Writing and Being: Embracing Your Life Through Creative Journaling

by G. Lynn Nelson

With powerful, practical, step-by-step writing exercises, a wealth of examples, and stories of personal transformation through journaling, Writing and Being demonstrates that intentional, guided journaling is a profound way to discover one’s authentic self. Beyond mere diary writing, these creative journaling methods help readers chart a path for a better future. The book begins by providing tips for the logistics of journal keeping, and includes suggestions for getting started. It then explores the entire writing process and explains the distinctions between private writing and public writing. The book also explains the biology behind the powerful experience of journaling by laying out recent discoveries about the human brain, showing how journaling can heal psychological and spiritual wounds. Finally, the author shows how to make journaling both a voyage of self-discovery and a means of sharing one’s journey and inspiring others in a caring community of expanding love, support, and positive energy.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Journaling, Professional Development

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2004

Reviews

[Heather Pagano · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exploration into writing, completely different from any writing book I've read before. A method of journaling not incompatible with yoga- stopping to connect with the breath before writing exercises, and using writing to more deeply connect with ourselves, our experience, our community. Nelson introduces ways to use journaling for self-healing and as a springboard for public writing.

[Bailey Frederking · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed this book in this week. It reminded me why I write and how writing for a long whole has been alongside me in healing. This book left me wanting to be in the classroom more than anything, writing with students. I’m still working through the explorations, but I loved each chapter.

In many ways, this book wasn’t revolutionary for me because I’m a writer doesn’t know how to not write from my feelings. But, what this book was and is for me is encouragement. Refreshment. And new inspiration.

[Debby Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I picked it up for browsing and read it straight through. I don't agree with quite everything Nelson has to say (more a difference of style and personality than key principles), but this will definitely influence new workshops I create in a big way.

Nelson's articulation of mindfulness principles (which he doesn't generally label them) are in many cases clearer than any I've ever read. His Explorations (writing prompts/projects) are excellent both for self-discovery and for use in teaching writing. And his whole philosophy for teaching writing is more apt than I can express without shaking shiny pompoms and turning cartwheels. A superb book.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a final class paper, and I still can't decide whether I like it or not. Nelson presents a profoundly different perspective of the purpose and the process of writing, with reassurances and encouragement for those struggling to escape from their own dreary opinions of it. It is most of all a how-to book, and incidentally that I think is where it suffers. He offers suggestions on how to take the mumble-jumble of your stream-of-consciousness thoughts from your journal and start to work it into something comprehensible that others might read, but that is where he stops. He does not delve into the "public" writing sphere very deeply, and does not talk about techniques or memory devices for turning a perfect phrase or getting just the right word or figuring out who your audience will be. Perhaps he left that out on purpose, so that this would be only an introductory guide, but I feel that he cheats his readers out of his perspective on the second half of the process.

He also mentions several times "throwing out judgments" and "analysis", saying that these things hinder true creativity and steal the power from the words being used, and he encourages the writer to refrain from judging himself in his own journal. This I assume is to keep those readers who are of the opinion that they cannot write or would never want to write or are bad at English from getting scared off the way they are from traditional writing methods. But almost immediately after he says this he will say something about just letting the words flow and bring you the insights and the new ways of seeing, and the first time I laughed aloud because insight stems directly from evaluation and analysis. I dislike his fervor decrying what I think are the fundamental characteristics of the curious and inquiring scientific mind, but then again I like bugs and deep sea icky fishes and slugs and stuff, so I am aware that many do not share this opinion.

What I did like about it was how Nelson dove right into the types of psychological problems and scars that almost everyone shares, and he offered effective techniques for dealing with the painful feelings and the healing process. Though I couldn't tell whether it was unintentional or not, and if so I find it humourous and ironic, his techniques for listening to your own feelings as they happen and learning to watch yourself experience them so you gain more control over your (re)actions are straight out of professional psychiatry practices. He talks about his students crying in class and people learning to feel again, and basically all he has done is bring a psychiatric handbook to life. The bonus here is that if you find that his methods work for you, you won't ever have to pay someone else to listen to you whine again!

As an aside, I would definitely recommend this book to people who desire some spiritual healing and to know themselves better, and who dislike the idea of seeing a shrink. As long as it is done correctly, it is absolutely true that self-help is the most effective balm of all.

Overall I think this is a useful resource to keep around if you are an aspiring writer. It certainly gave me some new points of view, and I am still entertaining the notion that someday I might work up the motivation and attention span to keep a journal of my own.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many people, my experiences in English class were uninspired and downright dreary. The teacher told us to write about our summer vacation so painstakingly we all wrote some sort of drivel, as short and quickly as possible. Inevitably, that work came back with red marks all over it. I really wish I would have had G. Lynn Nelson as a teacher.

