Journaling guides
Our journaling guides help you create meaningful work in a short space of time. Each is made by a different artist and illustrated by Merlin Evans or Sophie Blinstrub.
You don't need any particular skills or experience to get started – our guides are simple to use and introduce you to new creative journaling techniques.
All the exercises take around an hour to complete – 30 minutes making, and if you are part of a group, 30 minutes sharing.
There are 17 guides to try in total – you could use the suggested order we've put together or pick and choose as you like.
We launched five new guides in 2023 in collaboration with our friends at Mothers Who Make, produced by Lizzy Humber, as part of her project, Mothers on the Mic. You'll find the new guides at the start of our list below.
Happy journaling!
1 - A Recipe for…
by Shagufta K. iqbal
Some recipes stick with us throughout our lives, conjuring up powerful emotions and memories. Using a pen, notepad and your favourite cookbook, can you build a piece of writing using Shagufta's technique to imagine a world we can leave behind for our children?
Shagufta K. Iqbal is a writer, facilitator, speaker and co-founder of Kiota Bristol and the Yoniverse.
2 - Contents Page Poem
by deanna rodger
Delve into your favourite books to create your own contents page poem. Deanna Rodger asks us to craft layers and lines about our lives and parenting experiences to build something new.
Deanna Rodger is a poet, performer and parent (not always in that order).
3 - The World of M/otherhood
by rebecca tantony
Let creativity and imagination lead in this guided exercise that invites you to go beyond logic and the daily to-do lists and make a piece of writing. If you haven't tried free writing before, this is the perfect opportunity to put pen to paper (or screen).
Rebecca Tantony is a writer, curator and facilitator.
4 - Haiku Love and Worry Beads
by liv torc
Haiku is short-form poetry from Japan written over three lines using a certain number of syllables: 5-7-5. If you're new to writing, Liv's lovely introduction will help you build something from scratch using your own words and ideas.
Liv Torc is a poet, producer, speaker, facilitator and mother.
5 - Comedy Audit Your Birth Story
by Angie belcher
Create a playful narrative from your birth story. Think about what you saw, heard or thought about and build on those ideas. You could turn it into a comedy set, poem or cartoon.
Angie Belcher is a comedian, educator and founder of AFTERMIRTH, a comedy club for new parents, and Comedy on Referral, which helps people to work through trauma using comedy.
Image by Claudio Ahlers
6 - Your List Poem
by Hollie McNish
A list poem is just that, a list! List poems are a relatable, simple way to start structuring a piece of writing. This exercise uses poetry to help you reflect on motherhood.
Hollie McNish is a poet who likes reading, writing and lots of other things too. She has one child.
7 - Mark Making
by helen sargeant
This exercise uses mark making to think about the emotional and physical connection between the pregnant body and the baby. By using different lines of varying weight, intensity and depth - dashes, dots, splashes, scumblings, scribbles, scratches, patterns, grids, text, numbers, signs, symbols and motifs – you can build up towards creating a drawing.
Helen Sargeant is a visual artist.
8 - Cut and Paste Poetry
by Fran Burden
This exercise uses collage through found words and phrases cut from magazines and newspapers that when rearranged and reassembled, create new text pieces. It’s a a quick and playful way for you to explore creative writing and expressive language.
Fran Burden is a visual artist/maker and educator.
9 - Being a Mother is Revolutionary
By Barby Asante
Becoming a mother and bringing a child into this world can be daunting, but each new life on this planet is the potential for transformation and revolution.
This writing exercise supports you to think through what it means to be a mother.
Barby Asante is an artist, researcher, collator of stories, DJ Black Womxn and single mother.
“ Being able to capture some of the strong thoughts and feelings I’ve been having while in a state of such physical and emotional change [has been very positive]”
10 - Celebrating Motherhood
by Sophie Blinstrub
Use colour and collage to celebrate a special moment in your mothering or parenting journey, inspired by Brazilian artist, Beatriz Milhazes.
Sophie Blinstrub is an artist, teacher and mother.
11 - Automatic Drawing
by laura godfrey-isaacs
Automatic drawing introduces you to intuitive mark-making with a variety of materials. Initially used by the Surrealists artists, it helps guide you in expressing hidden thoughts and feelings.
Laura Godfrey Isaacs is an artist, midwife and birth activist.
12 - Dancing It Out
By Lucy McCrudden
Express your emotions about parenting through music, movement and patterns by combining journaling with dance.
Lucy is a mum of two, and a dance specialist and advocate.
Photo: Pierre Tappon
13 - Who I Was/Who I Am/Who I Want to Be
By Bridget Minamore
Using poetry and prose writing, reflect on your hopes, fears and aspirations from the past, present future.
Bridget is a writer, poet and critic.
14 - Writing into the Gap
By Tolu Agbelusi
This exercise provides a series of prompts for writing tasks that help you to break down and understand the changes you experience throughout pregnancy and parenthood.
Tolu is a poet, playwright, educator and lawyer.
15 - Comics
by Kate Evans
A cartoon is any drawing combined with text. A comic is a sequence of these pictures. It’s a simple, accessible way to create art with meaning. This exercise is an easy introduction to cartooning.
Kate is a cartoonist, author, activist and mother.
16 - Polyphonic Diary
By Kerry priest
What voices, sounds and noises are part of your everyday mothering or parenting experience? Can you capture them in a collage, poem or image?
Kerry Priest is a poet, sound artist and dramatist.
Quick toolkit
We’ve created a Toolkit to guide you through every step of the process for setting up a Maternal Journal group - from running the group to choosing the best space and where to find support.
Inspiring reads
Browse our recommended reads from blogs to books to inspire your journaling.