What is originality? It is a fallacy to think you have to come up with totally original ideas. Take the time to contemplate and consider which creative giants have influenced you. Who have you leaned on? 

These resources are ideal for journal keepers, looking for extra ideas.

How often, for example, do we ask ourselves what makes us happy and what we really want from life. In ‘A Life of One’s Own’ Marion Milner set herself to grapple with this. It is written in the spirit of a detective story searching out clues. As readers we get caught up in the chase and find ourself looking for our own clues.

‘The New Diary’ by Tristine Rainer provides a very modern concept of journal keeping and is as much for someone who has kept a journal as it is for someone who is just beginning. It does not tell us the right way to keep a journal but, rather, offers numerous possibilities.

Exercise: Recalling a Special Childhood Place – from ‘House – Exploring the Deeper Meaning of Home’