G. Lynn Nelson started out his career just like every other English teacher, ready with that red pen in his hand. Then, he had an epiphany which changed his teaching style and the lives of many of his students. Creative writing became his weapon against lack of creativity and the hatred of writing.

Writing and Being is an excellent guide to the beginnings of creative write either for person journal writing or for pieces that will eventually be seen by the public. This book would make an excellent text for a high school creative writing course but could easily be tailored to suit younger students or even adults wishing to reconnect with themselves. Personally, writing in my journal is an automatic part of my day, like brushing my teeth or checking my email. It keeps me centered and allows me to look to the heart of the issues that I face each day.

[Amy Lesher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This journaling "how-to" goes beyond the average entry-a-day diary. Emphasizing and encouraging writing from your heart, not only to shed light upon your own dilemmas, but to publicly share as well as a way to help others. With all the writing prompts and exercises offered, even the most closed-mouth writer will have something insightful to say. Writing is NOT about perfection: spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Writing IS a tool: to use language as a medium to share intimate thoughts and feelings - all of them - to transform ourselves and our world to a place of peace.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my approach to writing. I had Lynn has a professor twice at ASU and he is an absolute genius and a pleasure to take a class from.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little too "touchy feely" for my tastes...but Nelson does have some interesting ideas to incorporate in the classroom.

[Edward Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “Writing and Being – Embracing Your Life Through Creative Journaling” by G. Lynn Nelson was recommended to me back in 2019 while I was attending a leadership seminar in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

I think his guiding purpose was beautifully expressed in the following quote, “My wish is for you to be a life-long writer. My hope is that writing will be a tool – an emotional, intellectual, and spiritual tool – to help you survive and grow and find meaning and purpose and peace in your life.” (P. XVI)

The book does a pretty good job explaining the process of journaling, and Nelson divided the book into 10 chapters: Beginning your journey, entering the river, seeking silence, letting go, centering in the self, exploring the kingdom within, writing and healing, seeking community, taking back our hearts, and a closing chapter with his final thoughts. What I really like about the book is that he includes exploration exercises, inviting readers to work on those in their journals.

Chapter one, Beginning your Journey, he describes the type of journal that you should buy and the only real criterion is “that it is something you feel comfortable writing in, something that invites you in and does not intimidate you.” (P. 1). He introduces the term, “soft eyes,” to indicate that we need to approach this journey with openness and acceptance. About the writing process, he goes on to say that “As you write in your journal, you will need to keep reminding yourself that this is not time or place to worry about things like spelling, punctuation, grammar, complete sentences, and so on. Attending to such things will only impede the process of your writing – the free and spontaneous flow of words from within you.” (P. 3) The journal is something very personal and he said that “until something from your journal wants to work its way out and into public writing, there are no rules or standards that need concern you.” (P. 4) The rest of the chapter focuses on how to start writing in your journal. Toward the end of the chapter, he said this great and helpful line, “You enter your journal not to explore what you know but to discover how you feel.” (P. 11) The chapter ends with an exploration exercise titled, “Where are you now? (Part 1 of 2). The second part of this exploration is provided in Chapter 10.

Chapters two through nine take readers through the journaling process with a lot of details and in a sense holding you by the hand. The exploration exercises are very helpful, and you will learn the concept if the reader takes the time to do those.

Here are some highlights from the book:

“Personal writing in our journals is the heart of all our writing. There, our words become tools for our psychological, intellectual, and spiritual growth. There, too, our individual insights, feelings, memories, and stories become the source of all meaningful and effective public writing – gifts from our hearts to share with others.” (P. 25)

“Writing was, in itself, a way to discover things about myself and the world. I was taught to write when I had something (public) to say, so I seldom wrote. Now, I write in my journal to find out what I have to say – so I am forever writing.” (P. 26)

“If I do not seek quietness around me, I cannot hear the words that my heart whispers. And if I do not seek silence within, I will never know the power of my words as instruments of creation.” (P. 35)

“Once your writing is grounded in its source – your heart and your journal work – once you begin to find the beauty of your own voice and the power of your own stories, you may feel a natural urge to share your writing with others.” (P. 40)

“The key to opening yourself to this world, the way to practice wondering with your words, is to avoid making absolute statements or generalizations in your journal (“The world is evil”… “My husband is wrong” … “Mondays are terrible” … “My boss is a jerk”). Instead, describe how things look right now and say how you feel right now. Make all observations tentatively, speculatively, wonderingly. Ask yourself questions. Use your words delicately and gently. Stay open. Keep looking. Let go. Let go. Let go. In this way, your words will keep your eyes open instead of closing them.” (P. 61)

