What Can Go Into a Writing Journal?

Anything can go into a writing journal because it is, quite simply, a collection of everything someone wants to write down. Especially pertinent for students, though, are responses to and questions about readings. Also, encourage students to think of a broad range of questions about what they read--questions about content, style, structure, audience, and so on.

Also students can use journals for other kinds of writing:

• jump starters - snatches of conversation, radio/TV bits, billboards, songs, pictures--jot down anything that strikes you as an interesting image or idea
• experiments--try writing about the same idea to several different audiences (Ranger Rick, National Wildlife) or in different genres; try out different analogies to explain a concept
• record of observations--physical or mental
• problem statement and problem solving
• dialogues
• process analysis
• letters
• interviews (including conferences with teachers and discussions with peers)
• scenarios or cases (especially good for audience analysis)
• reflections on writing process--questions/problems/successes