Creativity sometimes comes naturally. Sometimes you need to exercise a little to get it to happen. Journaling is perfect for this and here you will find ten journal prompts to spark creativity.
Why Should You Keep a Creativity Journal?
Journaling can be used to find answers to life’s difficult questions, to find peace with your past, to contemplate your future, and to express your deepest feelings and desires.
But you can also use a journal to spur your imagination and explore your creative side.
Too often, especially as we age, we lose touch with our creativity. But it’s always there inside, waiting to come out!
Why Should You Use Prompts for Your Creativity Journal?
Journal prompts are a great way to reignite our childlike imagination and unlock all the creative potential inside of us.
There are no “rules” when it comes to journaling, but prompts can be a helpful start.
As a creativity tool, it’s often helpful to have questions, or guided prompts, to help focus your thoughts and direct them inward.
Focusing on a topic or question that is provided for you helps direct your thinking in directions you might not necessarily have explored.
10 Journal Prompts to Spark Creative Thinking
1. Write about 5 things you would love to say yes to.
Go wild and uninhibited here – no one is insisting you actually do these things. But if you could – if time, money, responsibility, etc. were not factors -what would you say yes to?
What opportunities in life would you jump toward?
2. Describe what lives outside your window.
Choose any window in your home and take a good look outside. Describe the scene in great detail.
Don’t like your window views? Look out your front or back door, or choose any space that is somehow framed in.
3. Do you ever run out of creative ideas? How does that make you feel?
How do you feel when you are feeling un-creative? Do you feel stifled, frustrated – or perhaps, you’ve been so out of touch with your creativity that you don’t really notice?
Take some time to explore your feelings about being idea-less.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”
Kurt Vonnegut
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4. Do you feel more creative by yourself or when you work with others?
Why do you think you are impacted in this way?
Does being alone give you more creative freedom, or do you feel motivated by the presence of other people?
5. Do you remember your dreams?
Some people have an easier time remembering their dreams than others do. Do you remember full dreams, bits and pieces, or nothing at all?
How can you incorporate what memories you have into your creative work?
6. Has anyone ever limited your creativity?
Maybe a parent, teacher, or other adult discouraged your creative pursuits. Can you remember an instance where this happened?
Or maybe you experienced the revers – and you were strongly encouraged to explore your creative side.
How did your experiences shape your creativity today?
7. What Inspires You?
What brings out your creative side? Being immersed in nature? A novel experience? Travel? A beautiful sunset or a well-written poem?
Have you ever found inspiration in an old creation or piece of your work?
8. How can looking at the work of others help you to find inspiration?
Exploring the creativity of others can be very insiprational. How do you feel when you listen to classical music, see a famous sculpture, tour an art gallery?
Do you feel inspired to be more creative, either in the same medium or one of your choosing?
9. How can you exercise your creativity?
You may be surprised to learn that exercise can boost your creativity tremendously, but studies have proven a direct link between exercise and creativity.
When you are focused on physical pursuits, your brain relaxes and is able to wander into creative areas.
10. How can you inspire someone else to be creative?
Bringing out the creativity in others can inspire our own experience. How do you think that can happen?
Bonus Quotes to Use as Journal Prompts to Spark Your Creative Journey
Sometimes all it takes is a good quote to release your creativity. Here are 10 quotes on that will help you to think and write more creatively. You can use them as additional journal prompts!
- An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. ~Edwin Land
- Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity. ~T. S. Eliot
- Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better. ~John Updike
- Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas. ~Donatella Versace
- Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you’re a human being, you feel, you suffer. ~Marilyn Monroe
- Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. ~Edward de Bono
- Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm. ~Earl Nightingale
- Creativity is breaking out of established patterns to look at things in a different way. ~Edward de Bono
- Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found. ~James Russell Lowell
- If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. ~Albert Einstein
Read More:
- 10 Writing Prompts for a Goal-Setting Journal
- 50 Incredibly Effective Journaling Tips for Absolute Beginners
- Fitness and Health Journal Prompts to Help Achieve Your Goals
- 10 Journal Prompts for Self-Discovery
- 30 Holiday Simplicity Journal Prompts
- Be True to You: 7 Steps to Increased Self-Awareness
Final Thoughts on Journal Prompts to Spark Creative Thinking
Journal writing is a wonderful act of self-care and self-awareness. But there are times when you may feel you’ve hit a wall or need some reinspiration.
Focus on your creative writing!
Grab a notebook and a pen, use these prompts and quotes, and take some time to explore the creativity that lives within you. It’s just dying to get out onto the page!
What do you do to enhance your creative nature?
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Thanks for sharing 🙂! I learned a lot through this.