14 Journals for a Creative Life

Over the years, I’ve experimented with many different types of journals, and I’ve found that there is a format for every seasons of life. Keeping a creative journal can have a surprisingly positive effect on your mood, focus and overall life satisfaction.

Using all these journals at the same time would be quite overwhelming. Instead look at this list like a menu of options, and pick the ones that most resonate with you right now.

You could even try a different one each month until you find one that suits you.

So here are my 14 journal ideas to inspire your creative life, with links to posts and videos to help you get started. Enjoy!

1. Morning Pages or Free Writing Journal

One of the classics. A daily brain dump to clear mental clutter and unlock creativity. Morning Pages are three handwritten pages, done first thing in the morning. No editing, no structure, just whatever comes out.

This practice, from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, helps quiet the inner critic and make space for new ideas. It’s not about writing well, it’s about writing anything. Over time, Morning Pages can reveal patterns, desires and surprising creative insights.

An alternative to morning pages is timed free writing. Set a timer for 10 minutes (or 20, 30) and write without stopping.

🖋️ Perfect for: clearing your head, easing anxiety, jumpstarting a creative project, overcoming a fear of the blank page.

The morning pages aren’t meant to be productive or valuable, but occasionally you will come across some really good ideas that you might want to use. I wrote a post on how to capture these ideas and turn them into something tangible.
👉 How to Turn Morning Pages into Blog Posts or Podcast Episodes (Video)

2. Regular Journal

The simplest, most flexible form — a personal journal that holds your thoughts, feelings, reflections, questions, and everyday experiences.

It’s a space to be honest with yourself, to process life, to notice what’s changing. Your regular journal might include long entries some days and just a few lines on others. There are no rules, just a rhythm that matches your real life.

🖋️ Perfect for: self-reflection, emotional processing, creating a record of your days.

I talk more about morning pages and regular journals in this post. You can also watch the video below.
👉 3 Types of Journals that Help Me Feel Creative and Grounded (Video)

3. Travel Journal

Capture moments, sketches, tickets, and reflections from your travels, even if it’s just a weekend away or a walk around your neighbourhood.

A travel journal helps you slow down and see more. You can write about places visited, meals enjoyed, people met, unexpected detours. Tuck in ticket stubs, sketches, little maps, or pressed flowers. Over time, these journals become rich with sensory memories and little stories that photos might miss.

🖋️ Perfect for: capturing the spirit of a journey, deepening travel experiences, a creative outlet while travelling.

👉 How to Start a Travel Journal (Post + Video)

4. Nature Journal

A nature journal is a way to slow down and observe the world outside your window, or on a walk, hike, or picnic. You can record what you see, sketch leaves or birds, press flowers, note changes in weather or light.

It’s a mix of science and art, mindfulness and curiosity. Even five minutes a day builds a sense of connection with the seasons and your surroundings.

🖋️ Perfect for: practicing observation, deepening your connection to the natural world, mindful journalling on your own or with your kids.

👉 How to Start a Journal for Nature Study (Video)

5. Calendar of Firsts

This sweet and simple practice involves noting the firsts you notice through the seasons: first snowdrop, first frog song, first barefoot day, first ripe tomato. Over time, it becomes a record of seasonal rhythms — one you can look back on and compare year to year. It’s especially lovely with children, but just as grounding for adults.

🖋️ Perfect for: seasonal awareness, family rituals, building a nature-based journalling habit.

👉 Early Spring Nature Study ~ How to Keep a Calendar of Firsts

6. Gratitude Journal

One of the simplest and most powerful journalling practices: write down three (or more) things you’re grateful for each day. They can be big (a loved one’s health) or small (sunlight through the window, a hot cup of tea).

A regular gratitude journal entry shifts your attention toward what’s working, what’s beautiful, what you want more of.

🖋️ Perfect for: cultivating a positive mindset in your daily life, reducing stress, ending your day on a calm note.

I like to create monthly mini journals and keep them in my pocket to jot down little moments I want to remember.
👉 How to Make Monthly Mini Gratitude Journals

7. Sketchbook

No words required. Just a place to play with shapes, colours and lines. Your creative playground.

You don’t need to be an “artist” to keep a sketchbook. This journal is for spontaneous creative expression, a place to doodle, play with colour, explore patterns, or sketch what’s around you.

A lot of people online show perfect looking sketchbooks, which can be so intimidating if you are just starting out. Sketchbooks aren’t for making perfect art; they are for playing, experimenting, making marks and noticing the world differently. They are also a great way to loosen up creatively if you’re in a creative rut (similar to the morning pages for writing).

