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.
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In his essay, Why I Write, George Orwell spelled out four motives for writing he believed “exist in different degrees in every writer, and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time, according to the atmosphere in which he is living.”

But before he addressed them (sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, political purpose), he shared details about his growing-up years. In fact, nearly a third of the essay is dedicated to his background, because:

“I do not think one can assess a writer’s motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in … It is his job, no doubt, to discipline his temperament and avoid getting stuck at some immature stage, in some perverse mood; but if he escapes from his early influences altogether, he will have killed his impulse to write.”

What do you think? Why do you write?

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We want to recognize YOU as part of the National Day on Writing initiative.

Review Orwell’s essay. Use your journal entry to explore the reason(s) you write. Then, send two or three sentences of your journal entry to lmblogcontact(at)literarymama(dot)com. (Please put “Why I Write” in the subject line.) We’ll choose a dozen or so to feature in a special Literary Mama blog post at the end of the month. Deadline: October 23.

Journal Entry: Why do YOU write?

Learn more about the National Day on Writing here and listen to comments from noted authors and teachers here.