Journal prompts about what actually happened

What was the first thing you saw when you went out?

For example: A neighbor watering her geraniums in her pajamas.

What did you eat today?

For example: Leftover chili. Better on day two.

Who did you talk to the longest?

For example: My sister, forty minutes about her move.

Where were you at six o’clock?

For example: In line at the bakery, getting the last loaf.

What was the weather like?

For example: Fog all morning, then sudden sun at noon.

What did you overhear?

For example: A kid on the bus: “my grandma has wifi in her knees.”

What did you find on your way?

For example: A blue glove hanging on a fence.

What did you fix?

For example: The zipper on my backpack, with pliers.

What song got stuck in your head?

For example: One from a commercial, all day long.

What did you buy?

For example: A green notebook I didn’t need.

How did you get home?

For example: Walking along the river, slowly, in the cold.

What was the last thing you read?

For example: A poster: “Lost: orange cat, answers to Noodle.”

What was the last thing you ate?

For example: Toast with olive oil, at eleven.

What were you doing at ten?

For example: Folding laundry with a show on.

What can you hear right now?

For example: The washing machine spinning and a dog far away.

Who did you have dinner with?

For example: Nobody, with the window open.

What did you leave half-done today?

For example: A letter to my grandmother, two lines in.

What did someone say that you want to keep?

For example: Dad: “your mother was the better dancer.”

What did you see from the window?

For example: The moon behind the crane on the building site.

What’s the plan for tomorrow?

For example: The market, before Rosa’s stall closes.

What did you watch?

For example: Two episodes of a Danish show about a lighthouse.

What did you write today, even a text?

For example: “Ten minutes away,” to Marta. It was twenty.

What smelled good today?

For example: The bakery on the corner at seven.

What made you laugh?

For example: Luis’s dog stealing a sock.

Who did you see for the first time in ages?

For example: Nacho, at the gas station, with a beard.

What did someone tell you?

For example: That Carmen is moving to Oaxaca in January.

Who wrote to you?

For example: My aunt, with a photo of her vegetable patch.

Who did you have lunch with?

For example: Ana and her daughter, on the terrace downstairs.

What did your mother, father or grandmother say?

For example: Grandma: “in my day, we peeled the grapes.”

Who did you help?

For example: A man with a suitcase on the subway stairs.

Who called you?

For example: Pablo, asking for a recipe.

What was someone wearing?

For example: A woman in a straw hat, in October.

Who came to mind today?

For example: Lola, walking past her old street.

Who did you give something to?

For example: My nephew: a dinosaur flashlight.

Who did you go for a walk with?

For example: Toby, who stopped at every tree.

Who did you meet?

For example: Irene, the new neighbor on the third floor, who plays the cello.

Where did you go today, apart from home?

For example: The local library, by the window.

Which way did you walk?

For example: Down the street with the orange trees, to skip the square.

Where did you eat?

For example: On a park bench, with a cheese sandwich.

What new place did you find?

For example: A secondhand bookshop behind the market.

Where did the rain catch you?

For example: At the bus stop, no umbrella, carrying bread.

Where were you at sunset?

For example: On the roof, hanging out the laundry.

Where were you going first thing?

For example: The station, to pick up my brother.

What was in the shop window that stopped you?

For example: Three old bikes and a ceramic parrot.

Where did you sit and wait?

For example: On the front step, in the sun.

Which part of town were you in?

For example: The old center, in the lanes behind the cathedral.

What was the view today?

For example: A gray sea from the train window.

Where did you take a nap?

For example: On the couch, blinds half down.

What did you cook?

For example: Rice with whatever was left in the fridge.

What did you eat for the first time?

For example: Figs with cheese, at Elena’s.

Which song did you play the most?

For example: The same one, four times in a row.

What did you drink with lunch?

For example: Water with lemon, then a coffee.

What did you put on when you got home?

For example: An old record of boleros that was my dad’s.

What did you find in a pocket?

For example: A bus ticket from August.

What came in the mail?

For example: An unsigned postcard from Lisbon.

What did you use for the first time?

For example: The new coffee maker. It drips a little.

What did you read before bed?

For example: Two pages of a novel about ships.

Which plant or tree caught your eye?

