Unjournaling

For any writers looking to step out of their comfort zones and really tap into their creative side, Unjournaling is the perfect tool to spark the imagination. The introduction of this text reiterates an important point about the matter of a writer’s attachment to his/her work. Too often we (writers) become possessive and obsessive about our creations; we don’t care to take anyone else’s critiques or suggestions for improving the final product into consideration. We fear criticism and the fact that the words we’ve stressed over in our struggle to convey our particular meanings may be discarded. Unjournaling says that writing doesn’t have to be formal or stuffy and it doesn’t always have to be a matter of personal integrity. Instead the book reminds and encourages us to let loose every once in a while in our writing and to truly enjoy the process of putting our ideas on paper.

Writing can be a pleasurable experience, it can even be silly. Sometimes writers just need to let go of their inhibitions. The exercises presented in the book certainly help to do this and to get the juices flowing in our mind. These drills are tailored to fit the skill levels of middle-schoolers and adults, so anyone who wants to expand his/her creative horizons can take advantage of Thurston and DiPrince’s book. For myself, I liked that these exercises offer instruction and guidance. Sometimes it’s nice being told what to write. When I know that I have a certain task to fulfill, I attack it more readily and immediately begin developing avenues which will lead me to the final goal. These prompts provide some direction (like, write a paragraph about a girl named Dot without using the letters 'i' and 'j'-which to me seems impossible), but that’s it; the author controls the overall development of his/her writing. Some of these prompts are challenging and some appear to be quite ridiculous-but that’s the beauty of each one. In the future, I hope to have the time to use these whacky prompts to improve my own creative writing abilities.

restrictions reveal to us a deeper level of freedom

The thing I like most about this book is the fact that it encourages the writing assignments to be “not personal” and “not introspective.” As I’ve mentioned before, I love personal writing assignments and I do think that a lot of good writing tends to be very personalized. However, this kind of writing also tends to be very limiting. Sometimes students need to think outside of themselves. This book of prompts could help students with just this.

I had a creative writing teacher praise pieces of writing that were “disconnected” from the student. I was always quite baffled by his notion. It went against everything I was taught previously. His explanation was that it shows true creativity to expose a piece of writing that has nothing to do with the writer. He felt that it showed discipline and commitment. I also had a poetry teacher who personally experimented with restrictions within her writing process. This teacher published different books of poems and essays. One book of her poems excluded the letter “e.” She often experimented with no punctuation. Like my other teacher, she sometimes encouraged her students to be “distant” from their pieces of writing. She felt that poetry did not have to be personal, and that some of the best poetry she ever read or wrote was detached from her personal emotions and feelings. I remember her telling my class that sometimes restrictions reveal to us a deeper level of freedom.

I believe that getting students to write outside of themselves is a challenging task. I struggle with this. Even within these blogs, all we ever do is talk about ourselves and our past experiences. “I had a bad experience in my 10th grade English class.” “I always liked to write poetry because it was such a personal experience.” “I think this assignment is stupid and I will never teach it in my classroom!” Even though I would not use all of the writing prompts within the book, I feel that there are some “awesome” ones (as Kaitlyn’s mommy would say). These non personal topics help students to write to a specific audience and create characters that have nothing to do with themselves. Students are going to face assignments that do not revolve around their personal feelings or experiences. Many struggle with research papers and analytical essays because of these issues. These prompts provide practice for students to write about something that is unusual to them. Hopefully, it could also be a fun experience. Maybe it can reveal to students that writing is not as restricting as they thought it to be.

Rachael brings up a great point in her blog. It might be disconcerting to students for a teacher to present writing as being restricting. I agree with her that writing is ultimately not restricting. Yet, not all students feel this way. I feel that by exaggerating restrictions, some writers will be surprised to find freedom, and might even realize that writing is not as restricting as they thought. This could build confidence.

Overall, I love being challenged by a creative prompt. Sometimes I am surprised by what my mind and hand can come up with. Two of my favorites from the book were “What would blue taste like if you could chew it” or “What if the sky were not blue but red.” These prompts could be a great way to introduce sensory/figurative language and images to a classroom. I do believe that some of these prompts are a bit childish and silly. Yet, isn’t that the point of this book? I think this book could be used for elementary school kids up through college level students. The main point of this book for me is that our writing should not be limited by limitations. Our creativity should surpass that of an initial prompt. Something phenomenal can surface from a pointless prompt. Writing does not have to be personal! Sometimes real freedom can be found within restrictions.

