We’ve all been there.
We start the year promising, “Okay, this time, I’m really going to keep a journal. I’m going to write in it every day.” But just weeks later, life or work or Instagram gets in the way, and our poor diary sits there, blank pages sadly staring at us.
Not anymore. These five books can give your creativity a boost. They’re a great outlet, making journal-keeping easy and self-discovery a lot of fun.
Q&A a Day: 5-Year Journal by Potter Style
Forget writer’s block. With the Q&A a Day journal, all you have to do is answer one question a day. “What’s the last meal someone cooked for you?” “What are three words to describe your social life?” “Did you kiss someone today?” At the end of the year, you start over. You answer the same 365 questions for five years so you can keep track of how much you have (or haven’t) changed.
There are Q&A a Day editions for couples, college students and teens too.
The Imaginary World of… by Keri Smith
Keri Smith is the queen of creativity books—she’s the author behind the super popular “Wreck This Journal,” “Guerilla Art Kit,” “This Is Not A Book,” “Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes,” “Finish This Book,” “How To Be an Explorer of the World,” among other titles. Time magazine dubbed her as the “woman trying to save your kids from their screens.” But her books are not just for children. Keri’s latest, “The Imaginary World of…,” encourages you to create your own universe, populating it with the fruits of your creativity—from your own tree and your envisioned holidays to your inventions and your world’s imagined notable
inhabitants. Crazy fun no matter how old you are.
1 Page at a Time: A Daily Creative Companion by Adam J. Kurtz
Like Keri Smith, Adam J. Kurtz wants you to take time away from the Internet and explore your creativity. “Write that message that you just can’t send,” commands one page with a doodle of a smartphone screen. Another page asks you to “Fill this space with bad habits, then cut it out!” “What are you searching for?” asks another. 1 Page At A Time asks you to list 10 things you’re good at, your favorite books, write tweets with a pencil, draw bananas for 20 minutes and do other fun (and occasionally crazy) things in the name of self-discovery.
Letters to My Future Self: Write Now. Read Later. Treasure Forever. by Lea Redmond
This book is a collection of 12 letters that you are supposed to write to yourself, to be opened at a later date. Two of the letters are blank but the others have a prompt, encouraging you to reflect on your life as you write: “All the things I’d like to try someday…” This is a letter about my love…” “I never want to forget this…” Think of it as a time capsule.
There’s also a “Letters To My Baby” edition for parents.
Craft-a-Day: 365 Simple Handmade Projects by Sarah Goldschadt
If writing isn’t your thing and you’d rather make something with your hands, Craft-a-Day might be the book for you. Every week, there’s a different theme (this week is GnomeWeek!). It gives you a different crafts project to create every day—a plush fox, a penguin garland, a sailboat card, a sweet little ladybug. Sew cool!
These titles are available at National Book Store.