Journaling and Blogs

Sometimes all you need is a few prompts to keep the creative juices flowing! I've used journals as a part of teaching for many years. Here are a few prompts I've given students in the past. See if any of them appeal to you and write away!

• “It’s just another manic Monday…” Write about why you like (or don’t like) Mondays.
• Create what would be the ultimate meal for you. Be sure to include all the delicious courses: appetizer, entrée, salad, dessert, and drink.
• List five things you’d like to change about yourself. Then list five things you wouldn’t change.
• Write about the best movie you’ve seen lately.
• Write about the best book you’ve read lately.
• Make a list of your favorite songs of all time. Why do you like them?
• It is said that somewhere in the world there is someone who looks just like you. Write an account of this person. Where would your “twin” be? What would he or she be doing? Do you think you’d be friends?
• Begin an entry with this sentence: “I met myself the other day.”

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Pattie Reitz is a writer and a teacher. She received her B.A. in English Education in 1991 and her MSEd in English in 1995. Pattie has experience teaching several age groups: middle school for one year, high school for eight and a half years, and college for five semesters.  She received training in 1997 as an Advanced Placement instructor in English and in 2002 as a teacher-consultant with the Greater Kansas City Writing Project.  

In addition to her work at Writers Remember as Assistant Editor and Journaling & Writing Prompts Guru, Pattie is a book reviewer for Armchair Reviews (one of Writer's Digest's 101 Best Web Sites for Writers, 2006), and blogs about books at Bookworm's Nook, a blog on Dot Com Women's network of blogs. She is also a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She considers journaling and personal narratives her passions in terms of writing genres, and she loves to encourage others to record their stories.  Pattie has had a few pieces published, both in print and online, and her current goal is to write more for publication in 2006. Online, Pattie is a moderator on the Women at Home message board and up until recently worked as a community leader on iVillage's former Journaling board.  

She is wife to a chaplain and mother of two girls, ages 9 and 6. Her blog is found at www.xanga.com/pattierwr.