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I love to journal and I think it is so important! My favorite tip is to talk to the subject you are journaling about. When I'm doing a page about my daughter, I just talk to her in the journaling and tell her my feelings. I blogged about this technique about a month ago at http://scrapbooklady.typepad.com/katie_the_scrapbook_lady/2009/04/memory-monday---talk-to-your-subject.html
I'm a digi only gal so if by chance I win, I would love the Pattie Knox prize :)

I always have a spiral notebook with a pen stuck in the wire with me. I learned the hard way that just having the notepad doesn't help.

I keep the Notepad program (Notes for PC) open on my
computer, and whenever my kiddos say or do anything
fun, or I think of something I may want to scrapbook about,
or anything running through my mind, I write it down.
Then when I feel like scrapping but don't know what to scrap
about, or when I find a photo that fits well, I'll cut and
paste what I typed onto a page. Easy peasy- and all my
stories are getting told!
(digital only, should I win, please)

honesty. I'm always honest with my journaling. Even if its not the best time.. my favorite journaling I ever did was about my struggle with nursing. It's always funny yet, I'm glad I wrote it down to remember how chaotic life was when Liv was first born :)

Try to not get yourself keyed up about writing... write out the key points about your story first and then let the rest flow from that.

My best journaling tip is to keep it simple! Sure, some pages need a long story but most pages can be summed up pretty quickly. No point in stressing yourself out! Small journal spots work great and can be treated as embellishments also!

My best tip--stories do not have to be long. They have to be specific, and preferably they should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Nothing dramatic, just follow those tips, and your writing will get better!

I like to keep a notebook with me at all times. I will make a note with the date and if a picture was taken that way I can reference when I download and edit the photos. It helps me remember the exact happenings that I don't ever want to forget.

My best tip is to just speak from the heart. No one really cares if your grammar is correct or if you have dotted every i. Just get the words and the feelings down.

Okay, gotta try to get in on this one. Keep a notebook by your bed for those late night epiphanies. I also keep one in my purse at all times so, as the thought comes I record it. Thanks Ali!

Just write and go for it. Being a math teacher, I never really liked writing, it takes forever to write a perfect sentence and to come up with something that makes sense to other people. Years ago I met a friend who told me to just write, write whatever comes into my mind like I'm writing in my own journal and...I did. Ever since then I started journaling. I carry a pen and journaling pads everytime I go somewhere with the anticipation that I will be writing something. Not to please and impress other people but to just write whatever it is I feel at the moment. I still laugh at all the journals I've written and find myself wondering what in the world was I thinking but its okay and that makes me feel good.
Thanks.

My journaling is so much better if I do it separately from my page layout. As a digital scrapper, I'm tempted to just stick it on the page, writing to fit, but my writing is much better if I write it out without looking at the page and then make the page work around the journaling rather than the other way around. It means I focus on the writing as writing rather than just do the journaling to get the page done.

My best tip is to keep it simple. Don't over analyze. It's your journal and your memories.

journaling --------ah, not one of my favorite things.... I carry a small notebook or two in my purse -- when I am taking pictures of an event or have a moment or two I jot down some little bullet points. I also use my blog or twitter updates to help with journaling a page or event.

I'm really bad at journaling! I'm working on it though and I think blogging is very helpful! you write the stories down while they are still fresh and then when you FINALLY get to the scrapping it's amazing what you have forgotten and there it is all ready typed up for you!

It's hard for me to share journaling that is too personal so I have an album for layouts that is just for me to look at that contains more personal journaling.

I have a notebook I where I write down the little things I know I will forget (the funny things my kids say etc.) I've also found blogging helps go back & refresh my memories of what we were doing and how I was feeling in the moment.

I never add my journaling until it feels like the right time. It may be when I pick the photo I'm going to use, it may come to me like a flash while working on the page. Sometimes my page may go without journaling for quite some time. I try to keep my journaling loose, free, and fresh, so I don't included it until I feel like it's going to just flow. Otherwise I get hung up on it and it feels like more of a task than an outlet.

I try to write as if I was telling the story to my best friend.

If I have a memory or a thought, etc, that I want to remember I try to write it down that moment. I then write things out more completely before adding the journaling to a scapbooking page.