Unjournaling

Daily Writing Exercises That Are Not Personal, Not Introspective, Not Boring!

Dawn DiPrince, Cheryl Miller Thurston

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000490268
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Some students just don't want to share intimate details about their thoughts, feelings and lives—at least, not with others in a class or group. That's where Unjournaling comes in. All the writing prompts in this book are entirely impersonal but completely engaging for both kids and adults.Two examples of the 200 writing prompts include:

• Write a paragraph about a girl named Dot, but use no letters with a dot (in other words, no i or j).
• Why on earth would Yankee Doodle stick a feather in his cap and call it "macaroni"? Come up with a plausible explanation.

The book includes sample responses to all of the questions—a helpful tool for anyone who gets stuck with a topic and wants to see how it can be done!Grade 7-Adult

Writing Prompts

DOI: 10.4324/9781003239376-1

1. Write a paragraph about a girl named Dot, but use no letters with dots (i, j).

2. Silly is a middle-aged man who combs his remaining limp strands of hair into an elabo-rate swirl over his bald spot, spray and hoping no one will gluing them in place with hair notice.

Silly is a golden retriever who slinks sheepishly off the sofa whenever his owner comes home, hoping—despite the piles of hair all over the cush-ion—that she won’t notice he’s been sleeping there.

What else is silly? Give three more examples?

3. Write a paragraph that includes at least 10 words that rhyme with be.

4. Write a paragraph about a cat attacking something, but don’t or Pounce. use the words hiss, scratch

5. Describe the gunky stuff that gets caught in the basket at gross. the bottom of the sink. Don’t use the words disgusting

6. A bad dude in a cowboy hat is walking into the saloon in Tell what happens, creating a a bad Western movie. He’s looking dangerous and mad. happy ending,

7.

Write a paragraph that includes twenty words with double vowels. Examples: poodle, peep, needle

8. How many ways can you find to say no? Write ten sentences that say no in various ways, but without using the word no.

9. When you write, it is important to fit your tone to your purpose. If you want the manager of Widget World to allow a return, even though the 30-day return period has passed, it’s not a good idea to start your letter in this hostile tone: “I don’t know what knucklehead came up with your policy, but I think it’s stupid.”

idea to start your letter in this hostile tone: “I don’t know what knuckle head came up with your policy, but I think it’s stupid.” If you want to apply for a job as a manager of Widget World, it’s not

If you want to propose marriage to the manager of Widget World, it’s probably not a good idea to start your letter in this formal tone: “Dear i.e. marriage,between the two of us would be beneficial to both parties Ms. Applespot: After a careful analysis, I find that a legal partnership, involved."

To match tone to purpose, use words that fit the circumstances. Imagine you are the manager of Widget World. You have been hoping for a raise, since you know you’ve done an excel lent job. However, the owner of the store isn’t exactly the sharpest tack in the drawer, in your opinion, and probably hasn’t even noticed. Write you should have that raise. a letter to the owner, choosing your tone carefully as you point out why

10. Create a sentence with words that begin with the letters in sentence, in order. In other words, the first word in the sentence should begin with S, the second with e, the third with n, etc.

11. In one paragraph, describe a scene from any sport. Use these words somewhere in the paragraph:

bounced, struggled, spied, roared, collapsed, giggled (yes,giggled!).

12. Describe someone who looks bored. Don’t use any form stared or sighed. of the words yawned or

13. Write one sentence consisting entirely of three-syllable words (not counting the articles a, an, and the).

14.

Write a sentence that makes sense reading either from left to right or right to left.

Example:

Bill and Mary Liked Bob.
Bob liked Mary and Bill.

See how long you can make the sentence.

15. As the writer for a clothing catalog, you must describe a sweater that is brown, beige, red-orange and purple. Describe the sweater, but use new, two-word descriptions for each color. (Catalogs rarely describe something as black, for example. They are more likely to say ebony ink or midnight oil)

16. Writers can often tell something about a how he says it. character by what the character says and

For example, if a third grader walks into a classroom and says, with a little bow, “Good afternoon, Mr, Fendlehessey. I am extremely pleased to be attending your class today, and I wish you a successful and satisfying lesson,” the reader knows that student is probably not your average, ordinary American child—at least not from this century.

the characters below and write out what each might say in Try your hand at telling something about a character through his words, and how he says them. Imagine each of turning down an offer to go on a fishing trip.

• A teenaged boy turns down his grandfather.
• A businessman eager for a promotion turns down his styling and manicure turns down her husband. boss.
• A wife just back from her weekly trip to the spa for a

17. Create a much more interesting version of this sentence:

The dog barked.

What kind of dog was it? Where was it? Why was it barking? How would you describe the barking? Make words and details carefully. the sentence as interesting as possible by choosing your

her painting:

18.Here's what the artist called

Polar Bear Eating Vanilla Ice Cream in a Blizzard

To viewers, it looked like a plain white piece of canvas.

describe what looks like a How might the artist plain black canvas?

how about a plain blue canvas?

19. Like looking for a needle in a haystack is a descriptive phrase that we have all heard. Create five that mean the same thing. different descriptive phrases

20.

Here’s a bit of a story, told in two and three-word sen-tences and phrases:

Boberie. Elizabeth laughed.
Sarah wondered why.

She asked. Elizabeth told
her “Bob lost.”

“Lost what?”
“The bet.”
“How much?”
"Ouch. He's Crying. I see
“100 dollars”
why."

Tell another bit of a story, word sentences and phrases. using only two and three-

21. Here’s the last part of a news paper story:

Neighbors called police
when they noticed the
pink gooey substance
oozing from all the
doors and windows
home.
of the modest ranch

Now write the first part of the story. Remember that a newspaper story starts right out answering the questions, “Who?,” “What?,” “Where?,” "How?" “When?,” “Why?,” and

22. Brent told a joke. All five people in the room thought it was funny, though each one reacted differently. Describe the reactions of all five people.

23. Mr. and Ms. PinehurstGranola believe that school cheers are too violent. They don’t like cheers like these:

Hit ’em again.
Harder! Harder!
Hit ’em again.

or

Orange and black.
Sharks! Attack!

Granolas, write a nice, gentle To please the Pinehurst-cheer for the Sharks.

24.

What advice would a DOG give about life, if it could talk? Write that advice.

25. What are the best reasons for doing for doing nothing? List them.

26. Create an impression of a person, real or imaginary, by describing only the person’s hands. Use only three sen-tences.

27. You are a writer who has a secret arrangement with the automobile industry. You will be paid $10.00 for every word you publish that includes the word car...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Writing Prompts
• Answer Keys
• About the Authors
• Common Core State Standards Alignment