7 Journaling Prompts for Grief When You're Staring at a Blank Page

There’s something uniquely haunting about a blank page when you're grieving.

It's not just the absence of words—it's the pressure to somehow explain the unexplainable, to make sense of a shattered world with nothing but a pen and a piece of paper. They seem like such little tools in the face of something monstrous.

See if this sounds like you: You sit down to write, hoping that journaling about what you’re feeling might help (and trusting all the online advice that says “Writing is good for you!”), but your brain goes foggy. Your heart aches. The page stays empty.

And then the shame voice kicks in: “Why can’t I even do this right?”

Let me offer you a reframe:

That blank page isn't your enemy. It's an invitation. A wide-open space where you can set down everything that feels too heavy to carry.

It’s not about writing beautifully—or even coherently (I see you, perfectionist grievers!). It’s about writing honestly. The goal isn’t polished words—it’s presence with your grieving heart.

You don’t have to know exactly what to write. You just have to be willing to try.

Whether you're grieving a person who died, a relationship that ended, a diagnosis that changed your life, a version of yourself, or a life you thought you’d be living, these seven gentle prompts will help you meet the page with compassion.

They’ll help you start writing when you don’t know where to begin.

1. “Right now, grief feels like…”

Why it helps:
Grief is shapeshifting and strange. Putting a metaphor to it helps your brain begin to define what your heart is experiencing. Is it a fog? A weight? A storm? A giant? A whisper? Let yourself get creative.

In my first book Permission to Grieve, I referred to my grief as a “wolf trapped in the basement.” I could hear it howling at night but I was too afraid to let it out during the day because I thought it would eat me alive. Once I started seeing grief as a living thing I could interact with, I began to treat it differently, as something I could learn to care for instead of something that was out to devour me.

2. “If my grief could talk, it would say…”

Why it helps:
While grief is a part of you, it also has a voice all its own. Let it speak. This prompt invites you to give grief a chance to say what it needs to say without interruption—and it might surprise you with its words! Whether its voice comes out as a protector, a truth-teller, a comforter, a rememberer, or a teacher, listen to it. This prompt gives you just a bit of separation from your grief and the pain of it and allow you to hear its message clearly.

3. “I miss the version of me who…”

Why it helps:
Loss changes not just the external circumstances of your world, but your inner identity too. You may no longer recognize the person you see in the mirror—and that can be terrifying. This prompt helps you name what you’re mourning about yourself, not just the person or thing you lost.

I slept late, hard, and often after my mom’s sudden death in 2013. As a lifelong morning person, this really freaked me out and made me feel like my body didn’t belong to me anymore. Journaling about grieving my morning-person-ness helped me recognize that this was another part of losing her that I had to mourn. And gradually, I developed rituals and habits to accommodate this “new me.” I didn’t like it, but writing about it helped me see exactly how it was impacting me—and understand that my identity as a morning person was a part of me worth grieving.

P.S. If you find yourself feeling raw and overwhelmed by grieving parts of yourself, please join me and a community of fellow grievers in Life After Loss Academy. Module 2: Release is all about mourning the person we used to be before our loss, including our identities, hopes, dreams and expectations.

4. “The thing no one sees is…”

Why it helps:
Grief can feel so isolating, especially when the world keeps spinning and people assume you’re “better now.” This prompt gives voice to the invisible parts of your pain—the things you don’t say out loud. What do you wish others could immediately know or understand about you? If you could wear a shirt emblazoned with a single sentence, what would it be? Just because your grief is invisible to others doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. This prompt is an invitation to uncover something that feels hidden.

5. “A small thing that brought me comfort today was…”

Why it helps:
Practicing gratitude is a big ask when you’re grieving. When pain and heartache reign supreme, it feels insulting to journal about all the ways in which you’re glad to be alive. Instead of trying to cultivate gratitude, consider noticing the things that feel comforting to you. This could be birdsong, a kind text from a friend, a warm scarf, a sunrise, a piece of art, or a fresh pastry.

Many grieving people point to nature as a source of comfort after loss. Even though it’s a reminder that time keeps going, it’s also a reminder that beauty exists in a world filled with loss. In my 2020 interview with Wild author, Cheryl Strayed, she shared the practice her mom taught her, which is to “put yourself in the way of beauty.” Cheryl did this by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail after her mom’s death and by continuing to look for beauty in her day-to-day, even now more than 20 years after her mom, Bobbi’s death. It doesn’t erase the pain of grief, but it does balance the weight of it with awe, wonder, and comfort. And that’s not nothing.

6. “What I wish I could say (to them, to myself, to the world) is…”

Why it helps:
Unspoken words take up space in the body and the mind. Writing them down—without judgment or editing—can be deeply cathartic. It doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t even have to be “nice.” Just let it out. Sometimes your angriest or most instinctual thoughts can be indicators of your highest values.

For example, if you’d like to scream at your friends, “Why the hell aren’t you reaching out? It’s been six months and my dad is still dead! Why don’t you care anymore?” this could be an indication that you deeply value your friendships and are aching to connect and feel supported. You don’t have to do anything in the moment, but simply recognizing what you’re angry about can help you take next steps when you’re ready.

Julia, a student in Life After Loss Academy, wrote about being frustrated with her bosses who had no flexibility when it came to her mourning her father’s death and caring for her mom with dementia, who was in a care home during the height of COVID. This insight helped her recognize that her workplace was not a sustainable fit for her in the long-term, and she gradually made a plan to find another job. She ended up working at a tea shop with two other grievers who understood what it was like to work while grieving and she’s never been happier! Read Julia’s full story here.

7. “If my goal isn’t ‘getting over it,’ maybe it’s…”

Why it helps:
If you’ve listened to my podcast, Grief Grower, you know that there’s no such thing as “getting over” grief. That may be society’s goal for you, but it doesn’t have to be yours. This prompt is about reclaiming your power to define your healing and your goals in grief for yourself.

If “getting over it”—i.e. forgetting your losses, leaving grief in the past, never speaking your person’s name, pretending nothing happened—isn’t your goal, what is? You might consider what goals you would set for yourself this week, this month, or this year. If you’d like some help with this, check out this article I wrote about goal setting while grieving. (I wrote it for New Year’s resolutions, but the exercises work just as well for this purpose.)

Closing Thoughts: Let the Page Hold What You Can’t

If grief has left you wordless, I hope these prompts offer a gentle place to start.

Please know, you don’t have to write every day. You sure as heck don’t have to be poetic. You don’t even have to finish a prompt. Just start. Your grief will thank you.

Let your journal be a mirror, a container, and a witness to this season of your life. Let the page be a space where nothing has to make sense, and everything is allowed to exist. That’s the biggest gift you can give yourself while grieving.

And if you’re ready for deeper support, community, and even more helpful exercises for moving through grief, Life After Loss Academy is here to help you find your way forward.