The Writer's Journal

by Sheila Bender

Forty award-winning writers reveal the elements of the creative writing process through excerpts from their private journals, illuminating how they record what they observe and how their thoughts and observations end up in their work

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Journaling, Journal

400 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

Sheila Bender is the founder of Writingitreal.com. She teaches online and in-person offering classes and writing consults by Zoom as well.

Her passion is to facilitate those who write from personal experience. Visit her at WritingItReal.com and look for her classes as well at Il Chiostro, Women on Writing, and the International Association for Journal Writing.

Reviews

[Emma Sea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found a real life Don Fenton in the form of author Robert Hellenga. Excerpts from his journal:

"Met a Swiss girl at bus stop . . . Smart looking but not attractive."

"Sat next to two Americans . . . girl not esp. attractive."

"Two striking women. One w. streaks of blond hair in brown. One w. huge tits."

I think I'm done with this book. Going to donate it to my local little free library. DNF at p. 121

[Pamela Trawick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a wide variety of examples of published authors' journal entries followed by how the entries evolved into final writings. The authors comment upon how they journal, how journaling helps them, and how their journaling practices have changed over time. The book ends with the authors' recommendations of other good journals to read that have influenced them, journal-keeping tips, and Bender's list of published journals she recommends reading. This book is encouraging and enlightening. Highly recommend it.

[Pattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is either a book to read a little at a time (which I did), or to use as a reference. Most of the writers who wrote about their writers' notebooks were unfamiliar to me. If you're interested in journaling as writing practice (a personal passion of mine), then this book is probably a good choice for you. If you see journaling as a counseling or spiritual practice, there are other books for you.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that made me esteem my journal. Sherman Alexie, Naomi Shihab Nye and other luminaries show how their journals feed their writing. My favorite book about keeping a journal.