everyday creates a creative vault for you to jot down ideas whenever inspiration strikes. I use my voice memo app and notes app on my phone like this, but if I have paper and pen, I love writing it down there too.
Emotional Honesty
Writing privately, without fear of judgement, lets those unfiltered thoughts and feeling flow out of you freely. And those are often the lyrics that are most relatable in your songs.
Developing Your Voice
If you write and save your writing for years, or even just months, you can begin to hear your voice and see your unique “fingerprint ” as a songwriter. This can help you write more clearly and create projects that flow into one another. Knowing your own voice as a writer can help when collaborating with others, too.
Creative Discipline
The hardest thing about writing is starting. So if you make it a habit to flex your creative muscles everyday, even if it’s just writing one random line about your day, you’re already better off than if you write for long periods of time once per month.
Keeping Memories
Specific moments are what build beautiful songs. Journaling preserves those sacred details that will make your lyrics feel cinematically alive.
Safe Experimentation
Writing things down and messing around with lines, rhythm, poetic devices, and a million other things gives you a safe place to mess up and it never has to see the light of day. There’s no pressure to have fully created songs in your own journal.
Speaking of literary devices….you can download our FREE Lyricist’s Literary Cheat Sheet at the link in our bio. This will give you a quick, short, 1-page printable PDF that you can refer back to whenever you’re feeling uninspired to write or your writing just isn’t inspiring you.
You can also join the Creatives Club at the link in our bio to get weekly songwriting tips and inspiration sent directly to your inbox. That’s also where we host our Small Artist Spotlight (you could be featured next — sign up in our bio).
#writingjournal #writingdiary #songwritingtips #songwritinginspiration #songwritingprocess