Thinking outside of the box and outside of the book

I LOVED this book! I think that a lot of student writing either has writing from a personal nature or writing that often doesn’t connect with a student. While the prompts in this book are often disconnected from students in terms of subject, they allow a more creative side to come out-- or at least a more relaxed side.

I read this book out loud in front of my family, while we were in the midst of finishing dinner, doing dishes, getting ready to go to a Girl Scout meeting, and preparing to pack for a business trip. Some of them intrigued us; others felt a bit more perplexing. But, I noticed that my 9-year-old daughter, who doesn’t always enjoy writing, was becoming more interested in each prompt. Perhaps I will use them with her already, and I am seriously considering using some with my Girl Scouts, connecting them to a writing badge we are working on.

I enjoyed the prompts that involved thinking more creatively about something that is common or ordinary. For example, Prompt 8,”How many ways can you say No? Write ten sentences that say no in various ways, but without using the word no.” Right away, I thought of five ways, and my daughter said, “Ooooh, Does that mean we could use how you always say ‘not right now’? Two little sentences got her thinking. Yea!! She’s thinking outside of the box.

My kindergartener liked the prompts relating to rhyming (ex. 3, 60,62). She even likes to make up words to add to the list. I notice that doing things like this spark her imagination or spark a conversation about a topic we wouldn’t normally talk about. (Why do bees live in trees?) (Why do we have geese, but not meese?)

I personally like the prompts that can have any answer possible, such as number 145: “What would blue taste like if you could chew it?” This could have any answer possible. I would hope that some students would think outside of the ordinary, and not pick things like blueberries, raspberries, etc. When I said that I thought blue would taste like creamy chocolate and cherries, my daughters stared at me. They first told me I was wrong, and when I asked how they knew I was wrong, they couldn’t answer. It let them know that there are not always right and wrong answers to every question.

There were a few prompts that I thought I would get frustrated doing myself. The first was to “write a paragraph consisting of only six-letter words” (#159). I would really have to think about all of the words I know, and I think I could find myself getting frustrated with that one. The other prompt that I was trying to write in my head over the last few days was #46 :”Write a sentence in which the first word is one letter long, the second word is two letters long, the third word is three letters long, etc.” So far I got to I am two days older.

Overall I think this book has great ideas to use to get students out of the writing doldrums. Some make little sense, but get thoughts from anywhere put on paper. Others make you think, but to have fun doing it. I can’t wait to try these out on my own kids, my Girl Scout troop, and my eventual class.

Note: Another good place to find some thinking/writing prompts is Highlights magazine. They have the “Brain Play” section that can get the wheels turning.

Mixed feelings

To begin, I'd like to say that I have mixed feelings about Unjournaling, specifically as it relates to getting writers of various abilities involved in the writing process. For struggling writers, I think it can be good, because it seems to minimize some of the impending pressure or frustration that they might feel when it comes to searching out a topic. But, for writers who enjoy the writing process -- and I am one of these -- I feel that it can also be somewhat limiting, because it places parameters on the writing process. I dealt with those when I worked for the newspaper, and I can honestly say that all that constraint eventually killed my motivation to write. It's only been since I returned to school that much of that creativity and passion has been reawakened (is that a word?). Anyway, I guess you guys get the idea that I am driving at.

Also, I find myself wondering when these prompts should be used. Possibly everyday? Or, maybe once in awhile? I don't know. What I can say is that I found the funnier ones to be the best, but maybe that's just because I generally enjoy humor, and I often try to infuse it into my writing. I like the fact that the prompts deal with commonalities, but again, I worry that some writers might be turned off by this approach because it places limitations of them. Although, I do feel that good, solid writers will find a way to make the writing their own -- to make it personal in whatever way -- regardless of this fact.

I would like to use some of this stuff in my own classroom next year (again, assuming that I can dupe some unknowing school district into adding me onto their payroll). I think that kids might like this stuff, mostly because it doesn't require them to come up with their own ideas. And, it can be fun.

