Category: Writing

A lot of people enjoy the thought of keeping a journal, but forming that habit of writing in it regularly can be a hard hurdle to jump. I get it, I’ve totally been there and truthfully I still struggle to write in my journal on a consistent basis. There have been many times that I’ve considered doing away with this journal prompt series, but then I look at my stats and they are time and time again some of the top posts. Y’all are amazing at journaling! So let’s keep going shall we =)

Just in case you need a little encouragement to start writing (or drawing, or list making, or however you see fit to keep a journal) here are some tips on how to make journaling a habit. Because remember, if you’d like to reap the benefits of journaling then you have to engage with it more than once every six months.

how to make journaling a habit

• Start small, aim to write in your journal 15-20 minutes 2-3 times a week. Gradually increase the number of days you write.
• Pick a specific time during the day to write. Make it a time that you won’t be interrupted.
• Add it to your daily to-do list and/or set a reminder on your phone. By scheduling in time to journal increases your chance of actually doing it.

Now on to this month’s prompts…

October 2019 Journal Prompts » Eight Pepperberries

Don’t despair! Here are some fabulous prompts to get you through the month.

New York builders​

Persuasive task:
This is how buildings were made in the past. 
Is this a safe way to build skyscrapers?
Compare it to the way skyscrapers are built today.
Which is the best option?
Convince your audience to take on your opinion.

Narrative task:
Write a story to discuss how these men ended up here.
Is it safe?
What happens when they need to get off the steel bar?
How did they get there?
Why are they there?

Mystery Cave

Persuasive task:
Try and convince someone to either go into or to not go into the mystery cave. 
What adventures or dangers might await them?
What should/shouldn’t they?

Narrative:
Write a narrative story about this cave.
Where does this cave lead to?
Where is it located?
Why would someone enter it?
What are they looking for?
What happens once your character goes inside?
What adventures/ dangers might await those who enter the cave?

Ladder in the sky

Write a narrative story using this image as your prompt.

Think about it
Where does this ladder lead?
Who is climbing the ladder?
What is at the top of the ladder?
Why was the ladder created?
Does the character climb the ladder?
Does something climb down from the ladder?
How did the character find the ladder?
What is special about the field the ladder is in?
Who does the character meet at the top of the ladder?

Dangerous road sign

Write a narrative story to using this image as your prompt.

Think about it
​Will you write a narrative from point of view of the travellers or the monster?
Where does this road lead?
What is the dangers on this road?
How does that affect people who drive on the road?
What is the monsters feelings about people driving on the road.

Spy Mouse

Write a narrative story to using this image as your prompt.
​
Think about it
What is this mouses story?
Why it it there?
What happened to lead it to this moment?
Who does the mouse work for?
Why does the mouse need the cheese?
Does it safely steal/ retrieve the cheese?
What is the problem in this story?
Who is the villain?
Who is the hero?

Giant dog

Write a narrative story to using this image as your prompt.
​
Think about it
Why is the dog so large?
Is the dog being friendly or aggressive?
How does the person feel?
What caused the dog to be so big?
​What caused the person to be so small?

Clever prompt ideas from Two Teachers One Blog

Source: 20 Writing prompts to engage your students in their writing – Two Teachers One Blog (weebly.com)

Just go with the flow and write your heart out.

January Journal Prompts — All the Delights

If you are an avid reader or just a Sunday morning browser, I’m pretty sure you have seen this [sic] before. So what does it mean? Caution, you could offend someone by sicing (?) them.

For instance,

“If you’re reading an article (a great habit to keep, by the way) in which the author is quoting another writer or citing a title, you might see the word [sic] inserted somewhere in the text:

The cartoonist cast back to another strip he had drawn in 1972 as a contribution to a compendium called Funny Aminals (sic).
— David H. VanBiema, People, 27 Oct. 1986″

Note the spelling error, aminals. Sic usually , “appears in parentheses or brackets, sometimes with the letters in italics. In this context it means “intentionally so written.” On its own, sic means “so” or “thus” and can be found in phrases such as sic transit gloria mundi (“so passes away the glory of the world”) and sic semper tyrannis (“thus ever to tyrants,” the motto of the state of Virginia).

What is denoted by sic is that the word or phrase that precedes it occurs in the original passage being quoted or name being used and was not introduced by the writer doing the quoting. Sometimes the quoted text contains an error of grammar or spelling, but other times it might not contain an error at all, but some kind of language or phrasing that might be unexpected.

In the instance above, the comics collection is facetiously titled Funny Aminals, with the consonants of the familiar word animals transposed. The insertion of sic indicates that the title has not been altered or corrected for VanBiema’s article, nor was it an error introduced by VanBiema.”

So it was an intentional error after all. Did the writer quoting the reference know this, or was he just pointing out an “obvious” error. Caution. Some authors are quite protective of their essays and may take offense at some unappreciated correction. But now you know what [sic] means. Right?

Source: How to Use ‘Sic’ | Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com)

Source: https://lessonsforenglish.com/ways-to-say/ways-to-say-for-example-english-phrases-examples/