A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery [Paperback]

Sheila Bender (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

Using a masterful blend of guidance, idea prompts and self-evaluation advice, Bender nurtures readers through one year of soul searching through journal writing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's a pity this book is presented solely as a tool for greater self-knowledge. Don't get us wrong: there's nothing wrong with introspection, and A Year in the Life helps train your gaze to far greater reaches than your navel. But there are so many fine writing exercises here, taking their cues from so many wonderful sources, that it would be a pity for the subtitle ("Journaling for Self-Discovery") to scare off any writer in search of a good workout. Author Shelia Bender's premise is that "journaling can help you emotionally, spiritually, and physically, as well as with your writing." Bender offers 52 journaling exercises, one for each week of the year. Each exercise is accompanied with a series of six "extensions," for those writers ambitious enough to take their pens for a daily jog. (At the back of the book are a generous handful of exercises geared toward specific holidays and life events.) One week, we are asked to write about the secrets we are keeping. Another has us consider a question we were asked that hurt or offended us. In still another, we are invited to recall a game from childhood.

Some of the most enticing exercises are those inspired by the writings of others. Frank O'Hara wrote a poem in which the sun conversed with him--you can, too. Gary Snyder wrote a poem called "Things to Do Around a Lookout"; you can pick your own place to write about in similar fashion. And try writing, as Frances Mayes does in Under the Tuscan Sun, about a time when you were "a guest at a table of people you didn't know." --Jane Steinberg

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Walking Stick Press; 1st edition (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898799716
• ISBN-13: 978-0898799712
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #981,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 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

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I could keep only one book, I'd keep this one, July 10, 2000

By 

Jan Halliday (Port Townsend, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery (Paperback)

At Sheila Bender's reading at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle recently, I participated in a quick 6-minute exercise, one of 365, from Bender's new book on journaling "A Year in the Life." The results--everyone scribbling madly on a piece of paper the size of a prescription pad produced at least five pieces of writing that were poignant, incisive or funny--and in such perfect form that they could have been published. One man who professed he was just there with his wife, stood up and read his 6-minute scribble about a filling a tire with air, of all things, that brought us all to tears.As a professional non-fiction newspaper/magazine writer and author of four non-fiction books, I highly recommend this book for mining the depths of your own experience. Although exercises may seem simple (such as: set a scene, see who walks into it, ask what this person has to tell you) the results are often surprising--and quite effortless. Using this book, my writing has gone way beyond the usual journal entry or such writing exercises as "morning pages." When I set up my journal, for example, and included as she suggested, a token amount of money I chose the new US dollar coin with Sacajawea and her new baby embossed on one side. This led to pages of writing--including memories of handling coins kept in a muffin tin when I was a young girl selling 2-lb. cans of golden honey from a stand near Mount Rainier, the sense of security as long as I have an old coffee can full of coins--and the gold coins my great grandfather buried in the woods behind his farmhouse that no one has yet found. When I met Sheila at a friend's campfire barbecue several years ago she asked me what I did for a living. When I told her I was a journalist, she laughed and said "I rehabilitate journalists." I had no idea what she meant, but now I do. Reportage is one thing, revelation is quite another. While I have enjoyed Julia Cameron's and Natalie Goldberg's books on writing, Sheila Bender's has been the most useful--a remarkable tool for self discovery.I've used the book in the order she suggests, backwards, and randomly--flipping open a page and writing an exercise. Breaking the "rules" tells you as much about yourself as following them. No matter how I use this book--it works. If Bender isn't tapped for "Ophra" I'll be surprised. "A Year in the Life, A Journal for Self Discovery" will change lives.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of exercises, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery (Paperback)

This book has so many journal exercises, there's no excuse for not knowing what to write about.The beginning of the book talks about journal keeping - why to do it and how to do it. Then she give exercises for every week of the year, plus ones for holidays and special occasions. At the end is a chapter on resources - books, websites, centers for journaling, and then samples of actual peoples journal entries. This book is goldmine for anyone looking to enrich their life by journal writing.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery, August 21, 2000

By 

Suzan Huney (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery (Paperback)

Shelia Bender's new book is wonderfully creative and inspiring. Her book provides writing exercises for each week of the year. I suspect that by the time I've done a year of journaling with Shelia Bender, I will have gone way beyond my ordinary writing. I've been journaling for years as a way to capture and think about what's going on in my life while it is fresh. Little nuggets from my journal become essays. The exercies in Bender's book have a way of pulling out of me thoughts, images, and experiences long forgotten, as well as new discoveries. I used her special exercise on death to write about a friend who died recently. I imagined looking up at the sky with my friend, and wrote about what she saw in the clouds, about where she was when she looked at the clouds. I was amazed to write about a time when we actually did just that together. Once I started writing I couldn't put my pen down. The end result was an essay I was proud to give my friend's son. If you are serious about writing, and you are willing to put some effort into using Bender's exercises, you will mine information about yourself that will be astonishing. And you'll have a lot of fun along the way.