Writing Journal Entries

Learning outcomes: At the end of the lesson students will be able to write reflective journal
entries expressing their thoughts and feelings about their experiences or
their thoughts and feelings about any other topic.

Do you need a place to express yourself? Do you want to express

your ideas feelings and thoughts about different topics?
Maintaining a journal and writing different journal entries can
help you put your various thoughts and ideas into words. Writing
journal entries will give you more time for self-reflection and
improve your writing skills as well, among other benefits.

So, what is a journal?

A journal is a personal diary you keep of daily events expressing your feelings, thoughts and,
responses to these events, experiences or situations
or
they can be entries you make in a journal, as a requirement of a specific study course, industry or
field.
Let’s look at a few personal journal entries made by a person who is struggling to make a living
by writing. Read them and answer the questions given below:

Entry No. 01
September 24th 2004
I recently received an unusual email. It was from a gentleman who wants a book written. He has
notes and ideas but needs some help. He wants me to write it. I am excited but a little nervous. It
will be my first paying job. I have never really taken on work like this before. However, I think I
can do it. I wrote to him as I needed some information. I also think I need a contract of some sort.
I guess we will work everything out, when I hear from him.

What was the email she received, about?

What are her feelings on receiving this email?
Do you think she will accept this assignment?
Entry No .02
December 15th 2004
It is almost Christmas again. My writing is going along, but is frustrating at times. I have had some
requests for writing jobs, but nothing has worked out. I am waiting for a payment from a particular
website. Apparently, they are revamping the site. I should get it soon. I could use some extra money
for Christmas. We have the tree up and some presents under it but there is more to buy.

Do you think that she is happy about how her writing is going?
What is her main concern at the moment of writing this entry?

Entry No .03
December 30th 2004
We had a quiet Christmas and nothing much happened during the past few days. I am still waiting
for a break in my writing career. I was sent an email to write some articles, so I decided to go for
it. The only problem is the pay is not great, but at this point I will do it. I am still waiting for a
reply.

Why do you think she says that they had a quiet Christmas?
What do you think is her main worry at this time?

As you can see from these entries, a journal entry does not consist of mere statements regarding
an event or situation but they include the writer’s thoughts and feelings as well. The writer is
reflecting on certain things that she had had to face. So, this is how a reflective journal entry needs
to be written.

Writing Task 1
Write a reflective journal entry about what you think the life of the writer of these journal entries
is like as you understood by the entries.

Writing Task 2
Write a reflective journal entry about one of the speech practice videos that you watched during
the pre-academic course.