Contact Us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. 


Silver Spring, MD
United States

888-577-9342

Stories To Tell is a full service book publishing company for independent authors. We provide editing, design, publishing, and marketing of fiction and non-fiction. We specialize in sophisticated, unique illustrated book design.

Stories To Tell Books BLOG

Clearing the Clutter – Journaling for Writers

Sarah Hoggatt

[This blog is from a new contributor, Sarah Hoggatt. You will be seeing more of her ideas about writing in upcoming blogs! Welcome, Sarah.]
Whenever I know someone is coming over to my house, I make sure the space is cleaned up. I do the dishes, vacuum, and put the clutter away. I want to make the space inviting. As a writer, I do the same thing for my readers. We all have a great deal of clutter in our thoughts that tends to get in the way of what we write and I like to clear it away beforehand so my readers don’t have to deal with the junk amidst the gems.
Image courtesy of Pixaby.
I do this form of self-care by divulging my thoughts in a journal. My journal hears about it all — my pain, my struggles, my joys, and all the things I cannot say aloud. Within its pages, I can pour everything out, sift through it and figureout what is really going on inside me and what is worth sharing.
Though journaling is a practice I would recommend for anyone, if you share your writing
publicly, it is an absolutely essential form of self-care. Having somewhere to pour out your
words without the pressure of needing to share them is a relief in itself. Over time, your journal becomes like a friend, a non-judgmental, ever-listening friend. In a journal you can be completely honest with what you think and feel — your frustrations, joys, and concerns. I have found this kind of writing gives me the freedom to really get to know myself. It’s an outlet where I can process and vent. I believe if someone were to pick up your journal and didn’t think you were at least a little crazy, you weren’t being honest with yourself. You also may simply want to:
  • capture a moment
  • better remember events
  • work out a flurry of feelings
  • record special occasions
  • warm up for other writing
  • sketch out ideas
  • clarify thoughts
Whatever you use a journal for, having “cleaned out” your head,you then have greater clarity of which stories and lessons are worth sharing with a wider audience. The quality ideas have been brought forward and your writing is better for it. Go ahead! Grab your favorite writing implements! You can use anything as a journal — a bound book, loose leaf paper, digital files on your computer, or a notebook. You can write as little or as much as you want and as often as you want. The important thing as in any writing is that you begin.