For Your Journal: Writing Prompt

Do you keep a journal – or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.

Three times a month, I’ll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don’t worry about grammar or punctuation – just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you’ll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you’ll enjoy re-reading it months–and years–down the road.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The Birthday Candle” is the story of a candle that doesn’t want to be a birthday candle. (He didn’t like it when children blew spit on him and licked the frosting off of him.) But when the baker needs a candle for an anniversary cake–an event the candle learns is very special to humans–he walks over to the cake and sits down. (“And no one spat on him or licked the frosting off of him. The End.”)

The 300-word story my three children wrote and illustrated doesn’t make a lot of sense–the narrative arc is flat and the dialogue silly–but we laugh every time we read it because we remember the morning we spent creating it. At that time, the drawings were hilarious and the family jokes side-splitting.

Grandma and Grandpa thought so too.

Journal Entry: Write and illustrate a story with your child about a household object. Start with “Once upon a time” and prompt your child with “Then what happened?” and “What happened next?” Add your child’s drawings and staple it together.