Doctors will tell you to keep a journal in order to release stress and sort out emotions. Jotting down all your feelings and thoughts can help you resolve conflict, make decisions, and force you to learn about yourself. But why should writers keep a journal?

In this chapter, Ueland explains the benefits of journal writing and how it makes you a better writer. Not better in the sense of correct grammar and what the world expects of you – better in the way of more honest, real, and true to who you are.

But why is it important to be real?

Readers want to devour a good book. A good book deprives you from sleep, takes you away from your family and friends, and sucks you deep into the world it creates. As an author, you can’t do that without being real. Your reader will move onto something better, and frankly, honest is more interesting and fun.

Any writer can fill pages with words. It takes true talent to show a reader what you see rather than telling them. Ueland uses this example:

• His muscles rippled through his shoulders. (Did they really? No.) So she asks, what do you see it your mind?

• His muscles looked as if they would burst through the seams of his shirt. (Believable and descriptive)

The novel Gone Girl is a great example of this. And ironically, it’s set in a journal format. That’s no accident. Journals are people being who they are and who they don’t want to be. The best-seller captivated readers worldwide, and it remains one of the most talked about novels in my office. It was the nitty-gritty details of a relationship, and it felt real. You were smack in the middle of the story and couldn’t put it down.

What you can gain from your journal:

• A greater love for writing – Sometimes it’s hard to write and get into the habit, but once it becomes a routine, you have to do it. It’s like an addiction, and if it’s not done, your day may feel incomplete.
• It jump starts other projects – We all have a book or story idea that we haven’t made time for. We sit down at the computer and freak out because we don’t know where to begin. After journal writing, you’ll realize that you can just start, and edit and fill in gaps later. You can even trade the time you’d spend on your journal on that new project, or switch back and forth as needed.
• Immerse yourself in your own life – If you took one hour a day you play on social media or watch TV and wrote in your journal, you’d have insight into your own life, dreams, and self. As scary as it may be, good writers aren’t afraid to explore their most inner thoughts.

She recommends keeping a journal and writing in it every day, but not looking back on it until six months have passed. Doing so, you’ll see honest progression and skill as the journal continues. You learn more about the personality that comes out in your writing because no matter how hard you try, it will come through for the world to see.

Want more tips? Check out our If You Want to Write section!