The Writer’s Journal

A journal is more than a physical notebook in which a writer composes. It is also a mental space that the writer creates. Think of it as the field in which these words are made to appear separate from the texture behind it. It is a place defined by the writer. It is an arena of mental activity that excludes the pressure of the world, the media, and other people.

It is a place in which a person is free to write her observations, thoughts, and reflections without risking public exposure. The kind of writing that is done in a journal is different from the kind of writing that is done in a research paper.

A journal can provide the writer with a physical record of the progress of his writing skills and of his thought process.

Using the Journal

In a writing class, the journal is best used to aid in the development of critical thought process and compositional skills. It is best to avoid using the class journal for therapeutic explorations of personal problems or dilemmas.

There are multitudes of ways to write in your journal. These include: freewriting, brainstorming, drafting, writing descriptions, recalling events of the day, analysis of people, revising parts of essays, developing dreams into narratives……

If you are having trouble getting started, try writing about something that happened to you during the day. It could be a commonplace event. Write about your actions, your feelings, and then move on to write about the thoughts that were triggered by the event.

OR—start writing about all of the reasons why you do not want to write in the journal. Prepare a list of them. Then Go back over the list and write a short paragraph elaborating upon each of the reasons why you can’t or won’t write. In these paragraphs, try to connect to the bigger issue that underpins the resistance.

Example:

(“I don’t want to write in the journal because at some point the instructor will ask to see it and will read about my torrid fascination with Avon Products and will think badly of me because I heard that he thinks that franchises are a rip-off. But he doesn’t see how my Avon sales program in high school helped me overcome the inhibition that I used to have about speaking in small groups. Also, the money that I made helped me pay for the stupid textbooks that I had to buy.”)

Brainstorming vs. Freewriting

There are many different kinds of writing activities that can be used in journaling. Here are two them. Remember not to limit yourself to these two only.

Freewriting is a process of writing whatever comes into your mind during a specific time period, without any concern for grammar or spelling or what it is going to look like to anyone else. It is a very effective exercise that stimulates the writing habit. It sometimes reads like a “written babble,” but it is the process, rather than the end result that is important. The crucial

factor is the time period! Allocate 5 minutes the first time you try it. Don’t stop writing for 5 minutes!

Brainstorming is similar in that there is a limited time period established and the flow of ideas onto paper is unhampered by worry over grammar & style. However, in brainstorming, the though is focused on a particular topic. If you are brainstorming a topic for an assigned essay, create a list of every single idea that pops into your mind about that topic. The evaluation of those ideas and their formation into a coherent form takes the writer into the essay development phase.

Useful Links

http://www.42explore.com/journl.htm

http://www.journalforyou.com/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/diary/

http://journal-writing.webdjinni.net/

http://www.journal-writing.com/

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