10 Prompts for Freestyle Journaling: Using Your College Journal

An 8.5" x 11" Journal for College Students
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The College Journal is divided into three main sections and types of pages: Academic Calendar, Weekly Reviews, and Dailies.

The journal is pre-planned with templates and prompts on all the pages needed for 20 full weeks of classes.

One of the pages where you really get to be creative and make the journal your own is in the Weekly Review. Each of the 20 Weekly Reviews includes a page for Freestyle Journaling. 

What Kinds of Things Should I Write in My Journal?

If you need help getting your Freestyle Journaling pages started, listed below are 20 complete prompts that leave lots of creative wiggle room. The essential thing is to make the pages your own, finding a way to reflect who you are and what's important to you.

1. Use Your Journal to Dump Your Thoughts

• One way you can dump your thoughts is by creating a mind-map or cluster. You may have learned how to do this in your Composition course as a method of prewriting. Try starting with "On My Mind" as the starting point for your cluster, and create your map as you work outward from that center. This can help you pinpoint what's causing your stress or help you prioritize issues that may need to be resolved. You can use "What I Learned" as a starting point for reinforcing lessons.
• Another way to dump your thoughts is to write a letter to yourself. In your letter, explain to yourself what's been bothering you. You can even ask yourself for advice, which may prompt an answer in a future letter!

2. Use Your Journal to Reflect

• If you already know what's been on your mind, you can take the time to reflect on it. You can paraphrase a conversation or summarize a situation in order to determine if you would change anything about the conversation or situation if you had the opportunity.
• Another great way to reflect is to reflect on class discussions. If the class conversation introduced multiple perspectives, with which perspective do you agree and why?

3. Use Your Journal to Ask Yourself Questions

• Have you been acting on bad habits, lately?  If you have, maybe you should ask yourself why you're acting on them and make a pact about what you could or should do instead.
• Another great question to ask yourself is how you're feeling. There are a lot of emotion words in the English language to choose from, and there are even more in other languages that we don't translate into English. Spend time choosing the exact word that most closely describes your current feeling. Explain the word's history and meaning using an etymological dictionary.

4. Use Your Journal to Plan a Party

• If you could plan a gratitude party, what would it look like? Who would be there? What would be on the menu? What types of activities would you plan, and what kind of music would you play? Have fun with this prompt.
• Now plan a party for someone you love. Think about all the ways you could make that person happy with your party planning choices. Better yet, how could you plan a party for someone you dislike in order to make that person happy?

5. Use Your Journal to Learn New Words

• There are several "Word of the Day" Web sites and email subscriptions. Join one for at least a week and record the new words in your journal.
• Alternatively, jot down words you encounter while reading, record the meanings and context, and keep them in your journal.

6. Use Your Journal to Make a Shopping List

• Let's say the impossible has happened, and you have won 10 million dollars. Make a distribution and shopping list.
• On the other end of the spectrum, if you only had $10.00 a week to spend on food, what would your shopping list look like. Investigate food prices and try to be as healthy as possible.

7. Use Your Journal to Create a Reading Log

• Make a list of books and articles you want to read. Make a little note explaining why you want to read each one.
• Make a list of books and articles you have to read. Make a little note explaining what you might expect to learn from each one.

8. Use Your Journal to Create a Watch List

• Make a list of all the movies and shows or videos you want to watch. Make a little note explaining why you want to watch each one.
• Make a pro and con list for watching a show you're on the fence about watching. The pro list is why you should watch it, and the con list is why you should not watch it. Which side has the strongest reasons?

9. Use Your Journal to Take Notes

• Watch a documentary and take notes. Write down interesting quotes, follow-up sources, interesting points for additional research, and talking points (what you'll tell your friends about the documentary).
• Choose one of the items from your reading list and take notes. Write down information about the item, like the author and date, and use a citation style appropriate to the subject to document the source. Reiterate main ideas that caught your attention if it is a nonfiction item, or try to capture the theme if it's a work of fiction or literature.

10. Use Your Journal to Record Your Feelings or Memories

• Draw a self portrait. You can look in the mirror or work from a recent selfie. Try, most importantly, to capture your mood.
• Write or illustrate a narrative from the week. Did you drop your tray in the dining hall? Did you find money in clothes you haven't worn in a long time? Write it out like a story with dialogue and detailed description, or draw it like a comic strip.

Summary

The Freestyle Journaling page is introduced as a space to dump your thoughts, reflect, ask yourself questions, plan a party, list new words, make a shopping list, create a reading log or watch list, take notes, or record feelings and memories. However, if you need more help getting started, these 20 prompts can certainly help.

Happy journaling!

Want to read more about The College Journal by Amy Lynn Hess? Try

The College Journal: Creating a Weekly Budget
The College Journal: A Fill-in-the-Blank Journal for First Year College Students
The College Journal: Ideas for Your Special Tracker
The College Journal: Supplies on a Student Budget

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.