How do you write a journal?

As with any tool, journaling takes practice. You must commit yourself to just start writing. You should write an entry for each day.

Commit yourself for 21 to 30 days and see how quickly it becomes a habit.

Balance immediacy and spontaneity.

A journal is not a diary.

Although based on the activities of your day, your entries are not merely recounting your day’s events. They are detailed descriptions as if to an outsider.

When you journal, you will not have a clear idea of what you will make of these details, but you will sense that they might be important later. These descriptions should sound as if you were describing them to someone who was never there.

Journals allow you to sound naïve.

For more, Mark Cooper, Reflection: Getting Learning Out of Serving, Florida International University