about your journals

There are two ways to become a better writer:

1. Read good writing.
2. Write.

We're going to take care of #1 throughout the year, starting with "The Right to Your Opinion."

You should have already started #2. Each day's agenda begins with a Journal Topic. When I teach in class, students start the period with a quiet moment (I'll introduce the "Minute of Mindfulness" next week) and then we play some music and write for about 10 minutes.

You have been given four journal topics (one each on the agendas for 8/17, 8/18, 8/19, and today). If you have already written something, hooray! Otherwise, you owe.

Questions you may have:

Where do I write my journal ideas?
You're going to need a spiral notebook or a composition book. I already posted about this in the 8/18 agenda, but now it's a thing. Please get a notebook. If you don't have one yet, don't let that stop you - write on paper until you get one. But get one, by Monday at the latest, so that your work doesn't pile up where it will do you no good.

If I'm writing in a notebook, how will you know what I write?
Have a look at your period's Sheet. I'll be updating this as we go, so that you have an additional reference that reminds you of what's expected. As you can see this week, the journal entries have been added as opportunities for you to type, "Did it." If you do, you get credit -- and, I will occasionally ask you to review a journal topic with me during a writer's conference. If you don't do the work, you won't improve and you won't get credit. If you type "Did it" and you don't have it, you will wish you did.

Since everything is online right now, why are we writing these on paper instead of typing them on a computer?
Two reasons. First, the act of writing engages different parts of your brain than the act of typing and staring at a screen. (Also, when you write, you can put your pen in your mouth when you stare off into the distance and think; this is awkward with a keyboard, laptop, tablet, or phone.)  Second, this is your journal, a safe place to rage, grieve, throw a few f-bombs, or express yourself in other ways that you don't want splashed all over the internet.

How long do my journal entries have to be?
Someone once asked Abraham Lincoln how long a speech should be. President Lincoln replied, "As long as a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the basics, and short enough to keep things interesting." If you answer a journal prompt in one sentence, you're just teasing your reader. It might be the best sentence in the world, but that just makes things worse. It's as if you get a bite of the tastiest food ever, the kind of bite that makes you hunger for more, and then the chef says, "Hope you enjoyed it -- that's it." So aim for at least half a page, to give yourself the chance to describe details, or give examples, or use the kind of figurative language that helps readers form pictures in our minds.

Do I have to write on the Journal Topic, or can I choose what I want to write about?
Beginning tomorrow (Friday, August 21) you will have a choice. More on that in a separate post.

What's the point of this again?
Writing every day will make you a better writer. Also, there is nothing more intimidating to new writers than the blank page. There is no way to get this wrong, as long as you write, and when you look back in June on a notebook or two, filled with your thoughts, that didn't exist before you created them, you will never fear the blank page again.