Also, I do recommend that we, as teachers, write along with our students as they do their work. Later, in class, you might notice that I am writing along with you all during our group presentation.

So get your pencils sharpened, your thinking-caps on, and be ready to write when you step into the classroom later today. If you will, help me to prove that writing can, in fact, be fun, despite some of the limitations that the use of the Unjournaling method can, potentially, place on a seasoned writer. See you then.

Loosen up

This book is why I love writing. Unjournaling is a friendly reminder that writing is fun and that anyone can do it. A student does not have to be a strong writer to creatively respond to the majority of these prompts, but they do have to think outside the box. Using intriguing prompts would be a helpful approach to provide writers’ with more confidence and to serve as a distraction to major stressors in life. Also, this would be a pleasant reminder to high school students that writing can be silly, especially after they write a difficult research paper. For me, this is a great way to unwind after reading Williams, and I have a feeling it was placed intentionally after a more challenging selection.

According to Diprince and Thurston, “Writing can be an intimidating process for many people, no matter what their age” (5). Writing can definitely be daunting for individuals of all ages and all ability levels. Even if a student is a remarkable writer, that does not mean he or she is aware of the fact. I truly believe most students simply lack confidence when it comes to their writing, which is why Unjournaling is a necessary tool to help writers loosen up.

As a future teacher, I will definitely use this book. I think some of these prompts can segue into a lesson. For example #84 would be an excellent introduction into similes, metaphors, and other types of figurative language. I want to try this activity myself, so I’m sure my students would enjoy it, as well. Who wouldn’t want to compare a person to food? The whole idea simply makes me laugh. Also, #120 would be an effective way to begin to teach writers how to show, rather than tell. It is much more difficult to show that a rooms smells, than it is to say that a room smells bad. This would even be a creative way to start a poetry unit. Clearly, the prompts in this book would help liven up classrooms and stimulate creativity.

This book really gets me excited to teach writing! I would actually write my own prompt while the students are writing theirs. I especially want to try prompt #136. Writing a letter to an animal would be so cool! Plus, if the teacher is having fun, then nine out of ten times the students are having positive experience. Overall, I think Unjournaling is a phenomenal resource, and I’m truly eager to use it with my students.

Unjournaling

I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this book. I was like, “Unjournaling? What in the world could that be?” I was surprised that it was a book full of writing prompts, and I loved it. There are many students and people of all ages who do not like writing, but I think anyone would enjoy responding to a lot of these prompts. The introduction states, “When students write frequently, and about many different topics, they become more comfortable with writing.” I would definitely agree with that statement. When I was given the opportunity to free write in school, I did become more comfortable with my writing because I was able to be creative. The teacher in high school that gave her students the opportunity to free write at the beginning of class always chose personal prompts, and she would collect the journals after a certain number of entries and actually give the journal a grade. Although it was considered “free writing,” it still made students feel uncomfortable because they knew their journals would be read and graded. Although I appreciated the teacher’s efforts in implementing free writing, I wouldn’t necessarily take her approach in my own classroom. I wasn’t sure how I would implement free writing until reading “Unjournaling.” Like the teacher in high school, I thought of starting every class giving the students an opportunity to free write. I knew I didn’t want to give prompts to the students that were personal, but I couldn’t really think of any prompts that weren’t personal. I don’t have to worry about that now since I have this book, and I definitely plan on using it in my classroom. It gives students the opportunity to write about many different topics, and I would only have them share their responses to their peers and me if they wanted to. I don’t agree with grading free writing either. I especially liked the prompts in “Unjournaling” that could go along with certain lessons such as prepositions, adjectives, descriptive verbs, alliteration, and hyperbole. For example, the prompt about descriptive verbs is #48—“King Kong stomped along the street. He crushed cars with his toes. He ripped people from their cars. In five sentences, what else did he do? Use descriptive verbs.” This type of prompt would be a great activity included with lessons on the aforementioned. In addition, I also liked the prompts where you have to create a character in your mind and describe it, like a super hero (#149) or a fairy godmother (#82)…dictionary diving (#189) sounds fun, too! So, most of the prompts would be helpful AND fun to students.