🖋️ Perfect for: creative play, daily art practice, visual thinking, making art without pressure.

In this video I shared my own sketchbook, full of scribbles, kids drawings, sketches and memories. You’re welcome to have a look.
👉 a messy and imperfect sketchbook tour

8. Idea Book

A messy, exciting container for ideas. For projects, writing, dreams, plans, and anything that sparks inspiration.

This is where all your wild ideas go, before they’re organized, edited, or even fully thought through. Jot down book titles, project ideas, business dreams, class outlines, recipes to try, or quotes that spark something in you.

An idea book helps you honour inspiration when it arrives, even if you’re not ready to act on it yet. It becomes a rich compost pile for future creative work.

🖋️ Perfect for: capturing inspiration, creative ideas, brainstorming, keeping momentum.

This is still one of my favourite types of journal. I can just pour out the contents of my brain and enjoy the process of it without having to produce anything of value. I also use it to organize my thoughts, draw up plans and remember things.
👉 The Power of Idea Books for Multi-Passionate People

9. Mini Self-Care Booklet

Create a small handmade or folded booklet filled with reminders, affirmations, calming ideas, and things that bring you back to center.

You might include favourite quotes, simple breathwork exercises, a tiny playlist, or a comforting list of “what to do when I feel overwhelmed.” It’s a tiny toolkit you can keep close for hard days.

🖋️ Perfect for: portable emotional support.
👉 How to Make a Mini Self-Care Booklet

10. Art Journal

An art journal combines words, images, and mixed media. It might include collage, paint, found paper, doodles, stencils, and poetic fragments.

It can be messy and expressive or slow and meditative. Unlike a sketchbook (which leans toward drawing), art journalling is often intuitive, emotional, and layered.

You don’t need fancy supplies. A glue stick and a magazine are enough to begin.

🖋️ Perfect for: emotional expression, intuitive creativity, combining visual and written elements.

I don’t have any art journal pages to share yet, but here’s a post on a collage one of my sons made one day. It was so simple but made him really happy that day.
👉 A Simple Picture Collage

11. Reading Journal

If books are a part of your life, a reading journal is a beautiful companion. Record what you’re reading, your impressions, quotes you love, how a book made you feel, or what it reminded you of.

You might also track reading goals, seasonal reading lists, or favourite childhood books. Over time, it becomes a map of your inner life through stories.

🖋️ Perfect for: deepening your reading practice, reflecting on what moves you, remembering favourite lines.

Instead of having a reading journal, I made a few “Book & Tea Chat”-Videos in the past, which serve a similar purpose (but are a bit more work I suppose).
👉 Book & Tea Chat │Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

12. Seasonal Journal

Start a new journal with each season or month to reflect on what’s changing around and within you. Include seasonal recipes, nature observations, favourite quotes, intentions, creative lists, and memories.

This kind of journal celebrates the cyclical nature of life and helps you attune to your own rhythms. It can become a beautiful yearly ritual.

🖋️ Perfect for: living seasonally, celebrating transitions, marking time with intention.
👉 Journal With Me: Seasonal Reflections and Intentions

13. Prompt Journal

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin, that’s where prompts come in.

A prompt journal offers questions or themes to explore: What do I need right now? What am I learning? Where do I feel most like myself?

You can find lists of prompts online (see some of mine below) or create your own. This practice helps you bypass perfectionism and discover new inner layers.

🖋️ Perfect for: building a consistent practice, deepening self-awareness, getting unstuck.

👉 5 Ways Journalling Can Help You Find Your Life’s Purpose

👉Journal With Me ~ 5 Journal Prompts for Creativity

14. Food or Garden Journal

In a food journal, you might record recipes you’ve tried (or invented), favourite seasonal ingredients, kitchen experiments, meals shared with loved ones, or even sensory memories from childhood.

In a garden journal, you can track planting dates, weather patterns, what thrived (and what didn’t), and your hopes for the next season. These journals grow slowly with you, helping you to see what worked and didn’t work in the last few years.

🖋️ Perfect for: connecting to the seasons, preserving family recipes or garden knowledge, savouring everyday rituals.

You don’t need to keep all of these at once. Let yourself follow what feels fun or helpful right now.

There are so many different ways to keep a journal, and each one can support your creative practice in its own unique way. Journalling can be a gentle companion to your creative process, a place to explore your own creativity, and a simple way to keep track of the things that matter most to you.

I’d love to know, what kinds of journals do you keep? Or which one would you like to start next?

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