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Journaling can be a fun way to express your thoughts and work through problems in your life.
However, it can also be a frustrating process if you can’t think of topics and things to write about.
This is especially true if you’re a teen. As a teenager, you have a busy schedule filled with chores, classes, and extra-curricular activities. So it’s easy to succumb to that dreaded “writer’s block” whenever you’re trying to journal.
Fortunately, prompts can help whenever you’re stuck wondering what to write about in your journal.
So in this article, I will talk about how journaling can help if you’re a teen, then I’ll provide 71 journal prompts to get you started, and then I’ve also included a bonus section with 27 general journaling topics that can spark your imagination.
Let’s get to it…
How Journaling Helps Teens
Your journal is a safe space, where you can say what you think, vent your feelings, work out your problems, and examine your thoughts, ideas, experiences, and feelings.
Journaling can help you gain a deeper sense of yourself. You'll get to know yourself and the people and world around you at a deeper level. It can lead you to a stronger sense of balance in your life, greater self-enlightenment, more effective problem-solving skills, and a generally more satisfying life.
There's no right way, no wrong way to do journaling. Your journal is a space for you to use for whatever you want to write about, however you want to write it.
You can shape your journal into a specific theme, or just let your writing flow with your stream of consciousness. You can do daily journaling or just pour out thoughts anytime you're in the mood to write.
However you go about it, journal writing can be very rewarding, and it's an exceptional self-development tool. On the pages of your journal, you see yourself reflected.
What are Journal Prompts?
Journal prompts can stimulate an abundance of ideas for your journal writing. Prompts can help you remember meaningful times, come up with new ideas, or take an unexpected direction in your writing.
Journaling prompts can help you expand the range of topics you write about in your journal, or zero in on a topic you may want to develop as a theme for your journal. You can just pick any prompt that appeals to you, and start writing.
Spontaneously choosing writing directions by using journaling prompts builds dexterity of your thinking and emotions. This can lead you to process your experience in new ways, and help strengthen your capacity to find solutions and better manage your own happiness.
The journaling prompts can help you reframe negative thoughts and take a look at them from a more positive angle.
They can even help you self-motivate. They can direct your focus to figuring out what you want, sizing up your options, making plans, and choosing first steps to try toward reaching goals.
The journal prompts can also help you recognize what's actually special about you. They can lead you to discover your potential and recognize how capable you are.
71 Journal Writing Prompts for Teens
Here’s a pretty big list of journaling prompts for teens, to help you get started. Anytime you get stuck with writer's block, just skim down the list and pick one or a few of these writing prompts to help you seize a thread of thought.
Then, follow that thread to embark on an enlightening journey across the unknown of the great blank page:
- I like a boy/girl I met the other day.
- I don't like the way I saw this kid at school treat another kid.
- Late at night, I sometimes wonder what I should do after high school.
- I sometimes feel like I should change what I do after school.
- I wonder if ______'s feelings were hurt by what I said .
- I worry about my parents/brother/sister/friend.
- What if I asked my ______ teacher for extra help in that class.
- I would like to go to ______ on spring break.
- My goal for today is to talk to that girl/boy who seems so shy.
- Tomorrow, I want to try to find something good in that boring class.
- Next week, I plan to report what I saw to a teacher.
- My friend is having problems at home.
- When I get home, I will try to see my kid brother differently.
- I don't know what I want to do in the future, but these three ideas sound good.
- Thinking about my childhood, one memory really stands out.
- I don't know what to do about the bullying, so I will talk to ______ about it tomorrow.
- I think there's something wrong about this person.
- My parents have seemed worried lately.
- My family is going through something right now.
- When I'm playing with my dog, I feel lighter.
- My grandfather is/was a great man in his own way.
- Sometimes in class, my thoughts wander to what I love to do most.
- One of my favorite people is this kid at school.
- My grandmother is/was a fascinating person in her own right.
- My best friend has this way of making me feel better when I'm down.
- Kids at school create a lot of good energy, but there are some problems.
- The reason my favorite TV show is ________, is because it makes me think.
- Some girls/boys make me feel like they don't notice I'm alive.
- Some boys talk louder when they're feeling insecure.
- Some teachers have taught me more than just what's in the books.
- My favorite book is ________, partly because it has shown me __________.
- My favorite movie is ________, partly because it makes me really feel something.
- My favorite song is ________, which I'll probably look back on as the anthem of my youth.
- My favorite singer/band is ________, partly because their songs are so unique in this one way.
- Over my summer vacation, I learned something.
- I think I'll always remember this strange thing that happened while I was out with my friends the other night.
- My favorite social site is Tumblr/SnapChat/Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/WhatsAPP/ Tik Tok/ Other, partly because it makes it possible for me to do these three things.
- So many people seem to be forgetting about what just happened.