For example: The jacaranda in the square, its flowers gone.

What did you have for dessert?

For example: Javi’s grandmother’s rice pudding.

What could you smell when you came in?

For example: Cake: my roommate had been baking.

What time did you get up?

For example: Ten thirty, no alarm.

What did you have for a slow breakfast?

For example: Pancakes, standing at the counter.

Where did you go?

For example: To the village, to see my grandparents.

Who did you spend the afternoon with?

For example: My cousins, playing cards.

What did you do that you never do on weekdays?

For example: Swept the balcony and painted a chair.

Which market, shop or fair did you go to?

For example: The flea market. I came back with a lamp.

What did you watch, and with whom?

For example: A French film, with Dad, who fell asleep.

What did you cook for other people?

For example: A Spanish omelet for six, with onion.

Where did you go for a walk?

For example: Along the harbor, out to the lighthouse.

What game did you watch or play?

For example: Five-a-side. We lost 3–2.

What did you move around at home?

For example: The table. It’s by the window now.

Which plan turned into another one?

For example: We meant to go to the beach and ended up at a museum.

Where was it taken?

For example: At the San Nicolás lookout, at eight.

Who is just outside the frame?

For example: Mom, holding everyone’s coats.

What happened right after?

For example: The glass tipped over and we ran.

What could you hear when you took it?

For example: Church bells and a motorbike far off.

Who took it?

For example: A very serious tourist, on the third try.

What doesn’t show in the photo?

For example: The cold: fifty degrees and windy.

What time was it?

For example: Ten past seven, the last of the light.

What was the occasion?

For example: Aunt Pili’s eightieth.

What did you eat afterwards?

For example: Fried fish at the beach bar on the pier.

How did you get there?

For example: By bike, uphill, pushing.

What did someone say just before?

For example: “Wait, the sun’s coming out.”

Who have you shown it to?

For example: Grandpa, who recognized the street.

Where were you a year ago today?

For example: At my parents’, painting the kitchen.

What has changed on your street since then?

For example: A fruit shop opened where the bank was.

Who did you talk to most back then?

For example: Sara, who was living in Valencia.

Which song were you playing on repeat?

For example: One by Natalia Lafourcade, on the bus.

What book or show were you in the middle of?

For example: A thousand-page novel I never finished.

What did you cook a lot?

For example: Pumpkin soup, almost every week.

What was the weather doing?

For example: Still hot, with storms in the afternoon.

Where were you living?

For example: The apartment on Feria Street, with the window onto the courtyard.

What is still the same?

For example: The same coffee in the same chipped mug.

What present did you get around then?

For example: Wool gloves I still wear.

Who did you meet around that time?

For example: Marcos, at a wedding.

What trip were you planning?

For example: The northern lights. We ended up in Asturias.

What new place did you go to this year?

For example: Granada, at last, in March.

What was the best meal of the year?

For example: Sardines in Portimão with my aunt and uncle.

Who did you meet this year?

For example: Irene, the neighbor with the cello.

What was the song of the year?

For example: The one they played at Lucía’s wedding.

What did you start this year?

For example: Swimming on Thursdays.

What did you stop doing?

For example: Buying coffee pods.

Which day of the year would you do again?

For example: August 14, at the river, with everyone.

Which book, film or show kept you company?

For example: A detective series set in Iceland.

What did you fix this year?

For example: Grandpa’s bike, which finally rolls.

Who came to visit?

For example: My cousins from Guadalajara, in July.

What did you buy that you use every day?

For example: Sneakers that are already falling apart.

How did you spend your birthday?

For example: Cheesecake and ten people in the living room.

One word for today?

For example: Monday.

What did you eat?

For example: Pasta.

Where are you?

For example: On the couch.

What’s on the table right now?

For example: A cold mug and my keys.

What’s the weather like?

For example: Gray.

What can you see from the window?

For example: A pigeon on the antenna.

Who did you see?

For example: Nobody, and that’s fine.

What can you hear?

For example: The fridge.

What are you wearing?

For example: The same green sweater.

What was the last thing you drank?

For example: A glass of water.

What did you do at lunchtime?

For example: Napped.

What photo would you take right now?

For example: The lamp, switched on.