(And How Your Journal Can Too)
Storytelling and journaling are two sides of the same page – one gives voice to the world around us, the other gives voice to the world within. Together, they help us make sense of who we are and where we’ve been.
We have always told stories. Around firelight, through carved stone, across parchment, ink, and screen. From the earliest days of existence, storytelling wasn’t just for entertainment, it was for survival, connection, expression, and healing.
Even now, when the world feels chaotic, or uncertain, stories are there – in the books we reach for, the films we chose, and the memories we carry. Whether fiction or personal reflection, stories give us a framework for understanding.
There is a thread that ties ancient myth to your modern-day journal entry. It’s the spell stories cast, and the magic that comes when you write down your own.
There are some journal prompts designed to support your thinking and personal journaling. There is no obligation to do them.
1. Stories Help Us Survive
Long ago, stories warned of danger. They helped parents teach children how to stay alive, through cautionary tales, symbols, and remembered wisdom. Our brains are still wired for story; we understand and retain meaning best when it’s told in a narrative arc.
And your journal? It’s a living story of your survival – a way of making sense of things when life doesn’t hand you a tidy plot.
Prompt: Think about a traditional story or myth you’ve heard that carries a lesson or warning. What message do you think it was meant to protect people from? How does that message still resonate today?
2. Stories Give Us Belonging
From the epic of Gilgamesh to the bedtime tales we grew up with, stories have always told us who we are and where we belong. They reflect the culture, beliefs, and emotions of a time. They also show us that we’re not alone with our challenges.
Your journal is a place to tell your truth – to shape your own story – one that no one else can write. Even if no one ever reads it, it’s a testament to your voice, your way of seeing, your place in the world.
Prompt: What stories from childhood shaped the way you see the world? How do they connect you to your culture, family, or community?
3. Stories Make the Invisible Visible
Shakespeare gave voice to longing, love, and grief in sonnets that still move us centuries later. In quieter corners of history, people poured their inner worlds into journals – often when no other outlet was safe.
Your journal is a safe place, too. It’s a place where your feelings can land. It allows you to make visible what might otherwise stay hidden: emotions, hopes, and thoughts too delicate for the outside world.
‘What is not brought to consciousness, comes to us as fate.’ Carl Jung
Prompt: Consider a story, poem, or song that gave voice to emotions or experiences often left unspoken. What feelings did it help bring into the open? How can stories like that create space for what’s hidden?
4. Stories Heal Us
After loss, we often return to the stories that understand us. Novels, poems, and songs that put words to what we cannot say. I know this deeply. Two years after losing my husband, I still find myself drawn to certain books and lines. And I turn, again and again, to my journal.
Stories don’t remove pain, but they soften its edges. They offer understanding, companionship, and shape in a world that’s suddenly formless.
Prompt: What story — real or imagined — has brought you comfort in a dark time? How did it help you find language for your feelings or soften your pain?
5. Stories Spark New Meaning
In the 1800s, novels were often published in newspapers, one chapter at a time. Readers would wait eagerly, needing to know what happened next. That anticipation, that hunger for more, still lives in us.
Journaling lets you reflect on your own unfolding narrative. You begin to see the themes, the turning points, the unanswered questions. You become both the author and the main character.
‘We live in stories, not statistics.’ Madeleine L’Engle
Prompt: Reflect on a story or novel that changed how you see something in your life or the world. What new meaning or perspective did it offer? How do stories invite us to rewrite what we thought we knew?
6. Stories Invite Transformation
A single story can change how we see the world. A novel can plant a seed; a journal entry can shift a long-held belief.
Through writing, we don’t just describe our lives – we reshape them. We notice patterns. We rewrite old endings. We imagine what healing could look like.
Prompt: What story or moment changed you – even in a small way? How did it shift your thinking or open a new possibility
7. Stories Are a Sanctuary
When the noise of life is too much, stories offer escape. Not to avoid reality, but to find breathing space. A good novel lets us rest in a different world. A journal gives us a private place to return to ourselves.
Your journal doesn’t need to be polished or perfect. It just needs to be yours. A safe place.
Prompt: Think of a fictional character or story world that has felt like a safe place. What drew you to it — and what does that tell you about what you need right now
Closing thoughts:
We’ve always told stories. Around fires, in letters, in journals. And no matter how much the world changes, this remains true: stories help us feel, remember, survive, and grow.
Whether you’re swept away by a novel or quietly writing in your own journal, you’re taking part in something ancient and powerful.
There’s no right way to tell your story — only your way.
So pick up your pen. Begin where you are. The next chapter is waiting.
Are you looking to regain clarity or balance in your life? Are your roles at home or work feeling too much? Or maybe you just want to make sense of what happened today?
If this article has sparked your interest in journaling, I have a popular free gift you might find helpful.
Your First Reflective Journaling Session – An Easy Written Guide is an introduction to using reflection in your journaling.
Find out more here (you would also receive The Dark Pen Newsletter every 2-3 weeks, or 4 if it slips my mind, with tips and reading for mental health – we love storytelling and journaling – and you can unsubscribe any time):
More posts about journaling – Creating a Cosy Journaling Routine, The Journaling Journey: From Overwhelm to Clarity and Peace
And the benefits of reading fiction – Improve Mind and Mood by Reading Fiction
Julie is a writer and has worked in mental health for 34 years, first as a psychiatric nurse, then in mental health advocacy. Richard her husband received a diagnosis of an aggressive cancer in 2021 and died in June 2023. He left a legacy of positivity and resilience which The Dark Pen takes forward in its belief that words and stories can empower us through life’s challenges.