- Very few people seem to need help with this one thing, but I do.
- The world seems to be changing around me now.
- One thing I've learned is to keep pushing forward, no matter what.
- I'd like to travel to ________ after graduation.
- One of these days, I think I'll tell that girl/boy how I really feel.
- My face is too ______, but if I had to point out its good features, I guess I'd list my ______, ______, and ______.
- My body is too ______, but if I had to point out its good features, I guess I'd list my ______, ______, and ______.
- Looking at my clothes, now that I'm older, maybe it's time to change something, such as my ______.
- I need something that I haven't talked to anyone about yet.
- I need to face the fact that this is not going to change at school unless I say something.
- I wish I could just blink and this problem with this teacher would be gone.
- I'm grateful for many things in my life, and there are a few that I especially appreciate.
- I regret that I said/did this.
- I'm not sure if things will be the same between me and my team mate, now that this has happened.
- I think most people think I'm shy/too loud/aggressive/funny, because I always act this one way when I'm nervous/in a good mood/in a new group.
- I'm afraid to ______, but I'm too embarrassed to tell my friends or parents about it.
- I'm good at this one thing in ______ class, but I need to work on my ______ skills.
- I'm not good at ______, probably because I don't enjoy doing it at all.
- I most enjoy ______, and would like to find a way to make a living that involves it.
- I'm bored with my ________, and I think it's time to make some changes.
- I find I'm happiest at school in ______ class, so maybe I should build my skills in that area of study.
- I find I'm unhappiest when I'm around this person, and I need to decide how to handle that.
- Five years from now, I'll probably be doing ______ for a living, or continuing my education.
- Ten years from now, I see myself in the role of a ______, with/without a family by that time.
- The best time ever was when my family/my friends and I were all together.
- The worst time I can remember was when this happened.
- The situation with ________ has got to change.
- Looking up at the night sky, instead of thinking about school, or family, or friends, I think ________.
- I wish I could get past this one thing that I've heard about that girl/boy at school, and be more open-minded.
- I'm very glad I can ________, because it means my opportunities are wide open.
- The next time that kid is bullying me, I'm going to surprise him/her by standing up to him/her.
- Looking back at the past month, I guess the biggest lesson I've learned is that I need to get better at talking about _________ with my friend/mom/dad/teacher.
- This school year has been ________, but one thing did happen that had a good/bad impact on everyone.
Journaling Topics for Teens
A lot of topic ideas for writing are inherent in the journal prompts for teens listed above. In other words, the prompts themselves suggest ideas.
For example, prompt # 74 “After graduation…,” suggests the subject of what you think you might want to do, or think you should do, or don't want to do, or look forward to doing after graduation.
Now, if you want to focus more on gratitude, you can use these 120 gratitude journaling prompts to spark your imagination.
Anyway, there are endless possibilities of topics to write about. Here are just some additional journaling topic ideas to help you grab a direction for your writing anytime you need or want one:
- A class you like or don't like and why.
- A place you want to visit.
- A person you like or don't like.
- A belief you have.
- A mood you're in or emotion you're feeling.
- A person you miss.
- Your favorite place.
- Someone who has influenced you.
- What makes you happy.
- Something you're good at.
- Your thoughts on a situation.
- Your opinions on something that has happened.
- Your feelings about something that happened.
- Your beliefs.
- Your self-image.
- Your impressions of other people.
- An expectation you place on yourself.
- Something you wish you had done differently.
- An expectation that teens have of adults.
- Something you want to help change in the world.
- An expectation that adults have of teens.
- Something you want to improve on.
- A goal you have for the next day, week, month, year.
- Some good options you see for your future.
- Something you want to talk to someone about.
- Someone who taught you a lesson for life.
- Something you've discovered about yourself.
Final Thoughts on Journal Writing Prompts for Teens
Journaling, like other healthy hobbies for teens, can be a powerful method of self-exploration.
It can lead you to a stronger sense of balance in your life, greater self-enlightenment, more effective problem-solving skills, and a generally more satisfying life. The journal prompts for teens can help you make the most of the practice.
The journal prompts offer you a flexible way to choose how you want to examine your opinions and explore your imagination and feelings, which fosters better self-management of your personal happiness.
Using journaling prompts is easy. Just select one or two from the list above, any time you want to pick a direction to go with your writing.
You'll probably start coming up with your own journaling prompts at some point. But, to get started having some fun with it, kick-off your journaling adventure with any one of the journal prompts that we just listed.
If you're looking for more ideas and activities for teens, these articles might help:
- 65 Good Conversation Starters to Use with Teens
- 14 Vision Board Ideas and Examples for Teenagers
- 103 Fun & Clean Would You Rather Questions for Teens
Finally, if you don’t know the “right” way to journal, then check out this seven-step process for building a journaling habit that sticks.
