Scrapbook Journaling: 3 Simple Ways to Get Your Words on the Page

By Lain Ehmann

No matter how many blog posts I write on the topic of scrapbook journaling, I hear the same questions and challenges over and over again: “I don’t know what to say! I have writer’s block!”

To this, I say “Bah, humbug!” After working as a professional journalist for over 10 years, I simply don’t believe in the concept of writer’s block. Sure, you can get stuck for the right word or the right clever metaphor, but to be literally blocked from writing? C’mon! When’s the last time you were speechless? I bet it rarely happens. And writing is just talking on paper — no different!

That’s the biggest suggestion I have for people who face scrapbook journaling anxiety. Instead of thinking of journaling as an essay you’re going to get graded on, think of it as a conversation with a dear friend. She doesn’t care if you use improper grammar. She doesn’t care if you repeat yourself a bit. She doesn’t care if you use five-syllable words! She’s just listening to your story.

And that’s what your scrapbook viewers are doing. They’re listening to your story. So to make it easy on yourself, why not write the same way you talk? Not only will writing be a heck of a lot easier, your personal style will come across as well.

Here are some easy ways to write the way you talk:

1. Write a letter or an email to a friend about the scrapbook layout you want to add journaling to. Tell them all about the event or the memory. Then print out your letter and add it to your page as journaling, or take bits and pieces of it and handwrite it on your scrapbook page.
2. Record yourself on the phone telling a good friend about your layout. Play it back and pick out the best parts to add to your page as journaling.
3. Make lists. No one gets writer’s block making a grocery list, so make a list on your scrapbook page instead of trying to come up with prose worthy of Shakespeare! Write down five things you love about the photos you’ve used, or the three funniest things that happened at the birthday party you’re scrapbooking. Who says journaling has to be complete sentences? (It doesn’t!)

About Author
Lain Ehmann is the author of several books on scrapbooking, including “Snippets: Mostly True Tales from the Lighter Side of Scrapbooking” and “20 Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers” (co-authored with Stacy Julian). Through her classes, challenges ans website, Lain helps women make their scrapbooking fun, fast, and fabulous.

Want to learn more about how to scrap your story?

Learn about:

• Storytelling
• Color/moods
• Movement in your layouts
• Telling a story without photos
• and more

Learn more: Scrap Your Story