30 Writing Prompts for Autumn: Fall Journal Ideas
Around here, fall season is our favorite. The cooler weather and colorful leaves create a perfect backdrop for seasonal foods (apples! squash! pumpkin spice in increasingly weirder foods!), fall fun (corn maze, pumpkin patch, just enjoying the beautiful season), the apple orchard air smells wonderful, and everything seems cozier. It’s also time to prepare for the winter ahead and for harvesting the fruits of our year’s labors—a season of celebration before a season of difficulty.
These fall themed writing prompts are a great way to celebrate.
Why Keep a Journal?
Journaling is surprisingly beneficial! Writing down your thoughts and experiences can help you process emotions, track personal growth, and even spark creativity. Using specific fall writing prompts can make this process even more engaging and enjoyable. As you describe your favorite autumn memories, try to write with as much detail as possible to make the memory come alive. Reflective writing prompts can help you delve deeper into your thoughts and experiences, making your journaling practice even more meaningful.
Writing Practice
First, in case this needs to be said, writing more improves your writing skills. Like anything, practice matters when it comes to writing, especially for young writers. Engaging in regular journaling can help you start writing and strengthen your writing muscles, making you a more confident and skilled writer in creative writing or professional writing. A story starter to write a story or fun fall writing prompts for journaling are great ways to get started.
Reflect on Your Goals
Depending on what you journal about, it can be an opportunity to focus on your goals and progress. Write about why you want to achieve the goals you’ve set and brainstorm ways to achieve them.
Starting with these autumn writing prompts, consider journaling about your plans and goals for the upcoming school year, work season, or next few months, and how you can maintain hope and optimism throughout.
Improve Your Health
Studies are showing that journaling may also reduce stress, improve your immune system response, and even boost your memory. Here’s an article from Intermountain Healthcare about it.
Journaling can also help process feelings as fall leaves change and the crisp air brings a sense of renewal. As the days get shorter and there are fewer hours of daylight, journaling can provide a comforting routine to help you navigate the seasonal changes throughout the fall season and beyond.
So with those benefits in mind, let’s get started!
30 Fall Journal Prompts
We’ve divided the following autumn writing prompts into September, October, and November to help you organize your autumn journal. But please feel free to pick and choose!
September Journal Prompts
Fall is a time of transition, from summer heat to winter snows. What transitions, major or minor, are you working on in your world this season? What are your plans?
Tap into that back-to-school energy--younger students with new crayons, older students with new planners. What are your goals for this season? How will you achieve them?
What do you look forward to in the change of the seasons?
Write about a friend’s transition that you admire. How did they change their life for the better?
As we harvest our actual vegetables and grains, take a moment to think about the things you are harvesting metaphorically. What work are you reaping the benefits of?
Pumpkin pie spice, hot cocoa, apple pie...what is your favorite fall food and why?
Describe your experience of apple picking this fall. What made it special?
Winter is coming, so it’s time for a fall to-do list. What can you do before December 21 to shore up your home and/or protect your family? (This can be literal, but it can also be metaphorical—so canning food counts, but so does decluttering.)
Favorite fall activity: What are you doing to enjoy the outdoors this fall?
Reflect on your favorite fall memory. What details stand out the most?
What were your annual goals this year? How close are you to achieving them? How can you wrap them up before the end of the year, or pivot to an achievable goal you can achieve in time?
Fall Journal Prompts for October
What goals for the year have you achieved so far? What were the payoffs? How do you feel about your accomplishment?
What are you doing to express your creativity this season?
In many places, the last part of the year includes a holiday season. What is your favorite holiday or seasonal tradition and why?
Write about your experience at a fall festival. What sights, sounds, and activities did you enjoy the most?
The plants and leaves are dying back to be reborn in the spring. Do you have a habit or another element of your life that you would like to say goodbye to with the fall leaves? How will you do it? How will your life be better in the spring?
Whether it’s the leftover impulse to go back-to-school shopping or a deep love of sweaters, fall is undeniably associated with fashion! What is your look going to be this fall?
Describe a fun fall activity you participated in this season. How did it make you feel?
Did you know the amazing northern lights can be seen best this time of year? What is something amazing that is happening in your life or near you, that you can see right now?
This can be a busy time of year. How does your schedule look through the end of the year? How will you make time for rest and self-care?
What is your regular gratitude practice? How does it make you feel? What are some things you have been grateful for lately and why?
Fall Writing Prompts for November
What is your favorite fall color (or color combination) and why? How does it make you feel?
How will you celebrate the season—and even the whole year? Write about what you will be celebrating and how you will do it.
How do you handle change?
Where in your life do you have abundance? What is in your cornucopia?
The autumn equinox marks one of two days a year that night and day are the same length. Use that balance as inspiration—how could you introduce more balance in your world?
Think about your personal finances as a way of storing your harvest. Are your spending and saving in balance? How does your retirement fund look? What debts do you have? Where are you on your finance journey and how do you feel about it?
Reflect on your favorite food during the fall season. Why is it special to you?
The days getting shorter often reminds us of our own mortality, and of loved ones who have passed on. What is a happy memory you have of someone who is gone?
What about yourself are you truly proud of? How will you nurture that part of yourself this season?
How to Start Your Fall Journal
Autumn, with its cooler temperatures, harvest moon, and crisp air, is a great time for settling in with some apple cider and journaling. Here’s how to get started!
Choosing Your Journaling Materials
Fortunately, you don’t need much. You need something to write with and something to write on, and at journaling’s most basic, that’s it.
Choose a journal that you like, because if it makes you happy, it will be easier to pick it up. Consider selecting a journal that reflects the autumn season, perhaps one adorned with colorful leaves, to inspire your writing and connect with the slowing down of nature.
Tips for Establishing a Journaling Habit
Establishing a habit can take time, and that amount of time varies. So while you are starting out, it’s worth it to focus on intentionally creating space and time for your new practice and exploring some journaling ideas that you might like to incorporate.
Make a Journaling Spot
Think about what will invite you in. Create an irresistibly comfortable place to write. Stock it with your favorite pens and journal. Will you drink tea (or iced coffee or water) while you write? What else will help you journal or write a short story about your autumn experiences?
While you’re at it, remove any obstacles that will keep you from journaling.
Set an alarm
Pick a time of day to write and set up a recurring calendar appointment to remind you.
Intentionally make space to write at that exact time for the next few weeks, until you’re comfortable enough with the habit to vary it.
Set a timer
If it feels overwhelming to sit down and write for an indeterminate amount of time, try setting a timer for 10 minutes and telling yourself to write that long.
Too long? Try 5 minutes.
Still too long? Try writing one line a day.
Try a habit tracker
Add journaling to your favorite habit tracker, be it standalone or in your planner. There’s nothing as satisfying as filling in another habit tracker box!
(We have a few downloadable habit trackers if you need one!)
Make Journaling Your New Favorite Autumn Memory
Please feel free to try and discard—or try and keep—any of these journaling ideas. Personalize your practice and create something that works for you long term. Happy journaling! (Before moving on, take a moment to reflect on your actual favorite autumn memory; perhaps it will inspire some writing!)
What's Next?
Winter journal prompts, of course!
Are you finished with these fall themed writing prompts but want to keep going? Look no further—we’ve got plenty of journal prompts for adults to keep you inspired.