“As we write in our journals, we are, in effect, talking to ourselves. “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” What is my purpose in life?” “What matters?” (P. 74)

“We do this watching work, this journal work, so that we might be centered in our greater Self, so that we might find peace and love within ourselves – and give peace and love to others.” (P.79)

“Given the tools, we can heal ourselves and break the terrible chain of passing down wounds. Writing is such a tool.” P. 112)

“Let us not, you and I, be paralyzed by the sometimes madness of the world. Let us follow our writing and our being inward to that quiet place within ourselves and let us be centered there. And from that center, let us go outward in love to the world.” (P.169)

This book is an excellent resource for those who want to start journaling. The exploration exercises at the end of each chapter are a treasure. The book is helping me through this journey so I highly recommend it.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

El llibre et suggereix que és a partir de l'escriptura que venen idees. És a dir, en l'exercici mateix d'escriure i, quan es fa de manera sincera, parlant a un mateix, és quan surten les idees més autèntiques. L'autor proposa de portar un diari en què el lector, o l'alumne, vagi fent diferent exercicis d'escriptura que es van proposant a llarg dels capítols. A partir de cadascun d'aquests exercicis escrits al diari, es proposa també fer un escrit públic: un relat, un poema, una obra de teatre... Qualsevol cosa que pugui ser compartida amb algú altre.
En un primer moment sembla un simple llibre d'autoajuda o només una pluja d'idees per escriure en un diari (journaling prompts), però la seva lectura m'ha captivat per la sensibilitat de l'autor. Com a partir de petites coses es poden dir grans veritats. No són els clàssics de la literatura això? De manera que m'he adonat que moltes de les gran obres de la literatura deuen haver seguit un procés semblant: primer en forma de pensaments inconnexos, escrits tal com ragen en un diari privat, després més treballats, deixant-los créixer i expandir-se cap a una idea que pugui aportar a la resta de la societat.
Penso en les Meditacions de Marc Aureli, per exemple, que en grec es titulen Τα εις αυτόν, és a dir "cap a un mateix". I això fem quan escrivim, ens parlem a nosaltres mateixos per establir relacions més sinceres amb els altres i amb el món.
Dostoievski portava un dietari, igual que Tolstoi, el qual en n'escrivia diversos al mateix temps i els atribuïa diferents graus de privacitat. Hemingway, molts autors que han quedat per la posteritat ho han fet.
L'autor assenyala que és a partir de les petites coses que es revelen grans veritats. Per mi, personalment, ha estat una revelació aquest llibre que vaig trobar per pura casualitat en una aplicació del Play store. Ja el tinc de camí cap a casa en paper.
En definitiva, és un llibre que m'ha captivat i que encara no entenc com no està traduït a la nostra llengua.
La qüestió és que no he volgut ser cap mena d'escriptora amb aquest llibre, cercava la manera de portar un diari, i m'he topat amb això. Una joia, de veritat.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a great deal of inspiration to be gained from this book from both the novice journaler or those who have been journaling for years, such as myself. The book is a great book on the practice of journaling. That can include journaling for healing, self-discovery, and even educational purposes. It is easy to follow and extremely introspective in nature, encouraging one to look within.

"We find that as we say what we see, we come to see more. And as we see more, we have more to say; and as we say more we see even more. And on and on, seeing and saying, saying and seeing."

There are guides and prompts that help you form a deliberate journaling practice, but they do not tell you what to write, ultimate you, the writer, will give shape to your own words and stories. One can also describe this book as meditative. Along with the guides and prompts, there are also actual examples included throughout–many of them poignant and beautiful examples themselves of what can be doing by writing honestly and deliberately. It's really just a beautifully written guide that balances informative background information with examples and prompts all while remaining interesting and never dry. It is definitely one that I will continue to refer to and pull from in the future.

I recommend to people who like to write or anyone interested in journaling, even if you've never done it before. I also recommend it for those who may have experienced trauma in their lives. The thing about journaling is that is really for the person writing and not the reader. This books makes the distinction that there is journaling for the self, then there is journaling for public writing. Self journaling can become public writing, but it does not have to. Therefore, as a private practice, journaling can be a tool of healing for those who want to try to express themselves or sort out their inner most feeling through writing.

[Antoinette Van Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. this is going to be a writing reference for years to come. so so many prompts that provoke deep thought and contemplative processing of life events and the connection between the "thens" and "nows" of life. another that i want to buy for several people in my life. hugely practical and just makes you want to write!!