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Starting a Journal
Journal writing is a key form of personal writing. In a journal, you reflect on your experiences, explore your cares or concerns, ask questions, wonder, and so on. The choice is yours. And all it takes to get started is a notebook and pen or a computer.
Journal writing works best when you write regularly—every day or every other day. Once you get into a journal-writing routine, you will become more thoughtful and more confident in your ability to write.
Your Turn Read the sample journal entry below, in which the writer reflects on a special music lesson. Then write your own journal entry following these guidelines.
- Gather your writing materials (notebook and pen or computer).
- Find a quiet and comfortable place to write.
- Select a topic to write about—a lesson or practice, a class, a special event, a problem, a family gathering, and so on.
- Date your journal entry. Then write for at least 5–10 minutes.
- Continue writing about this topic or a new topic in your next writing.
Sample Journal Entry
September 14
Today is Saturday, and I had my group cello lesson. We do this once a month. My cello friends Darlene and Nicky were there with me. So that was good. We learn from each other, which helps us get better.
After our morning review and lesson, our teacher bought us lunch, and then we had some music fun. First, Darlene and I played a duet, with Darlene on the cello and me on the piano. Then we played a trio, with Darlene on the cello, Nicky on the flute, and me again on the piano. Our teacher said we were good!
Then we had our open lesson, learning some new finger movements. Sometimes I get a little embarrassed in open lessons because everyone hears my mistakes. We all made a lot of mistakes, so I felt okay.
The group lesson kept us busy, but it was also fun. We all went home feeling good about our music, but we also had stacks of cello homework!
Starting a Journal by Thoughtful Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at k12.thoughtfullearning.com/minilesson/starting-journal.