Ways to use Unjournaling

I am very happy to have a book full of writing prompts like Unjournaling. As a fairly new writer, I will use this book myself because I agree with the authors that, “when students write frequently and about many different topics, they become more comfortable with writing.”

That has been the case for me. In addition to all the writing I do for school, I’ve mentioned before that writing a weekly blog about my son’s football games has helped me become more at ease with writing. However, I still freeze up and find it hard to write sometimes because I have to generate new ideas to write about each week. After all, there are only so many things to say about the x’s and o’s of a football game.

When I get really stuck for something to write, I have found my own prompts from reading what other people write about the game. I don’t write the same thing, but usually something that I read will click the light on in my head and I will come up with a fairly decent topic to write about.

That is what I liked about the prompts in this book and the answer key. The prompts were specific enough to help the writer get started, but they were general enough to allow the writer to be as creative as they can be. The answer key in the back of this book is like the sports pages I read. They unlock the door to my mind and let the ideas flow out.

I do agree with Rachael that some of these prompts seem pointless and also difficult. Number 86 for example says, “Write a three-sentence paragraph using only the first half of the alphabet, letters a-l. (You may not use t, m, s or any other letter that appears past l in the alphabet.) First of all, I would never choose this prompt because it would take me all day to come up with sentences that have only the first half of the alphabet in them. Prompts like this one seem more like busy work than something actually beneficial.

There were many prompts that could not only be used as a writing prompt, but also as an opportunity to teach a real life lesson. For example, number 122 prompts the writer to, “write a convincing ad but don’t spend over $200.00”. In real life if you have ever placed an ad in the newspaper, you know they are expensive and it can be difficult to word your ad well enough to get your point across without over spending your budget. This prompt would be a great opportunity for students to learn how to effectively write an ad.

Other prompts would be opportunities for teachers to talk about specific topics related to writing. Number 84 would make a good lesson about using analogies in writing to make it more interesting and clear. Number 104 would be a lesson on how to tighten up writing by getting rid of words that are not necessary to the main focus of the piece. Other prompts could lead to lessons about prepositions, euphemisms, allegories, and ideas like show don’t tell.

As a teacher and as an individual I can see the benefits of using this book to help writers become more relaxed and comfortable with writing. I also think there is value to this book as a teaching tool in the classroom. For the individual outside the classroom, this book provides a fun way to stay motivated to write frequently.