Keeping a Journal You Love [Paperback]

Sheila Bender (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 2001

Dozens of insightful writing prompts combined with sample entries from respected professional writers help readers get more use and enjoyment from their journals.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are three layers to Keeping a Journal You Love. For the first, author Sheila Bender (The Writer's Journal) collected journal entries from 15 American poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers--no mean feat, considering the way most people who keep journals squirrel away their ragged little notebooks. For the next, Bender asked those writers to comment on their journals and on "how journaling helps them stay productive." Finally, Bender writes about both the journal entries and the commentary, creating a context from which the rest of us can learn to keep fertile journals.

For many writers, a journal acts as a compost pile. They throw a whole bunch of stuff in there, which separately is not worth much more than this morning's coffee grounds or this afternoon's banana peel; let it sit for a while and heat up; and before they know it, they have a rich compost, from which whole stories, memoirs, screenplays, you name it, can be made. This "stuff" varies from writer to writer: it can be memories, opinions, conversations overheard, secrets, quotations from other writers, snippets from the newspaper, observations, dreams. While Robert Hellenga records the off-kilter feeling of living in a foreign country, William Stafford can find a whole poem's worth of new experiences in a typical day. "We take a day trip every day of our lives," says Bender, "when we view our time here on earth as full of surprises." And who knows where a journal entry might take you? David Mas Masumoto's journal entry on a frustration of farm life morphed into an article for the Los Angeles Times about a problematic peach (tasted good; looked bad; became "homeless in the marketplace"). From there, it became a book called Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm (Harper). As Masumoto says, "good things can happen with our journals." --Jane Steinberg

From Library Journal

Teacher and author of five books on writing (including Writing in a Convertible with the Top Down), Bender here focuses on the practice and benefits of keeping a journal. She includes advice and writing assignments to encourage both new journalers and those needing inspiration. Sample journal entries from professional writers such as Pam Houston, Robert Hellenga, and Denise Levertov will give journal keepers new ideas and motivate them with beautiful writing. Included are sections on writing about travel, emotions, and personal thoughts. The book wraps up with ideas for joining or starting a group of writers to share journaling ideas and motivation. The writing exercises are useful and the entries from other writers well chosen. There are many current books on the topic of journal keeping, and this one is as good as most. Recommended for public libraries where writing books are popular. Lisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Walking Stick Press (April 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582970688
• ISBN-13: 978-1582970684
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #767,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Self-Help > Journal Writing

More About the Author

After publishing many books on writing for a variety of publishers, I decided to launch Writing It Real, an online magazine for those who write from personal experience.

I have been publishing the magazine weekly since October, 2001, as well as facilitating others' writing in online classes, phone and email consults, and manuscript evaluations through WritingItReal.com. I also offer help through alliances with IAJW.org and Writers.com and through in-person seminars across the US. Most recently, I've enjoyed teaching for the Whidbey Island Writers' Conference, the Field's End Writer's Conference, the Write on the Sound Conference, Centrum Foundation's Writer's Conference, and the annual Writing It Real conference I do with Meg Files and Jack Heffron. I offer in-person classes regularly at Hugo House in Seattle and The Writers' Workhoppe in Port Townsend, WA as well as at libraries in the area.

In addition to the instructional books I write, I have a memoir out, A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief. It took seven years to write about the five months following the death of my son in a snow boarding accident. I can think of no better way to heal while grieving than by reading poems and personal essays and stories by others who have suffered similar losses. When we have lost someone dear to us, we must live our lives double, for them and for us, to honor them. Writing toward discovery, as we do in writing poems and memoir, helps us live in this way and brings us energy.

I received my Master's Degree from the University of Washington where I studied with David Wagoner, William Matthews, Stephen Dunn, Stanley Plumly, Colleen McElroy and many other fine poets. I went on to also master the art of prose, and I enjoy each instructional book and article I write as I am constantly learning and sharing that learning with others is a passion. I hope you'll visit my website at www.writingitreal.com as well as my facebook fan pages on which I publish inspirational and informative writing messages as well as publication information: www.facebook.com/writingitreal and www.facebook/anewtheology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid Content; A Little Wordy, December 9, 2001

By 

Ruth Edlund "dark goddess of replevin" (King County, Washington:) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping a Journal You Love (Paperback)

This book contains solid material for the person who has some experience in keeping a journal. For reasons set forth below, however, to the absolute beginner I would recommend _Journal to the Self_ or _The New Diary_ as a first book on the subject, not this one.

The book has three sections:

1. The short opening section offers seven exercises (involving five senses and two literary devices) to limber up the journaling muscles, so to speak. They are well-presented.

2. The main body of the book offers extended excerpts from the journals of published writers demonstrating both techniques within the journals that the author recommends to us, the readers, and those published writers' use of journal materials to generate published works.

Depending on one's temperament, the quoted excerpts can be either discouraging or downright intimidating. This book for this reason is not a suitable first book about journaling. In addition, in some cases the length of the journal excerpts in proportion to the amount of commentary and guidance that Ms. Bender was providing was somewhat excessive.

On the other hand, the excerpts can also be inspiring, make no mistake about that. I found Robert Hellenga's journal entries describing the thoughts and experiences that eventually formed _The Fall of a Sparrow_ to be particularly strong.

3. The book concludes with its best section, a short one modestly entitled "add-ons." It contains a number of additional strategies for journal entries, most of which I had not seen elsewhere, and a chapter on creating journal-keeping groups and communities.

Verdict: worth buying if you're a serious journaler; not the best single reference if you only have one book on the subject.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars KEEPING A JOURNAL YOU LOVE, June 25, 2001

By 

S. E. TURNER, Writer, Teacher, Journalist (TUCSON, ARIZONA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping a Journal You Love (Paperback)

I can usually tell a good book by the number of tabs and yellow markings I have made during the reading. KEEPING A JOURNAL YOU LOVE is riddled with my yellow lines like a broken-trail map depicting my progress through the territory of journal writing. The markers could be porcupine quills poking their way out of the pages. Here I found advice like: "Keeping a journal is a form of mental and emotional exercise. It helps keep the mind limber and the soul supple, the better to get at the root of your own curiosities and obsessions as a writer." Or "I like the instant gratification. I like seeing my thoughts put into words; I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when I complete a good writing session."

One will find not only excellent REASONS for journal writing, but also a multitude of IDEAS and STRATEGIES for keeping a journal that best fits the personality of the writer. It is a book to be enjoyed repeatedly as one seeks fresh ways of observing life.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enhance Your Daily Life As Well As Your Writing, June 25, 2001

By 

FictionAddiction.NET - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping a Journal You Love (Paperback)

Journal writing can open up a whole new world to every type of writer. No matter what your writing experience, Keeping a Journal You Love shows you how to get the most out of your journal.

Each page contains advice on how keeping a journal can lead to enhanced writing. You'll also sample real journal entries from 15 respected fiction and non-fiction writers. At the end of each journal entry, instructional exercises are provided so you can capitalize on your own journal.

You'll learn how to create story ideas from your own life experiences and develop a deeper sense of your own writing as well. Journaling examples show you how a simple log of one's daily life can spawn complete novels.

There's also a special section filled with strategies you can use in your journal entries. Plus, a bonus chapter contains informative tips on how you can create journal-keeping groups and communities.

If you're currently keeping a journal, this book will bring a whole new level to your writing. If you're just beginning a journal, every exercise will help you develop page after page of beautiful words.