Free Writing Journal Template: No Rules, No Judgment

Sometimes the best structure is none. Free writing means putting the pen (or your thumbs) down and not stopping, whatever comes out.

The template's own note: Keep the pen moving. You can judge it later, or never.

The questions

1. Write freely: no rules, no judgment

How to answer them

• Set a timer for 10 minutes and don't stop typing until it rings.
• If you get stuck, write "I don't know what to write" until something else shows up. It will.
• Need a starting point? Borrow today's prompt from Daykept and go wherever it takes you.
• Don't reread until later. The value is in the writing, not the result.

Example

An example of a filled-in entry:

Write freely: no rules, no judgment
Okay. Ten minutes. I don't know what to write. The heater is clicking. I keep thinking about whether to take the course, which is funny because I said I'd decided last week. Maybe I didn't decide. Maybe I want someone to tell me it's fine to want it...

Free writing is where the other templates come from: once you notice a topic keeps coming up, give it its own structure.

Use it in Daykept

1. Open Daykept and tap Settings in the bottom bar, then Templates.
2. On the Gallery tab, find Free Writing (it's in Writing) and tap Use now. A new entry opens with the questions in place.
3. Want it one tap away? Tap Save to keep it in My Templates. Daykept also suggests the templates you used most recently at the top of a blank new entry.

It's one of the 14 free templates in the Gallery. You can also edit your own copy (reword a question, drop one, add one) and save it as your own template.

Frequently asked questions

What's the point of free writing?

It gets past the part of your mind that edits. People often find out what they actually think by the second or third minute.

Is free writing the same as a brain dump?

Close. A brain dump is a list to clear your head; free writing follows one thread wherever it goes.

More templates like this

Brain Dump · Unsent Letter · Daily Check-in.

Want the bigger picture? Read Daykept's daily prompts, or see everything else Daykept does.