I am using junk journaling as a writing exercise to get to know my character on a deeper level. And it has helped so much – the story has evolved considerably because of it, and I’m sure it’ll get even better. That means this is not the final version. I might redo some entries, I might add or delete some. Who knows!? What you are seeing here is something I’m proud of, and it has been so much fun to do, and so helpful, I felt I have to share it. Having said that, I hope you still enjoy the story even in its imperfections.

I’m using a journal I created for myself. It wasn’t intended for junk journaling, but it has always helped me (in my personal life) to get a better focus, so I thought it would help with this exercise as well. And it has. The words on each page helped to sum up an entry, and then additional space for just a few words to elaborate a bit, before I dive into creating an image. Then it has ‘Note to Yourself’, which was helpful because I could see the highlights of the story from one section to the next. And then there is extra space for the notes, which was great to keep track of entries that have a bigger impact on her. These keep the pace of the plot, which isn’t easy in diary format. Real diaries don’t have ‘a plot’, but this isn’t a real diary, it’s just written to look like one. This is completely made up. Alma doesn’t exist, though she was inspired by real people and events – some of these you will discover as we go.

Since this journal is for words NOT images, there are issues as well. The binding helped a little since I could take out pages, but that only went so far. I’ve also glued pages together – common practice for those who know about junk journaling. And that still wasn’t enough. I had to start using only one side. But even that is making the book burst. In short, I need to figure out the best way to keep the things that help, and deal with the things that are making it harder. Don’t be surprised if you find I’m suddenly using a different style notebook.

Major lesson: even in junk journaling leave the prologue last. I’ve written the book, or a version of the book. I wrote the prologue last. I thought I could start with it, but 3 attempts later, and I’m still not happy. So I know I’ll redo the prologue at the end. See if you can spot other entries I’m likely to redo?

If you have suggestions, please feel free to share. All thoughts welcome. However, please note that I’ve done over 130 entries before I started sharing – I needed to be sure in the process (especially since this is the first time I’m filming it, and I’m not great at technology), and there are still many entries to come. So I might not be able to apply your suggestion right away, but I will consider all. Plus, as I said earlier, I’m likely to redo some entries, which means your suggestion might just show on the page.

Thank you and happy reading!