Unjournaling

When I visited the bookstore way back at the beginning of the semester, one book really caught my eye, “Unjournaling.” When I got home I immediately flipped through the book, skimming through the crazy exercises. I am ecstatic that I am finally going to get to touch on some of this silliness.

There are times when I want to write deep, introspective pieces. Writing is so often a release for me but I know that this isn’t the case for everyone. Some writers really don’t want to let readers into their heads. I think that these prompts would be great ways to allow writers more diverse options for writing. I know that when I was in school I would have been thrilled to be doing exercises such as the ones in this book. They really could get students excited about writing.

I had mixed feelings about the answer key in the back. I think it could be helpful, as the book says, for those writers who are struggling with one particular exercise and just want to see how it is done. I know I personally wouldn’t want to read it before attempting an exercise because it would interfere with my creativity. My group and I have discussed how we don’t like reading the blog entries until after we have written our own. I guess it is the same concept. If you read what someone else wrote, sometimes you can’t help but base your ideas on theirs.

I am excited for tomorrow!

What fun!

Like JamieMarie, I would definitely want to use this in a classroom. In fact, I think these exercises would be a great icebreaker for the first week of class -- and a great way to show students that writing can actually be fun. For many students, writing is anything but fun because they associate it with laborious research papers or personal journals that force them to reveal more about themselves than they feel comfortable doing. "Unjournaling" would give students an unusual chance to be as silly as they want. And I would hope that producing a funny piece of writing would help build students' confidence and break down some of their inhibitions.

I was amazed at the variety of the exercises. If I were a teacher, I would give students several choices of assignments -- because some of the exercises left me cold, some I couldn't wait to do and some I have actually done on my own over the years because I am a mildly creative person.

For example, my son and I spent several days doing a version of #154 -- thinking of ingruous combos of people and making them interact -- like a bratty neighbor kid and Albert Einstein. I also sometimes write song parodies when the mood hits me, and that's #185. However, I wouldn't have any ideas for creating my own fairy godmother (#82), but presumably there must be some people out there who would.

The exercises I'm most eager to try are #34 and #179. The Number 34 is an ad that tells the absolute truth about a product. Having spent several years writing ad copy that extoled the often nonexistent virtues of obscure, worthless or boring products, #34 would be a great non-violent way for me to release anger. To be fair, though, real-life ad writers are often legally compelled to do "disclosure" -- the way drug ads have to reveal all the possible disgusting and dangerous side effects.

#179 asks you to describe a stereotypical character doing stereotypical things -- and then change one sentence so you show that character doing something weird or unexpected. I immediately thought of my middled-aged, across-the-street neighbor whom I've talked to exactly once in six years. He's a handsome, clean-cut fellow with a good corporate job who's always out taking wonderful care of his yard. But he has a very punky looking 20-something daughter. She seems to have several even more punky-looking boyfriends, and they're constantly hanging out in the garage with the door half pulled down, so we wonder if they have a drug or murder ring.

#107. Never...

...say writing isn't fun!

“Unjournaling” is a really creative and entertaining book, I enjoyed it a lot. I would definitely use this in my classroom because it allows for students to be creative with their writing (and their imagination as well). It’s something different than the standard writing prompts most students do today, it’s unique and it’s FUN. I believe this is something students will enjoy and actually allow them to enjoy writing as well. Also, as a teacher, it will be fun reading the prompts students write – reading research papers I’m sure gets boring after awhile.

It was difficult for me to pick two prompts for my blog because they all seemed fun. However, I came to a conclusion and chose #59 and #44. So, enjoy!

#59: People often say, “If we can send a man to the mood, surely we can figure out how to…” Complete the sentence five different ways.

1. If we can send a man to the moon, surely we can figure out how to… make flying cars.
2. If we can send a man to the moon, surely we can figure out how to…create underwater cities.
3. If we can send a man to the moon, surely we can figure out how to…cure the common cold.
4. If we can send a man to the moon, surely we can figure out how to…create robots like Rosie from the Jetsons.
5. If we can send a man to the moon, surely we can figure out how to…make full meals in pill form.


#44: In one sentence, communicate “fear.”

As I froze in the piercing cold hallway, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach and I could feel the presence of the unknown creature standing close behind me, glaring with its black eyes and maliciously humming the tunes of death.