Winter weather offers many options for journal writing. With dramatic changes in scenery and temperature, journal writers can find a wealth of imagery. The bone-chilling cold, windy days, frozen lakes and snowfalls can be examined in a journal entry. Winter weather also offers ice crystals and snowflakes. Writers can take a minute to examine a single snowflake and its intricate details. A journal writer may also examine an icicle and find creative ways to describe it. Winter weather might generate memories from childhood or a life experience for reflective journal writing.
Though some animals hibernate in the winter, others find comfort in the cold days. Writers can use the animals of winter to prompt journal writing. Beavers, deer, rabbits, foxes and squirrels stay active in the cold winter months. A journal writer can take a walk in a park or forest and examine a winter creature in its natural habitat. Watch as it plays, observe the food it finds and begin to write. Animals sometimes take on human characteristics. In a journal entry, create a character for an animal with a personality and its own life struggles. This journal entry may turn into a bigger story.
Watching or playing a winter sport is a useful journal writing prompt. A writer who is stuck without ideas can watch a group of children ice-skating or sledding down a large hill. The journal entry can consist of happy memories for the writer or playful descriptions of the winter sport. Writers can also engage in winter sports to prompt journal writing. They can take a trip skiing and write about the nervous tension while standing at the top of the slope. A writer might also journal about overcoming that fear or experiencing nature in the mountains.
Winter holidays are full of experiences for rich journal writing. Holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and New Years are staple winter celebrations. Writers might attend several parties and write about what people are wearing. Examine the laughter and music at holiday events. A writer may also find one person in the room who seems to have the weight of the season on his shoulders. Perhaps that person is missing a loved one or the holiday holds painful memories for him. A writer can create this person's story in a journal entry. Holidays are a great time to practice descriptive writing in journal entries. Describe the party decorations, the food and the music.