As this first year of National Journal Writing Month comes to a close, I thought I’d share some of the highlights of the year, and what is store for next year.
I started NaJoWriMo.org last December, followed by the first NaJoWriMo challenge in January. In the last year, I learned how to build an email subscriber base for this project, grow a Twitter following for NaJoWriMo, learn and make use of powerful online tools including Canva for blog images, GetResponse for the email subscriber list, MeetEdgar for Twitter posts, Crowdfire for growing the Twitter following, and the 2Do task management application. Along the way I have also met some very dedicated journal writers and coaches whom I hope to continue to build a relationship with.
I am proud of the National Journal Writing Month, and I look forward to keeping it going for many years to come. Though journal writing is largely a private and still under-recognized tool for personal growth and enrichment, millions of people quietly keep journaling because they/we benefit from the insights gained from writing and the ability to process thoughts and problems as we write.
And it’s also useful that sometimes we can respond to thoughtful journaling prompts that may inspire us to dig deeper into ourselves, and sometimes write about topics that we may not have never considered writing about.
To this end, I thought it might be a good idea to post the top ten articles for NaJoWriMo this past year, and to highlight the articles written by my guest bloggers whom I really appreciate taking the time to write and share their expertise about journal writing.
Top 10 Articles
50 Wide Ranging Lists For Your Journal Writing
Paper or Digital: What Type of Journal Should You Keep?
10 Suggested Tags for Day One Journal Keeping
10 Good Reasons to Participate In National Journal Writing Month
15 Journaling Writing Projects for Personal Growth and Enrichment
10 Journal Writing Prompts About Your Sex Life
Make Your Journal Writing Secret Place to Be Honest with Yourself
My Seven Principles for Journal Writing; What Are Yours?
10 Morning Journal Writing Prompts To Start Your Day
Tired of Typing in Handwriting?: Voice Dictate Your Journal Entries
Thank You, Guest Bloggers
I really appreciate the posts from my guest bloggers. They brought insight to journal writing that I didn’t have, and I am very inspired by their approach to journaling.
5 Journal Writing Prompts For Hidden Secrets of Yoga, by Bruce Black
Learning to Be Honest with Yourself through Journaling, by Danielle Lincoln Hanna
Dear Precious Journal, by Polly Anna Watson
8 Business Benefits to Journal Writing, by Modern da Vinci
Why Good Writers Keep Journals, by Danielle Lincoln Hanna
How to Make Your Life Memorable Through Visual Journaling, by Erica
[Tweet “Let your journal speak to you, instead of you speaking to it. Let your journal inspire you.”]
Journaling Coaches and Bloggers
Last month I also created a Twitter list of journal writing coaches and bloggers that my Twitter followers might want to subscribe to. If you follow several hundred Twitter users, a Twitter list is a great way to filter and focus on a group of influential people who tweet about a particular topic.
My Journaling Blog and Coaches list includes Nathen Ohren (@Write4LifeCoach), Dima Dupéré (@myjoythisway), Dolly Garland (@myjoythisway), Jackee Holder (@JackeeHolder), and Mari L. Mcarthy (@CreatWriteNow), Hannah (@hannabraime), as well as @NaJoWriMo.
By subscribing to the list, you will get links to lots of other resources and messages about journal writing.
Journaling Experience
Over the last several months, close 200 people responded to a survey I emailed out to my NaJoWriMo subscriber list, and as result I learned that 20% of the responders were new to journal writing, 6.2% had been journal writing less than year, 49.2% had been journaling off and off for several years, and 23% have been regularly keeping a journal for several years.
I appreciate the responses to the survey, for the responses provide very useful insight into the needs of NaJoWriMo subscribers and participants. Thank you for responding.
Participant Feedback
It was also very inspiring and encouraging to get feedback and comments from participants in NaJoWriMo. I wish I could share all the kind messages I received, but here are few of the shorter ones.
I have journaled over 33 years and have done extensive searching online for all things journaling. I enjoy and get the most out of your blog and your journaling months. Your journaling months help me kick up my journaling a notch, which sure never hurts.
I like the idea of using NaJoWriMo as a month long exercise to get more in depth on a specific topic, whether it be spiritual or educational pursuits.
I love NaJoWriMo! I don’t comment here very often and I don’t have a twitter to tweet about it but I absolutely adore the idea behind it. I wouldn’t even mind if this was a month-long event every month. Prompts are very thoughtful and inspirational and get me thinking about things I haven’t thought about before. So really I just wanted to say thank you, Bakari, for creating NaJoWriMo.
It feels great to join NajoWrimo. It’s the first time I’m journaling. But the theme is making me realise that I’m not that creative. But still I continue to write on it.
I love NaJoWriMo! I don’t comment here very often and I don’t have a twitter to tweet about it but I absolutely adore the idea behind it. I wouldn’t even mind if this was a month-long event every month. Prompts are very thoughtful and inspirational and get me thinking about things I haven’t thought about before. So really I just wanted to say thank you, Bakari, for creating NaJoWriMo.
Webinars
This year I also learned how to produce webinars using WebinarJam, and boy was that a learning experience. There’s a lot that has to be done behind the scene to produce a one hour presentation.
I appreciate Danielle Lincoln Hanna for being a guest of my second webinar. Her book about journaling and fiction writing is very moving and insightful, and it was great to do an interview with her.
Both of the webinars are available for replay at your leisure.
- Starting From Day One
- Want to Write a Novel, Start by Keeping a Journal: Interview with Danielle Lincoln Hanna
Year In Reflection Prompts
I hope before the year is out that you take the opportunity to look back on your experiences and accomplishments for the past twelve months and do some journal reflection.
Here’s a list of prompts that you might consider using for your reflective journaling.
2016
We will kick off 2016 with the January NaJoWriMo challenge. As I have stated before, January is perfect time to get started with journal writing, setting goals, and even reflecting back on the previous year. So I hope you will join me and others in the January challenge.
January will be followed by three more NaJoWriMo challenges for next year (April, July, and October). We will revisit the themes from last year, but there will be opportunities to subscribe to new journaling themes. So if you’re not already a subscriber to NaJoWriMo, be sure to sign up to be a part of next year’s challenges.
I also plan to conduct more webinars, but I would like to get your feedback on the topics you would like to see covered in the webinars. I will also use the feedback I’m getting from the NaJoWriMo survey.
My goal next year is to write NaJoWriMo blog posts on a weekly basis. I will also be creating short ebooks and guides for download. Some of them will be free and others will be for sale, which will help support the overhead and work of maintaining NaJoWriMo.
Happy New Year
I want to take this opportunity to wish you a happy new year, and I look forward to journal writing with you in 2016. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and feedback about the National Journal Writing Month, and any ideas for how you think the project could be improved. I always welcome your feedback.
If you like NaJoWriMo, please also consider making a donation to help pay for the monthly and yearly costs of running the site. Just click on the image below.
