3 Reasons to Start a Sex Journal—And How to Do It

For many of us, journaling started in middle school with a diary we’d probably now find a bit dramatic. These days, however, you might pick up journals for other reasons. Even if you’re not writing down your daily thoughts, many adults now embrace journaling as a way to track their mental health, dreams, travel, fitness, or career goals. Yet there’s one journaling topic you might not hear about as often: sex.

Yes, I’m suggesting you keep track of your sex life. But I don’t mean just writing down the names of everyone you have sex with (unless you want to). “Journaling about sex can add a layer of mindfulness to your sex life,” says Shadeen Francis, L.M.F.T., a therapist who specializes in sex therapy and emotional intelligence. If you’re open to the process, a sex journal can help you reflect on your experiences, desires, and fantasies. Below, you’ll find a few good reasons to start a sex journal and some tips for using one.

1. A sex journal can help you process your experiences.

“Journaling, for so long, has been used as a therapeutic technique to help people reflect on their thoughts and their feelings,” says Madeline Cooper, L.C.S.W., a sex therapist who sees both individuals and couples. Part of the reason journaling works is that it encourages expressive writing and helps people contextualize past emotional experiences. Sex therapist Lisa Hochberger, L.M.S.W., adds that sex can be difficult to process at the moment, “so a sex journal gives you the space to interpret your experience.” Even if you’re not having sex with other people right now, you can focus on past experiences, future desires, or masturbation. No matter what your sex life looks like, a sex journal can help you process it.

2. You might learn more about your sex drive.

With a sex journal, you can explore both how sex feels for you and why you’re doing it. “Sometimes sex can be this thing people do just to get it over with or because they feel they have to have sex to be a good partner,” Hochberger says, adding that a regular journaling practice allows you to slow down and become more aware of your motivations.

Tracking your sex life can also help you see patterns that might influence how, when, or why you want (or don’t want) sex. Maybe you’re really horny the week before your period starts, or maybe sex is painful at that point of your cycle. Maybe slow, sensual sex makes you feel connected with your partner. Or maybe you feel closest to them when the sex is rough. Keeping track of what happens and how you feel during sex can make these patterns clearer.

3. Sex journaling might make it easier to communicate with partners.

Sex can be a loaded conversation topic for partnered people, says Pamela Joy, M.A., a counseling psychologist and Somatica Institute–certified sex and relationship coach. Some of the most eye-opening discussions for couples who go to sex therapy involve what they did or didn’t like about their most recent encounters. This isn’t surprising. There’s significant societal pressure, especially for cis women who have sex with cis men, to be coy about sex. Fear around hurting a partner’s feelings can keep couples from being open about their likes and dislikes too. “I often find that without that talk, they would never really know what about their sex was exciting or fun,” Joy says.

Whether you plan to share it with your partners or not, writing a sex journal gets that conversation started. If you know what you like (and don’t like) during sex, you’ll have an easier time talking about it.

Here are a few ways you can use your sex journal.

While there are structured sex journals you can buy, such as Sex: An Erotic Journal for Sexual Inspiration and Exploration (Amazon, $12) or A Sex Journal for Couples (A Sex Journal, $26), it’s easy to start your own. “The beautiful thing about journaling is that there’s no right or wrong way to journal,” Francis says. Your sex journal can be whatever you want it to be.

1. Use personal-reflection questions.

When you’re getting started, it can help to have a list of questions in mind as you’re freewriting. You might ask yourself what you liked most about the last time you had sex. Or you might think about what felt like it was on the edge of your comfort zone. Other questions can include: What else would you have wanted to happen? Was there a moment when your partner said or did something that sparked a turn-on, fantasy, or dream? There are tons of other questions you might ask yourself about how you felt during sex. Feel free to make up your own questions.

2. Write about your dreams and fantasies.

A sex journal doesn’t have to focus on sex you’ve had with other people. You can also write about masturbation, fantasies, or even dreams. All types of sex, even sex you only have in your mind, can teach you something about your desire. Just be careful not to put too much stock in those dreams and fantasies as something you actually need to do even if you’re not sure you want to. If you frequently fantasize about a threesome, for instance, maybe that’s something you want to try, but it might not be. “The reality of a fantasy is that we can have this experience in our dreams, or in our thoughts, but we might not really want it to come true,” Hochberger says. Don’t feel that you have to live all of your fantasies.

3. Journal with your partner or alone.

One of the most popular sex journals you can buy is made specifically for couples, but a joint journal might not be the answer for everyone. “One of the challenging things about doing it together is being honest,” Joy says. When you’re writing a journal just for yourself, it feels like a private inner world. But if you’re journaling with your partner, you might lose some of that security and be less honest about your desires or experiences. If you feel you can be honest in a joint journal, go for it. Francis suggests partners keep the book in a neutral space accessible for everyone and decide how regularly you want to use your journal. You should also determine how you want to read the journal together, she says. Or if it’s easier, each partner might keep their own sex journal and share what they’ve learned about themselves whenever they’re ready.

4. Create a sexual menu.

“Imagine you go to an Italian restaurant once a week, and every time you go, you get chicken parm,” Cooper says. “I love chicken parm. Chicken parm is delicious. But sometimes I might want a little eggplant rollatini.” Just as eating chicken parmesan once a week can get stale, having the same type of sex (in the same place every time) can be redundant, depending on what you like. In these cases, therapists often have clients create sexual menus, and this is something you can do in your journal.