People who keep journals have life twice

Jessamyn West

The act of writing regularly is not only helpful for students’ academic performance, but of considerable potential benefit to an individual’s health and wellbeing. Research suggests that writing expressively for fifteen minutes a day, three days a week, has the potential to reduce stress, improve sleep and have a positive impact on one’s general wellbeing. An ideal form of expressive writing is journal writing. 

A journal can be a place of learning, of emotional release and of creative play. Journal writing can consist of observations, memories, ideas and feelings. It may include plans, hopes, dreams and prayers. Being a space where the usual rules of writing no longer apply, a genuine sense of freedom invites you into the present moment and allows possibility to be activated with every fresh page. 

A journal can become a companion. It can support you in difficult times as well as provide room for you to learn about yourself and grow. Journal writing is all about discovery. 

When students are given time for journaling in an English class, they are often provided with a prompt to begin their writing. One very useful writing activity might open with the utterance ‘I remember when…’. Sometimes single words are jumping-off points for free association. Words such as ‘school’, ‘friends’ and ‘weekend’ can provide just the starting point to begin a rich writing experience. Free associations such as ‘the smell of rain’, the ‘noise in the corridor’ or ‘the chair I am sitting on’ also provide a useful starting point. A collage of words can be helpful as well. These may consist of a prayer, a poem, a song lyric or the title of a book. Perhaps you could note the day and time of writing as well as some detail about place. ‘Friday morning. Mount Carmel. Sitting in E7. The air feels stale. What mood was I in when I left my house this morning? What are my expectations for the day?’ If all else fails, a journal entry could begin with the simple sentence, ‘I don’t know what to write today’. 

The important thing is to ‘keep the appointment’. Write for fifteen minutes at a time. Don’t stop to edit. Don’t re-read immediately. Let your thoughts ‘rest’. 

The following prompts might be helpful when next you keep your appointment: 

I write to …

I write to discover.

I write to uncover.

I write to begin a dialogue.

I write as a witness to what I have seen.

I write as a witness to what I imagine.

I write because I believe it creates a path in the darkness.

Below are some examples of journal entries:

Today was the most embarrassing day of my life. In front of the entire school, I fell. One thousand students saw me trip up the stairs to receive my award. Loud laughter pierced my bright red face like knives of steel. I think I continued up onto the stage like a robot. I wanted to fall through the floor and run. Run out the gate. Never to return.

Year 9 student 

Upon reflection of ANZAC Day 2020, I continually return to the notion of the "Australian Spirit", and particularly how, the flame that it was, could not be extinguished on this day, despite the challenging circumstance the COVID-19 pandemic has put us in. When we reach the end of 2020 and look back, not only will I remember the devastating events in Australia due to the pandemic. I will also remember the moments of intense light that days like ANZAC Day gave us in a world that was blanketed in darkness.

Year 11 student

Dear God, I am so discouraged about my work. I realise I don’t know what I realise. Please help me dear God to be a good writer and get something else accepted. That is so far from what I deserve, of course, that I am naturally struck with the nerve of it.

Flannery O’Connor

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart…Can you tell me why people go to such lengths to hide their real selves? Or why I always behave very differently when I’m in the company of others? Why do people have so little trust in one another? I know there must be a reason, but sometimes I think it’s horrible that you can’t ever confide in anyone, not even those closest to you. 

Anne Frank

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. 

Viktor Frankl 

Writing is important. Writing is a craft. Writing is learned by writing. The world’s most effective writers are, and have always been, avid readers. Reading, more than any other factor, has taught good writers how to write. And finally, the act of writing requires more perspiration than inspiration.

Mrs Clare Murphy

English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach