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Journal of Creative Writing Studies

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Journal of Creative Writing Studies is a peer reviewed, open access journal. We publish research that examines the teaching, practice, theory, and history of creative writing. This scholarship makes use of theories and methodologies from a variety of disciplines. We believe knowledge is best constructed in an open conversation among diverse voices and multiple perspectives. Therefore, our editors actively seek to include work from marginalized and underrepresented scholars. Journal of Creative Writing Studies is dedicated to the idea that humanities research ought to be accessible and available to all.

Journal of Creative Writing Studies is a publication of Creative Writing Studies Organization (CWSO), which also hosts the annual Creative Writing Studies Conference .

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Current Issue: Volume 9, Issue 1 (2024)

Research: qualitative and quantitative.

Analysis of Narrative Arcs of College Writers’ Creative Writing: Implications for Engaging Creative Writing Across the Curriculum Justin Nicholes

Creative Writing in a University Bridging Program for Underprivileged STEM Students GLEN RETIEF, Yolandi Woest, and Nosipho Mthethwa

"Give 'em Something to Talk About: Love, Generosity, and Wonder in the Portrait of the Artist Workshop" Florence Gonsalves and Matthew Vollmer

“A Book of Many Rooms”: Joshua Bennett as Personal Tour Guide through Decades of Spoken Word Poetry Michael Baumann

The Making of Instinct: A Review of Marbles on the Floor: How to Assemble a Book of Poems Mitchell James

Craft and Conscience: Writing and Social Justice Janelle Adsit

An Essential Guide to an Invisible Art: A Review of The Invisible Art of Literary Editing Jennifer Pullen

Creative Writing and the Mind/Body Connection

Body and Art as Message: an Experience with Chronic Pain, Writing, and the Mind-Body Connection Mitchell R. James

100 Prompts For Healing used in the Treatment of Addiction Eric A. Kreuter Ph.D.

Teaching Poetry to Med Students? A Conversation with Owen Lewis and Abriana Jetté Owen W. Lewis M.D. and Abriana Jette

A Proposal: Healing Impacts of Writing Groups on Cancer Survivors Cassandra M. Normand

Afterword and After the Ward: The Poetry Cure Abriana Jette and Margarita Sverdlova

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Below is a selection of the NYU Libraries' holdings of literary journals and magazines that publish new fiction, poetry, and other writing. To see whether the library subscribes to a given journal, you can use the advanced search options in the NYU Libraries' catalog , to search for a title and limit the material type to "Journal."

• American Poetry Review The American Poetry Review is dedicated to reaching a worldwide audience with a diverse array of the best contemporary poetry and literary prose. APR also aims to expand the audience interested in poetry and literature, and to provide authors, especially poets, with a far-reaching forum in which to present their work.
• Antioch Review The Antioch Review, a small independent literary magazine founded in 1941 by the faculty of Antioch College in a small town in the cornfields of Ohio, is one of the oldest literary magazines in America. Publishing nonfiction essays, fiction, and poetry from promising and prominent authors, the Antioch Review has an international readership and reputation of publishing the “best words in the best order” for nearly 85 years.
• Ecotone: Reimagining Place Ecotone is based at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and comes out twice a year. Each issue contains new fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork. The magazine bridges the gap between science and culture, bringing together the literary and the scientific, the urban and the rural, the personal and the biological.
• Gettysburg Review The Gettysburg Review, published by Gettysburg College, is recognized as one of the country’s premier literary journals. Since its debut in 1988, work by such luminaries as E. L. Doctorow, Rita Dove, James Tate, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Wilbur, and Donald Hall has appeared alongside that of emerging artists such as JM Holmes, Lydia Conklin, Jessica Hollander, Emily Nemens, Charles Yu, and Ashley Wurzbacher, who was recently named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree.
• Granta Granta magazine was founded in 1889 by students at Cambridge University as The Granta, a periodical of student politics, badinage and literary enterprise. In 1979, Bill Buford and Pete de Bolla transformed Granta from a student publication to the literary quarterly it remains today. Each themed issue of Granta turns the attention of the world’s best writers on to one aspect of the way we live now.
• Kenyon Review One of the most vibrant and innovative literary journals in the world, the Kenyon Review maintains an international reach and significance. Founded at Kenyon College in 1939 by poet and critic John Crowe Ransom, KR remains committed to discovering, publishing, and supporting new voices from the broadest and most diverse backgrounds, as well as featuring singularly distinguished authors of this generation.
• McSweeney's McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern began in 1998 as a literary journal that published only works rejected by other magazines. That rule was soon abandoned, and since then McSweeney’s has attracted some of the finest writers in the world, from George Saunders and Lydia Davis, to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and David Foster Wallace.
• New England Review Over the past 30 years, New England Review has established itself as one of the nation's most distinguished literary journals, a publication that encourages lively artistic exchange and innovation. Presenting work in a wide variety of genres by writers both new and established, each 200-page issue ranges over an unusually comprehensive literary spectrum. You’ll find highly accomplished traditional narratives as well as challenging experiments in style and form, poetry and works of drama of the highest quality, translations of works from many languages and time periods, far-reaching essays on art and literature, and rediscoveries from our cultural past.
• New Yorker The New Yorker is a national weekly magazine that offers a signature mix of reporting and commentary on politics, foreign affairs, business, technology, popular culture and the arts, along with humor, fiction, poetry and cartoons. Founded in 1925, The New Yorker publishes the best writers of its time and has received more National Magazine Awards than any other magazine
• Paris Review The Paris Review is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953. It is known for known for presenting quality fiction and poetry by both established authors and new or relatively unknown writers.
• Ploughshares Ploughshares is an American literary journal established in 1971. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in Boston. Ploughshares publishes issues four times a year, two of which are guest-edited by a prominent writer who explores personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.
• Poetry Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. Monroe’s Open Door policy, set forth in volume 1 of the magazine, remains the most succinct statement of Poetry’s mission: to print the best contemporary poetry, of any style, genre, or approach. The magazine established its reputation early by publishing the first important poems of H.D., T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and other now-classic authors.
• Prairie Schooner Prairie Schooner, a national literary quarterly published with the support of the English Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Press, is home to the best fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews being published today by beginning, mid-career, and established writers.
• Sewanee Review Founded in 1892, the Sewanee Review is America’s oldest continuously published literary quarterly. Many of the twentieth century’s great writers, including T. S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Wallace Stevens, Saul Bellow, Katherine Anne Porter, Marianne Moore, and Ezra Pound, have appeared in the magazine.
• Southern Review The Southern Review is one of the nation’s premiere literary journals. Hailed by Time as "superior to any other journal in the English language," we have made literary history since our founding in 1935. We publish a diverse array of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by the country’s—and the world’s—most respected contemporary writers.
• Tin House The first issue of Tin House magazine arrived in the spring of 1999, the singular lovechild of an eclectic literary journal and a beautiful glossy magazine. During its 20-year print run, the magazine established Tin House as a vital and vibrant part of the American literary landscape, a showcase for not only established, prize-winning authors, but undiscovered writers as well.
• TriQuarterly TriQuarterly is the literary magazine of Northwestern University. It is edited by students in the Litowitz MFA+MA Graduate Creative Writing Program and the MFA in Prose and Poetry in the School of Professional Studies. Alumni of these programs and other readers also serve as editorial staff. Available around the world, TriQuarterly has remained "an international journal of writing, art, and cultural inquiry."
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Critical-creative literacy and creative writing pedagogy.

“Imposter Syndrome,” Prairie Fire (forthcoming)

“Lumps,” Freefall (2021)

“The New Old Woman of the 1930s: Aging and Women’s History in Woolf, Sackville-West and Holtby,” Intervalla (2016)

“Aging and Periodicity in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Ambassadors : An Aesthetic Adulthood,” English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 (2016)

This article builds on psychological research that claims critical thinking is a key component of the creative process to argue that critical-creative literacy is a cognitive goal of creative writing education. The article also explores the types of assignments and prompts that might contribute to this goal and simultaneously build bridges between creative writing education and other humanities disciplines.

Creative writing has a long history of refusing to theorize what it is doing. As Tim Mayers notes, creative writers in post-secondary institutions have historically enjoyed a “privileged marginality” that keeps them separate from the debates and battles of the rest of the university departments they are housed ( (Re)Writing Craft 21). While this historical position may have helped creative writing instructors to distance themselves from abstruse theoretical debates, it also ran the risk of encouraging a resistance to pedagogical reflection; the romance of the earthy, “real” kernel of activity – the production of creative work – allowed the discipline of creative writing to set itself in opposition to theory of any kind. Fortunately, in the last few years, this attitude has shifted, resulting in an increased commitment to pedagogical reflection and conscientious teaching practice among creative writing instructors. There has been an explosion of work in what is sometimes now called creative writing studies (CWS), represented by the launching of the journal New Writing: An International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing in 2004 and Channel View’s Multilingual Matters book series in 2005. More recently, Bloomsbury’s Critical Creative Writing (2018), edited by Janelle Adsit, has gathered contemporary writers’ reflections on issues such as identity, privilege, and appropriation in creative writing pedagogy. 1 These new studies have broadened the conception of the field, addressing the crucial social context of creative writing education and so also emphasizing the multifarious skills that students might learn from studying the subject.

In what follows, I argue for “critical-creative literacy” as a cognitive goal for creative writing pedagogy. This claim builds on Steve Healey’s description of “creative literacy,” which he defines as “a broad range of skills used not only in literary works or genres but in many other creative practices as well” (“Creative Literacy” 170). In shifting this vocabulary to consider “critical-creative” literacy, my claim is that creative literacy is primarily successful when it is understood as being largely comprised of critical thinking skills; the creative powers we seek to cultivate in creative writing students are dependent on a critically developed conception of the process of writing and the role of writing in our society. As such, criticizing the myths and romance that circulate about writing in our culture should be a central goal of creative writing pedagogy, as it helps our students internalize a sophisticated understanding of audience, purpose, and technique. The claim that students must cultivate a self-understanding of their writing process, of course, is not new; this form of personal development is encouraged by writing teachers everywhere. But advocating for such development in the vocabulary of critical-creative literacy offers several benefits. It allows us to connect the goals for our students as literary writers with those that might help them become prepared for other fields as well. It also offers a clear shape for delineating how creative writing instruction is connected to the social history of writing. Lastly, because it helps us see how sophisticated approaches to reading literature can benefit creative writing students, it offers inroads for how creative writing might utilize some forms of literary theory without becoming mired in their intimidating terminologies.

In the 1990s, beginning with Wendy Bishop’s Released into Language (1990), Patrick Bizzarro’s Responding to Student Poems: Applications of Critical Theory (1993), and Katherine Haake’s What Our Speech Disrupts: Feminism and Creative Writing Studies (2000), scholars made inroads into developing an academic vocabulary for the pedagogy of creative writing. Mayers ( (Re)Writing Craft 10) and Diane Donnelly proposed terms such as “craft criticism” and “creative writing studies” for the sub-discipline of creative writing reflection, and the latter term seems to be taking over. This field is modelled partially on the discipline of composition, guided by a “pedagogical imperative” to centre scholarship on the practice of teaching. As such, the first task for the nascent discipline was to critically interrogate what Kelly Ritter and Stephanie Vanderslice call the “lore” of the discipline – the inherited body of assumptions about the creative writing classroom (xv). Central to this lore was the long-standing skepticism about whether creative writing could be taught. What Mayers calls the “institutional-conventional wisdom” of creative writing held that talent was innate; all that could be taught was technique or “craft” ( (Re)Writing Craft 13). Even today, the website of the prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop includes in its philosophy statement: “Though we agree in part with the popular insistence that writing cannot be taught, we exist and proceed on the assumption that talent can be developed” (“About the Workshop”). While it is undeniable that some components of a writer’s talent are inherent rather than learned in a classroom, this is also true for any discipline (and it rarely leads to the insistence that math cannot be taught.) There has also been a risk, in many traditional classrooms, that the emphasis on creative writing’s unteachability might lead to coasting or playing favourites. Creative writing teachers were often accused of allowing their personal biases to pass as law, and a resistance to critical reflection regarding the methods of teaching the discipline could easily encourage such an attitude.

To date, CWS has accomplished two complementary aims, both of which involve broadening our conception of the discipline. The first aim has been the questioning of the “workshop model.” Developed at the Iowa program, the in-class workshopping of student work (usually while the author is required to remain silent) has been described as the “signature pedagogy” of creative writing, as the research proposal, lab report, or term paper might be in other disciplines (Donnelly 89). But CWS interrogates the dominance of this model; many scholars have advocated for a broader set of classroom practices, beginning with Wendy Bishop’s description of the “transactional” creative writing class that gets students writing rather than simply critiquing the work they have already done (14). Some critics have even claimed that the workshop simply must go (see Wandor), while others have defended the workshop as a flexible format but have sought to expand our sense of its possibilities (Donnelly 75–89). As several scholars have noted, when the workshop model was initially invented at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop by Paul Engle, it was intended for experienced students at the graduate level, not for undergraduates (Swander 168). The workshop relies on widely read and confident peers amongst the participating students and may not always be appropriate for less advanced students.

The second achievement of CWS has been the wellspring of new ideas regarding how creative writing can broaden not only its classroom practices but also its pedagogical goals. If the “lore” of the discipline asserted that only techniques, craft, and “tricks of the trade” could be taught, while the fundamentals of the practice could not, there was a risk of imagining a “thin” discipline. Such a discipline might help students solve specific problems in the creation of a story but would have trouble speaking to the foundations of what good writing tries to do, nor could it question the political and historical context within which writing occurs. An instructor can help students refine their point of view in a story to help them focus the reader’s empathy, but it is much harder to raise the question of when, how often, or why we should write stories that inspire empathy if craft and technique constitute the entire field. And, accordingly, some of the best works in CWS have addressed the need to connect creative writing instruction with history, conceiving of student writers as potential public intellectuals engaged with the powerful linguistic discourses that comprise the rest of our culture outside conventional literary genres (Dawson, Creative Writing 194–96).

Steve Healey articulates for one such model of the public intellectual by advocating the goal of creative literacy. Healy defines the goals of his creative writing classroom as the promotion of creative literacy skills that prepare students for a range of critical activities beyond those of a literary writer:

Given that so few creative writing students actually go on to become published or professional writers, I want to offer students learning experiences that are more relevant, practical, and engaging. I also want to encourage the creative writing field to open up its boundaries and not cling so tightly to narrow definitions of the literary. (“Creative Literacy” 170)

Other scholars have also noted the necessity of a shift in goals: since only 10 per cent of master of fine arts graduates – that is, graduate students, not undergraduates – go on to publish books, the discipline is a failure if it understands itself solely in the careerist terms of the production of professional literary writers (Leahy 61). The goal of creative literacy responds simultaneously to the broader goals of the humanities in creating public intellectuals and to the realities of student job seeking. As Healey notes, widespread claims about the rise of the “creative class” and the creative ethos of business in the new millennium have allowed a generalized understanding of creativity to absorb much of the cultural capital that used to belong to “literary” literacy, and students want access to that capital more than they want particularly literary skills (“Beyond the Literary” 63–68). Just as most history or English undergraduates do not go on to become historians or literary critics but, instead, become historically conscious critical citizens with advanced communication skills, creative writers can and do achieve the same.

Healey argues that creative and critical literacy work in tandem, so that creative literacy joins “a range of other literacies, most notably ‘critical literacy,’ which is often promoted as the primary skill-set that students gain from liberal arts courses” (“Creative Literacy” 176). This is a prudent way to introduce creative literacy, comparing it with more familiar skills to which it serves as an addendum. I propose, however, that we understand the literacy particular to creative writing not as an addendum to critical thinking but, rather, as a form of critical thinking in and of itself, comprised not only of the capacity for spontaneous creative production but also at least as much from critical and rational capacities. While this might not be the conventional way in which creativity is positioned, there is considerable evidence supporting the claim that successful creative endeavours, particularly in the field of writing, are marked by the internalization of a critical consciousness and, furthermore, that this critical consciousness is not only an element of good writing and editing but also essential to the writer’s developing self-conception.

The most conventional way to situate creativity is as a separate form of cognition from critical, rational thinking. Books like Anthony Weston and Byron Stoyles’s Creativity for Critical Thinkers claim to proffer a helpful additive to critical thinking, emphasizing that both are useful for setting up the dichotomy of “inside-the-box” and “outside-the-box” thinking (x–xii). But this binary is problematic. We might want to note that instructors teaching critical thinking or logic never claim that they are promoting “inside”-the-box thinking because the entire cliché of inside-the-box and outside-the-box thinking is designed to make non-creative cognition sound small and rote. The idea that creativity will deliver us from rote solutions is not an empty promise, and other vocabularies, such as divergent and convergent thinking (both of which are usually situated as a part of the process of creative problem solving) lead to more complex versions of this binary. But we might want to think critically about why the desire for novelty appears in the guise of the same cliché over and over, as if the impulse to solve problems creatively were butting its head forever against the inside of the same box.

Psychologists studying the nature of creativity provide the following definition: “Creativity is the interaction among aptitude , process , and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context ” (Plucker, Beghetto, and Dow 87; emphasis in original). This definition aligns with our everyday experience of problem solving: anything from inventing the iPhone to installing an appliance in an oddly shaped space requires some degree of creative adaptation, uncovering a new method or concept appropriate to the situation. Yet this model of creativity has also been widely criticized for subsuming every form of creative engagement into a capitalist model of the marketable product, whose novelty and usefulness to others can be measured in sales. Thomas Frank argues that it appropriates creativity from the arts, reassigning it as the marker of the managerial class. Indeed, one of the most widespread concerns about aligning creative writing with the general fervour for “creativity” in the business world is that writing will lose its critical potential as a humanities subject and become more closely aligned with market forces. As Alexander Hollenberg has recently argued, “the language of value claims the creative moment as an inherently marketable and always already marketed product” (50). The issue, as Hollenberg argues, is that divorcing creativity from critical thinking tends to transform creativity into this marketable ghost of itself, encouraging the romance of individual creative labourers who spontaneously invent the devices the market needs. Hollenberg claims instead that “creativity is always constituted through criticality” (63).

The realignment of critical and creative thinking is not only a possible avenue of resistance – it also appears to be an accurate reflection of cognitive reality. Recent psychological research on creativity supports the claim that the people discovering creative solutions are doing so by pursuing an activity cognitively divorced from reason and critical evaluation. It is true that most guides to brainstorming and creative thinking will advise readers to defer evaluation and judgment while trying to come up with creative solutions, but only as one stage of the process. Recent psychological work on creativity suggests that even the initial process of uncovering surprising or counter-intuitive possibilities does not arise from simply setting aside rational linear judgment. Nathaniel Barr and colleagues point to a growing body of research that demonstrates that conscious, executive processing is crucial for creative thinking, and they suggest that at least complex forms of creativity could be understood a “dual-process” theory that uses both conscious processing and unconscious processing at once (70–71). Crucially, their study also points to the central importance of both a person’s ability and her willingness to think critically and to test her ideas (Barr et al. 71). While we might have the image of a successful creative brainstorming session as something that sets aside rational and critical thought, critical thinking is often involved in setting aside and skipping over the obvious, trite, or absurd solutions. The relevance of this to the world of creative writing is clear for creative writing is a field where freshness and originality are valued and cliché is treated almost universally as a weakness (Schultz 79). To return to my earlier complaint about the overused metaphor of outside-the-box thinking, it is critical creativity, rather than a mere impulse to celebrate all things creative, that allows people to recognize when they are repeating a cliché that might be leading to the ossification of the very way they conceive of creativity.

Understanding the role of critical thinking in creativity is essential if we are to apply creativity theory to creative writing, a field wherein creativity is fairly obviously paired with conscious, critical thought. In 1920, addressing the question of a method for writing poetry, T.S. Eliot famously remarked: “[T]here is no method except to be very intelligent” (55). While his arch sentiment may sound elitist today (and disregards the theory of multiple intelligences), the fact is that a writer’s ability to articulate and explore the world in words marks a kind of intelligence that is often conventionally noticeable as such because it trucks in conscious and critical deliberation. Writers may describe the need to put aside their inner editor in order to begin writing, but most successful writers are also keen and critical editors of their own work. To see creative and critical thinking as distinct cognitive strategies is to misunderstand how writers think and what kind of consciousness that studying and practising writing is likely to develop. A writer working on a story, for example, needs to be able to apprehend and define a core conflict, cut passages and sections that do not contribute, critically analyze the characters to make sure they are well defined by their actions, and stand outside of themselves enough to imagine how a reader might apprehend a detail or a situation. There is a significant degree of intuition in the process of imagining a story or poem, but crafting one is often a conscious and self-critical process. It is this latter process of editing and re-conceiving of a piece of creative writing that is in fact both the more teachable and, arguably, the more precious skill in a creative writing classroom. As the very title of Janelle Adsit’s Critical Creative Writing reminds us, important issues such as appropriation and privilege cannot be addressed without a willingness on the part of students to critically evaluate where they are situated in social history, power relationships, and potentially problematic literary traditions.

Research examining what students actually take away from creative writing courses supports the claim that the complex movement away from mere instinct and toward self-critical thinking is a key marker in their development. Gregory Light, in a study that uses student interviews as qualitative data to chart student development in undergraduate creative writing degrees, uncovers four stages that move the writer from (1) direct personal expression toward, (2) documenting, (3) narrating, and, finally, (4) criticizing the world around them. The progression through these stages is ultimately guided by an increasingly sophisticated internalization of the awareness of the reader, resulting in increasing objectivity toward their own work (268–72). (And as Vanderslice points out, Light’s work is perhaps the best evidence that creative writing can, in fact, be taught [30–31]). As students develop, they cease to feel that a piece of writing is motivated simply by the fact that it expresses their own feelings or beliefs (Light 266). So while the intuitive and spontaneous side of creativity will remain an important element of writing throughout a writer’s life, writers demonstrably develop toward the desire to make conscious and critical statements about the world, challenging the perceptions of their readers.

Light’s study suggests that increasing critical consciousness changes the goals of a student’s creative process, moving the student past the desire for simple self-expression. The kind of critical-creative thinking that writers learn, therefore, includes both an evolving conception of their own writerly activity and a critical disposition toward the world, a desire to make statements about reality. This latter aspect of the writer’s life is difficult to discuss because it is boundless: writers can and do critically engage with any subject matter, and anecdotal accounts attest to the endless “checking” that writers must do to make sure details, situations, and conflicts are evoked in a way that represents their full complexity. The reason beginners are so often advised to “write what they know” is that even everyday life events such as working retail or going to the dentist are almost impossible to imagine accurately without some personal experience of them. But critical consciousness can be discussed as a disposition, an attitude, and that attitude is cultivated in part through focusing on cultivating a writer’s self-conception.

As Light points out, much pedagogical research supports the claim that students’ understanding of their own activities and goals as students is massively important for their learning (272). That this idea holds especially true when it comes to creative writing is attested to by the large number of studies that bemoan the danger of the circulating cultural myths about writers (see Kuhl 4; Rodriguez 169; Royster 26). The fount for myths about writers, as for many creative professions and creativity itself, is the Romantic movements of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The image of Samuel Taylor Coleridge composing “Kubla Khan” in a fever dream and awaking to discover it done is one of our most famous icons of brilliant creative production, and later evidence has also demonstrated that it was a myth propagated deliberately by Coleridge, who concealed the fact that there had been earlier drafts (Royster 27). But the problem is that romantic myths about writers have been accused of dis-incentivizing editing and also of discouraging those who do not immediately land on brilliant first drafts. A student who feels that writing must come from heightened moments of inspiration and that those moments must be awaited patiently (rather than manufactured through a work ethic) is going to struggle to produce well-crafted writing. But research demonstrates that even “aha!” moments are often the result of long processes of work (Sawyer 176).

Adding to the testimony of writing teachers, psychological research also demonstrates that myths about writers are counter-productive, distorting student understanding of the work that goes into composing a successful story and intimidating writers with a false picture of a rare and spontaneous genius. Grace Waitman and Jonathan Plucker note that:

[e]ven effective creative writers often fall victim to the belief that the “magic” to create may leave them. They might believe that they can only be struck by lightning once and that, despite their success, they might actually be a creative imposter. In this kind of evaluation of their own abilities, such writers initially fail to acknowledge the role played by their own critical abilities in their revising process. (303)

Educating students in the real nature of creativity is so important simply because aspiring authors need to realize how deeply they must internalize the field and how much rational thinking goes into their processes: “[A]n undeniable linkage exists between a person’s self-perceptions and the creative process he enacts. Thus, the way that an aspiring creative individual views himself plays a crucial role in his development as a creative writer and also in his written products” (Waitman and Plucker 294). In addition to the myths that originate with Romanticism, other cultural depictions of the writer from television and film have been criticized for leading students to misunderstand the profession: Nancy Kuhl notes that the popular representations of writers tend toward a softer expressivist model of writing as therapy, which equally fails to encourage students to work hard (3).

In addition to the celebration of unconscious spontaneity and irrationalism, the Romantic model of creativity has also been criticized for its hyper-individualism. This latter critique is posed by theories that stress the profoundly collaborative and historically situated nature of creative thinking. Psychologists such as Keith R. Sawyer and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have argued that what makes something creative depends largely on its social context and not on the sole inner brilliance of its maker. Csikszentmihalyi describes creativity as being dependent on the domain (the traditions that define the endeavour) and the field (the range of experts who evaluate which new ideas are “of value”), in addition to the individual’s contribution (314–16). According to this account, the social context of creativity is just as important as the individual’s actions. This perspective has been criticized for going too far in its devaluation of individual creativity, claiming that works only become creative when they are recognized by the experts (by which time the author might already be dead). But the social context of creativity is paramount: there are many more authors spinning their wheels producing works full of clichés, prejudices, and insensitivities than there are lone creative geniuses who fail to be discovered. Importantly, these social theories of creativity parallel Light’s argument about the internalization of the reader, suggesting that a critical faculty for estimating how others will respond is actually central not only to writing but also to all forms of creative thought.

One of the first outcomes of critical-creative thinking for writers must therefore be the challenging of myths about writing and writers and the cultivation of a critical perspective on how the writer imagines his or her own activity. It might be objected that this goal does not need to be deliberately or separately pursued; creative writing programs will achieve some of this cultivation almost automatically as instructors speak to students about their process and experiences. But, in fact, creative writing is simultaneously a discipline where debunking the myths about the field are especially valuable (because moving beyond romantic expressivism is central to a writer’s development) and yet also where the professional world – at least in most university programs – does little to intrude on the classroom. Vanderslice notes that, in an age where media savvy is expected of everyone, many writing programs still graduate students who leave with no real understanding of the publishing market (35–38). Indeed, very few students leave an undergraduate degree in creative writing understanding even how to approach a publisher or where they might submit work – in its university setting, the discipline often resists such practicalities. Vanderslice calls for more practically oriented courses that would orient writers toward publishing primarily to prepare writers for the work they might do, but I would add that such courses introduce an entirely other discourse of the author and so aid a writer’s critical self-reflection. Indeed, assignments requiring self-reflection on students’ identities and processes as writers are a key ingredient to the cultivation of a critical-creative literacy. Carl Vandermeulen’s Negotiating the Personal in Creative Writing demonstrates that student self-reflection, including narration of the process of developing a piece and seeking revision, can be a crucial element of creative writing pedagogy.

Some scholars do see a positive dimension to the romantic image of the author; Donnelly notes that Romanticism is one of the few discourses that asserts that writing and the arts are of central human importance (50). It is also hard to avoid the suggestion that a certain romantic celebration of the power of the arts may keep the discipline going (Sparrow 89). But Donnelly also positions the romantic image of the writer alongside three other possibilities and suggests that, if we have inherited a contradictory set of discourses about the aims and origins of writing, then we should be teaching this debate to our students (22). Cultivating a critical attitude to Romanticism’s myths of creativity and writing may be an important element in student training, but there is no particular reason why this needs to be experienced as a harsh disillusionment. The idea need not be that student ambitions are devalued. It is precisely the act of teaching the debates about creativity, the marketplace, and the history of writing (and designing specific assignments that require students to do so actively) that empowers students to position themselves in the reality of the world in which writers live. Is it a problem that writing is so often represented on television as a form of therapy? Or do such discourses allow non-writers to imagine a sympathetic connection to writing through a familiar form of self-development? Perhaps we should ask our students.

To criticize romantic myths of the author in our teaching is also to open ourselves up to the history of the craft. If students arrive without knowing how to think critically about images of the writer, it is at least in part because they do not arrive on the first day of an undergraduate degree knowing that there was such a thing as Romanticism, that it flourished in a specific time and in response to specific historical pressures, and so forth. And so a recurrent claim in CWS has been that students need to be engaging with history. As Mayers notes, the writer of today is not simply the same as writer of the past (( Re)Writing Craft 63). Paul Dawson argues that the conventional approach to craft in the creative writing classroom needs to be historicized so that examples of successful stories and writing advice are not taken as simply and trans-historically true but, rather, seen as arising from a specific time and place: “[I]f we adopt a diachronic rationale when selecting exemplary texts, we might develop a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between narrative device and fictive example” (“Historicizing” 216). Dawson gives as an example the modernist rejection of the omniscient narrator, which is taken today to be simply a piece of good advice but is actually a specific attitude that was current in the early twentieth century and that some twenty- first-century authors have begun to reject (216).

The value of introducing students to a historicized sense of craft is that they can internalize debates about the purposes of the arts as they are developing a sense of readership, encouraging them to think critically about their own aesthetic goals. As Dawson argues, such a shift is central to the project of recasting creative writing as a humanities discipline like others. It is just this intrusion of history that allows us to problematize the present, further activating the critical side of critical creativity by inviting our students to interrogate and perhaps imagine alternative versions of the society and economy within which they find themselves. But the suggestion that we begin teaching the “history” of craft raises the question of how such an effort distinguishes itself from the study of literature and how it might engage with, or keep distance from, literary theory.

We can address this question from another angle by asking: what is the content of creative writing as a discipline? If we move past teaching only “technique” and craft, what other content do we add to the field? Other humanities disciplines, such as literature, philosophy, or history, never risk facing a lack of content: indeed, they have more than an undergraduate degree can ever cover because their disciplines are essentially historical, beholden to a particular kind of writing for the duration of recorded history. But what Mayers calls the “institutional-conventional wisdom” of creative writing – that only technique can be taught – arises only partially from a false belief in the Romantic genius; there is also a certain practicality to it ( (Re)Writing Craft 13). Instructors certainly assign readings as models and examples, but no one wants to tell students what they have to write about. It is true that some teachers are more willing to provide students with prompts that push their imagination in specific directions (for examples, see Manolis 145; Webb 186). And some have argued that students are in fact more willing to edit, and less threatened and less attached to their drafts, when they are responding to eccentric prompts because they do not feel the story originated romantically with themselves (Leahy 63; Mayers, “Creative Writing” 45). But no one prescribes content in a strict sense; no instructor tells students: “Write a story about a middle-aged entrepreneur’s struggle to reconnect with her family.” The reasons why instructors cannot prescribe precise content are fairly obvious, and they return us to the element of truth in the hackneyed maxim to “write what you know”: our students are in the best position to judge what subjects they may or may not have insight into. And, yet, the formal techniques one uses to solve a problem in creative writing are always what Graeme Harper calls “strongly situational”: “If a creative writer is pursuing the completion of a task, whatever knowledge they explore, employ or produce will be defined by that aim of completion” (107). One can learn the structure of a good story, but every piece of content requires new insights and new problems. Mostly, writers can only learn to solve these problems with experience, coming to understand their own habits of work, which means that, again, the transferability of their learning arises from self-reflection. But, as a result, the conventional attitude of the discipline is that it is teaching form without content – namely, that we are keeping content neutral. This content neutrality is understandable, but it ultimately goes hand in hand with the assumption that we are mainly teaching craft and technique rather than insight.

As Dawson points out, while you cannot prescribe content in student creative writing, you can make room for its reception, introducing into the class a number of critical and social concerns that make the urgency and politics of writing a part of the discussion ( Creative Writing 206). The political importance of making such a context is well addressed by Lynn Domina, who argues that instructors cannot simply assume that content takes care of itself in a workshop because this easily becomes a blindness to the work of writers from marginalized groups under the cover of content neutrality (28). What happens if we begin to think of both specific techniques and the history of those techniques as central to the content of creative writing?

Creative writing teachers, of course, are usually very well versed in the history of literature, but they are understandably suspicious of literary theory. The early history of the discipline of creative writing generally saw creative writers operating out of the same attitude as literary critics because both were dominated by New Criticism’s intense close reading and attention to craft. The divide came later, as literary studies embraced a new and more theoretical vocabulary. Some have pointed out that creative writers were obviously less keen to jump on the bandwagon that proclaimed the death of the author, and, as a result, creative writing is often cast as the last bastion of a more straightforward formalism that celebrates authorial achievement (Ramey 44–45). But we might respond that those who object to literary theory because they do not believe in the “death of the author” are operating from an outdated understanding of literary theory, since Roland Barthes’s claim about the “death of the author” has not been central to literary criticism since the end of the 1980s (142–49). Some of the more recent driving forces in literary studies, such as New Historicism, the cognitive turn, the return to ethics, and eco-criticism are not nearly so hostile to authorial intention.

There are considerably more possibilities for cross-fertilization between literary studies and creative writing if we look to these more recent theories and so start to apply the logic of “teaching the debate” to questions of why authors write, how they engage with nature or class, and how to write politically without being overly didactic. While beginning writers could easily be burdened by too much abstruse theory about such things, exposure to several kinds of writing about nature, or several kinds of writing about class, is certainly a good thing if it is not accompanied by an enervating theoretical vocabulary. I want to focus on one small body of theory that arguably avoids mandating any specific content for writers: the “turn to ethics” that was current in literary studies ten to fifteen years ago. The approach of the new ethical critics is best summed up by Lawrence Buell, who writes that:

[k]ey to many such accounts of reading ethics is a conception of literature as the reader’s other, a view of the reading relation sharply different from that of traditional reader-response criticism, which tended to celebrate (as did Barthes) readerly appropriation or reinvention. The newer ethical criticism generally envisages reinvention not as free play or an assertion of power but as arising out of conscienceful listening. (12)

J. Hillis Miller, another theorist in this terrain, advocates for the idea that the reader is hailed by the text and put on trial by its ethical demands that they set their own preconceptions aside to pay attention to the other (14). Adam Zachary Newton argues that texts make claims like persons do, demanding responsibility of the reader (19–20). If books are said to demand close, ethical attention as a representation of the experience of others that curtails the demands of the reader’s ego, then not only must the writer of the text have agency, but she must also be representing some experience that deserves to make such a demand of its readers.

Is it possible to imagine the kinds of courses, assignments, or prompts that would respond to such a theory from the side of the writer? What if, for example, we posed an assignment or prompt asking writers to represent an experience of struggle on the part of someone with whom they seriously disagreed? Such a prompt arguably retains the necessary degree of content neutrality to allow students to find individual ways to approach it, and yet it also requires them to engage with ethical questions of representation. Such an assignment not only primes students to produce the types of text that ethical criticism seeks to read, but it also positions them as readers of their own experience, critically engaging with the limits of their empathy.

Critical-creative literacy is only one potential vocabulary for the goals of creative writing education, but it has the advantage of emphasizing the crucial role of critical thinking in student self-development without making that critical thinking seem external to the creative impulses that motivate writing. The improvement of student writing and the critical consideration of social and political issues are ultimately united by the necessary student realization that the best and most thoughtful work does not come from a romantic and momentary burst of inspiration but, instead, requires a sophisticated internalization of the reader and the historical forces shaping reader response. When students write statements of purpose, manifestos, or reflective memos about what they are trying to do, this is only the beginning of their development of a critical-creative sense of what they write, for whom, and why. To steep creative writing pedagogy in critical thinking is not to stop students from choosing what to write about or to drown them in abstruse theory – rather, it is to make contact with the critical debates about the purpose of the arts that have always mattered to writers.

1 Two recent books about creative writing pedagogy, Felicia Rose Chavez’s The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop and Matthew Salesses’s Craft in the Real World , were both released after this article was complete; in the months since, these texts have already done much important work to bring awareness of the social context of creative writing pedagogy.

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Journal Buddies Jill | July 8, 2024 August 31, 2021 | Creative Writing , Journal Prompts & Writing Ideas

128 Creative Journal Prompts (Updated!)

Creative Journal Prompts is newly updated (August 2022) — Hooray! Here you will discover loads of fun, fabulous creative writing prompts and ideas for writers of all ages and stages of life.

Best of all, this list of ideas has been updated and EXPANDED from 63 ideas to 128 wonderful creative writing prompts . Wow! Take a look because guaranteed there are some ideas here that you are going to LOVE!

To write creatively requires plenty of imagination, dedication, and practice. When a writer wants to develop their skill in this writing genre, it will take some time to practice and refine their writing abilities.

Get Inspired by Creative Writing Prompts

Creative writing is not just about providing information but it also involves the art of writing with powerful emotions, engaging ideas, and deep thoughts.

Writing in this style entails feelings and free thinking and it involves personal style. Writing creatively is very much about the writers and how they choose to express themselves while effectively conveying their creative ideas and stories to readers.

Below there are loads of creative writing prompts to help all aspiring writers — including young ones — improve their creative writing skills. 

With our two lists of fun, playful, and creative writing prompts to spark the imagination and get the creative juices flowing, writers of all ages will be able to refine and deepen their creative writing skills and ability in no time.

Alrighty. Get inspired now with the list of journal prompts, and enjoy!

63 Creative Journal Prompts for Everyone!

This list was originally in a series of creative writing prompts. We moved it here so you could find it more easily. With so many fabulous creative journal prompts and ideas to choose from there truly is something for everyone to write about on this list. Explore and enjoy!

• How will people travel in the future?
• Are you more like your mom or your dad?
• How would you describe love?
• Write a story about a princess and a magical bicycle.
• Write a story about someone who overcomes a fear.
• Write a rhyming poem about poems.
• If you got trapped at the zoo, what would you do?
• What would it be like to go skydiving? Would you ever try it?
• Why are you lucky to have an imagination?
• What does it mean to be successful?
• If you could make up a sport, how would it be played?
• What is your favorite thing about your family?
• Describe your grandparents’ house.
• What is the best dessert in the world?
• How does it feel when someone shares a secret with you?
• Write a funny story about an alien abduction.
• Are there any foods that you absolutely will not eat? Why?
• What are you looking forward to doing in high school?
• Who is your favorite singer? Why do you like him or her?
• Write a poem about your favorite flower.
• What are three things that make you unique?
• What is the best lesson you’ve ever learned outside of school?
• How do you feel when you hear stories about people living in poor countries?
• What is your favorite kind of animal?
• Do you believe in ghosts?
• How do you feel when you laugh?
• Write a short story about a dog and cat who are best friends.
• If you had three wishes, what would you choose?
• What do you think the clouds are made of?

• Have you ever taken martial arts classes? Would you ever want to?
• Write a poem about your favorite place in the world.
• Write about a time when you learned something that you thought you already knew.
• What was your first word as a baby? Do your parents tell you funny stories about yourself?
• Do you have a cell phone? Why or why not?
• Write a story about your pet taking an adventure after you’ve left the house.
• What is your favorite carnival ride?
• Have you ever flown on an airplane? What was it like?
• Why do countries go to war?
• How do you feel when the leaves change?
• If you were a professional singer, what genre would you sing?
• Have you ever had a scary dream and laughed about it later?
• Write a poem about fall.
• What was your favorite toy as a kid?
• If you could be a dinosaur, which kind would you be?
• What is your favorite thing to do outside?
• Write about a memory that makes you happy.
• How can you give back to your community?
• What would it be like to live on the moon?
• Do you prefer chess or checkers?
• How does it feel to miss someone or something?
• Write about the best party you’ve ever been to.
• What is life all about?
• If you could visit any single new city in the world, where would you go?
• What is your favorite household chore?
• Would you rather visit a mountain or a beach?
• Write about a secret that you’ve never shared.
• What is the best feeling in the world?
• What is the worst feeling in the world?
• If you could take any three celebrities to lunch, who would you choose? Where would you eat?
• What is something that you always have with you?
• Who do you trust more than anyone else?
• Is love or hate stronger?

We hope you and your writers enjoyed this list of journal writing prompts. Now… check out this!

65 Fabulous Creative Writing Prompts for Younger Writers

Special note for teachers: No matter what grade you teach or which subject area you specialize in, you can use these creative writing prompts to keep your students inspired and motivated to write.

From elementary to middle school, high school students and teenagers and adults, our wonderful list of creative prompts are sure to get a writer’s creative juices flowing. Fuel your writer’s curiosity with this bonus list of 65 more creative writing prompts .

• If you could build a dream house, what rooms would it have?
• Write a story about going on an adventure with your best friend.
• Who has the best job in the world?
• Where do you get your best ideas?
• Do women today have equal rights with men?
• Have you ever volunteered to help someone? What did you do?
• What is your favorite thing to write?
• Imagine that you are stuck inside a TV. What will you do? What shows would you visit?
• What would you do if you won the lottery?
• Would you rather be an animal or a toy?
• What is the most important thing you’ve learned in school?
• If you invented a celebration dance, what would it be called? What would it look like?
• Do you want to get married someday? Why or why not?
• What does it mean to be an optimist?
• Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?
• If you designed a video game, what would it be called?
• What is an issue that our world needs to work on?
• What is the last movie you saw in a theater?
• If you could learn any language, which one would you choose?
• What is your birthstone? Does it represent your personality well?
• What are three things that you could never live without?
• What is your favorite food?

• Which type of natural disaster is the scariest?
• Would you rather be really big or really tiny?
• Do you think you’ll go to college someday? Why or why not?
• What is your favorite thing to do on vacation?
• If your pet could talk, what would he or she say?
• Do you ever donate money to people in need?
• If you had an invisible magic helper, what would you have him or her do?
• Write about a time when you shared with someone.
• What is the best decision you ever made?
• If you were a movie director, what kind of movies would you make?
• What is your favorite holiday? Why?
• If you could do anything right now, what would you do?
• If you hosted a radio show, what would it be called?
• Write a short summary of the last book you read.
• Do you use Facebook? Why or why not?
• What does it mean to be a good friend?
• Which of the birds in Angry Birds is your favorite?
• Think of three crazy food combinations. Would you ever eat any of these?
• Do you prefer 2D or 3D animated movies? Why?
• If you could have any superpower, what would you like to be able to do?
• Write a story about a flock of rainbow-colored flamingoes.
• How many hours do you spend watching TV per week?
• What does tradition mean to you?
• Who is the scariest Disney villain?
• If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
• If you were trapped in an igloo during a snowstorm, what would you want to have with you?
• If penguins could talk, what do you think they would have to say?
• Write about one of your earliest memories.
• Write a letter thanking someone who has helped you recently.
• What is your favorite time of day?
• Who is your favorite video game character?
• What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
• What is your favorite thing to do on the computer?
• If you were a farm animal, which kind would you be?
• Would you rather have winter or summer weather every day?
• Should a woman take her husband’s last name when she gets married?
• If you were a toy, what kind would you be?
• Does your family go to church? How do you feel when you are there?
• If you could have any new technological device, which would you choose? Why?
• Write about a time when you were really surprised.
• Have you ever saved money for something important you wanted? Did you meet your goal?
• Do you like lectures or class discussions better? Why?

Igniting Inspiration and Creativity in Your Writers

While it seems like subjects such as math and reading often are at the forefront of any educational curriculum, it is important to keep in mind that creative writing is not an extra activity that should only be included when there is time.

Creative writing plays a pivotal role in a writer’s development — not only as a student but also as a well-rounded person who will need to be able to think outside of the box in order to come up with innovative solutions throughout their lifetime.

Knowing the power that creative writing holds you should strive to incorporate this activity into various aspects of your lesson plans.

Links to More Creative Prompts & Resources

This is only the first batch of creative writing journal prompts that we have for you. There are a lot more unique, quirky, and innovative prompts on the way, so keep an eye out for additional posts.

• 162 Creative Writing Ideas
• Romance Writing Prompts
• 33 Poem & Poetry Prompts
• Six Steps to Develop the Plot of a Story and 15 Fresh Writing Prompts Ideas
• 10 Jobs for Graduates with a Creative Writing Degree

A Few Brief Thoughts on Creative Journaling (with Students)

Through journaling in the classroom, students will find that they more easily connect to the content that you are teaching.

You can select creative writing journal prompts that complement a science curriculum or even a math concept.

Further, you can use creative writing prompts to help students better understand the past and link it to their future, or simply allow them the space to write freely about a given topic.

The key is to get students to write, regardless of the form they choose to express themselves.

Journal Entries to Short Stories to Novels…

It can be tricky to come up with prompts and ideas for your students to use on a regular basis. This is why we have compiled lists of creative writing journal prompts for your writers.

Our creative writing journal prompts are designed to inspire students. They are open-ended prompts that may ask a question or require a student to begin a story with a particular set of characters, yet, writers will have complete and total freedom when it comes to creating their journal entries and finishing their fiction pieces.

These lists of ideas will allow you to pick and choose the journal prompts that work best for your writers (and your classroom) at any given time.

The goal is to offer a prompt that offers enough structure that it prevents a developing writer from struggling with writer’s block but also gives enough flexibility that they can take their journal entry in any direction that they choose.

There is no such thing as too many prompts and ideas, especially when you are trying to help your students develop their writing skills while simultaneously encouraging them to learn to love the writing process.

With the right creative journaling prompts at your disposal, you will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that writing is simply fun. It won’t be difficult at all to encourage your students to keep on writing!

Until next time, write on…

If you enjoyed these  Creative Writing Prompts and Creative Journaling Ideas, please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest. I appreciate it!

Sincerely, Jill journalbuddies.com creator and curator

Tap to See Prompts 162 Creative Writing Topics and Ideas (Updated!) Power Up Your Pen: 157 Writing Prompt a Day Ideas 27 Amazing Picture Writing Prompts for Kids ------------Start of Om Added --------- @media (min-width: 320px) and (max-width: 767px) { .inside-right-sidebar { display: none !important; } } Search Now Offering You 19,000+ Prompts!

Tap to See Prompts 162 Creative Writing Topics and Ideas (Updated!) Power Up Your Pen: 157 Writing Prompt a Day Ideas 27 Amazing Picture Writing Prompts for Kids Search Search Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7-8 Grade 9-12 All Ages ------------End of Om Added --------- Tags creative journaling , creative solutions , Creative Writing , creative writing ideas , Creative Writing Prompt Ideas , creative writing prompts , creative-writing-resources , journal prompts , Journaling resources , students , topics , writing , writing prompts div#postbottom { margin-top: 12px; } Search Now Offering You 19,000+ Prompts!

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8 Effective Journaling Techniques for Creative Writing

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Aug 19, 2021 • 2 min read

Journal writing is a low-pressure way to ease into the habit of daily creative writing. Use these journaling techniques to launch an effective daily practice.

Creative Writing: Reflective Journaling

by Melissa Donovan | Aug 5, 2021 | Creative Writing | 58 comments

Reflective journaling cultivates personal awareness.

A journal is a chronological log, and you can use a journal to log anything you want. Many professionals keep journals, including scientists and ship captains. Their journals are strictly for tracking their professional progress. Fitness enthusiasts keep diet and exercise journals. Artists use journals to chronicle their artistic expressions.

A writer’s journal can hold many things: thoughts, ideas, stories, poems, and notes. It can hold dreams and doodles, visions and meditations. Anything that pertains to your creative writing ideas and aspirations can find a home inside your journal.

Today let’s explore an intimate style of journaling, one in which we explore our innermost thoughts: reflective journaling.

Creative Writing Gets Personal

A diary is an account of one’s daily activities and experiences, and it’s one of the most popular types of journals.

A reflective journal is similar to a diary in that we document our experiences. However, reflective journaling goes deeper than diary writing; we use it to gain deeper understanding of our experiences rather than simply document them.

Reflective journaling is a form of creative writing that allows us to practice self-reflection, self-exploration, and self-improvement. Through reflective journaling, we gain greater understanding of ourselves through mindful observation, contemplation, and expression. As a result, we become more self-aware.

Reflective Journaling

We all have stories to tell. With reflective journaling, you write about your own life, but you’re not locked into daily chronicles that outline your activities or what you had for dinner. You might write about something that happened when you were a small child. You might even write about something that happened to someone else — something you witnessed or have thoughts about that you’d like to explore. Instead of recounting events, you might write exclusively about your inner experiences (thoughts and feelings). Reflective journaling often reveals tests we have endured and lessons we have learned.

The Art of Recalibration is a perfect example of reflective journaling in which stories about our lives are interwoven with our ideas about life itself.

Reflective journaling has other practical applications, too. Other forms of creative writing, such as poems and stories, can evolve from reflective journaling. And by striving to better understand ourselves, we may gain greater insight to others, which is highly valuable for fiction writers who need to create complex and realistic characters. The more deeply you understand people and the human condition, the more relatable your characters will be.

Do You Keep a Journal?

I guess I’m a journal slob because my journal has a little bit of everything in it: drawings, personal stories, rants, and reflections. It’s mostly full of free-writes and poetry. I realize that a lot of writers don’t bother with journals at all; they want to focus on the work they intend to publish. But I think journaling is healthy and contributes to a writer’s overall, ongoing growth.

I once read a comment on a blog by a writer who said she didn’t keep a journal because she couldn’t be bothered with writing down the events of each day; I found it curious that she had such a limited view of what a journal could hold. A journal doesn’t have to be any one thing. It can be a diary, but it can also be a place where we write down our ideas, plans, and observations. It can hold thoughts and feelings, but it can also be a place where we doodle and sketch stories and poems.

I’m curious about your journal. Do you keep one? What do you write in it? Is your journal private or public? Is it a spiral-bound notebook or a hardcover sketchbook? Does journaling inspire or inform your other creative writing projects? Have you ever tried reflective journaling? Tell us about your experiences by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

58 Comments

Hello. I keep writing refrective journal in Japanese. Now I’m trying to it in English. My dream is publish my book of English someday.Mamo

English takes a lot of practice, even for us native speakers, but with time, patience, and commitment, you can do it! Good luck.

Except for a few short months following an interstate move in December, I’ve faithfully kept a journal for 24 years. It’s reflective, it’s prayer, it’s story starts, character sketches, research and notes, it’s sometimes a rant, and usually how I see the world and my take on life. There’s just no way I function well without the journal. It fills some deep need for reflection and observation, but also the need to physically write, which is soothing and mind-ordering for me.

Twenty-four years is a long time! I’m impressed. Wait… that’s about how long I’ve kept a journal too! However, I haven’t been that faithful about it. There are weeks and months when I’m writing so much in other forms (blogging, fiction, etc.), that my journal gets neglected. I admire anyone who can stick with it over the long haul. No wonder you’re such a good writer!

It is wonderful to know that others in this world feel this way. Journaling does seem to help me fell aggreable about the events and happenings that were wholesomel and settle the ones that were not. I never thought of writing as soothing and wondered about dragon voice recognition to do the writing for me, but it just does not have the right feel. So I have stayed with hand writing to record my experiences in this fleeting life.

I have to confess I’m not a fan of voice recognition software except in cases where it helps people who are disabled and cannot type or write. The act of writing, of putting words down on paper or typing them onto a screen, is how we learn vocabulary, sentence structure, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Otherwise, we’re just dictating, and that’s not writing.

Yes, I definitely believe that journaling is good for working out problems and celebrating life’s blessings.

Just today I was visiting with my pastor about this very topic. He wants to journal so he could revisit his thinking from time to time but is too impatient with handwriting. He uses Dragon Writing for dictating sermons, etc. and mentioned he might try it for journaling as well. Whatever works! I’m a big fan of handwriting and I occassionally type journal entries, print them and glue them into my journal. My journals include bits of everything – handwritten entries about my life, copies of special emails, images and articles I run across, quotes, creative sign copy I see while traveling, etc. etc. I tend to keep a separate travel journals and include bits of info from local newspapers, promotional brochures, etc. Other than travel, I like to have everything in one journal.

I’m a one-journal person, too, although I have notebooks for various purposes: one for my blog, one for my client work, and another for a fiction project. I don’t consider those journals. My journal is for ideas, personal thoughts, and poetry. Keep writing!

I was just thinking of putting everything in one journal. It drives me buggy to keep track of 20 different journals.(one for this,one for that)The reflective writing sounds helpful for a course I’ve been listening to on Podcast. Thanks!

I write essay and poetry, and I also keep a journal. I write stream of conscious sessions or dive into explanations of what I’m trying to say ina poem or essay. I also write book reviews and thoughts on what I’m reading. Rant too. All kinds of stuff.

I love stream-of-consciousness writing sessions too, although I usually call it freewriting. It’s the ultimate adventure in writing for me, and it generates so much great, raw, creative material. A really good session actually feels magical.

I’ve kept a journal since the early 1970s as a record of the things going on around me in my life, events, good and not so good things. It is a record of my life. I don’t know if anyone will read it after I am gone, but it has been handy for me at times. When I wanted to know when a certain event happened, I look back in my journal. Because people know I keep a regular journal, I have often had others call and ask me when such and such happened and I am able to find it.

I think your journal will be a wonderful record of your life, something you could pass along as an heirloom or donate to an archival library. I know lots of historical writers love to dig through those archives and learn about people’s lives. I think that’s so cool!

Thanks, but I doubt that it will ever make it into an archives. I will just be happy if my children and grandchilren appreciate it. I have read that people put all kinds of things into their journals, but this one is a life journal. That is one reason I started using some of your ideas for different kinds of journals. I have started a reading journal going all the way back to when I can remember reading, recording some of my experiences and favorite books and so on. I am doing in that way as more of a legacy in the hopes that someday my grandchildren who are avid readers (and possibly a few budding writers as well) will enjoy reading about their grandma’s reading adventures. It definitely has to be what works for a person, or they wouldn’t be motivated to write in it.

What a wonderful legacy — such a treasure. Your children and grandchildren are very lucky!

I agree your grandchildren are fortunate. I recently acquired a copy of my great, great aunt’s journal. It is priceless to me and gave me so many new insights into “pioneer days” when she and her family were traveling across the prarie during the land run in Oklahoma.

I have kept a journal for years. It does reflect what is happening in my life but is more conversations with God, my hopes and dreams, my discernments and my frustrations. I know someday my kids will read them but on a whole I am very honest in them. One of the best habits I have is to ‘harvest’ them, rereading what I write and highlighting certain passage. Get double benefits from that.

I have my great Aunt’s 60 plus years of journal and want to do something with them someday. I have a friend who typed out all of his grandfathers journals, gleaned nuggets of thoughts and wisdom and published a book for his family. Isn’t that cool?

Thanks for good thought today!

I love the double benefits of journaling. In my family, there has only been one journal/diary that I know of and I believe they threw it away because it was full of so much smack-talk about other family members. I read it and didn’t think it was all that bad, but someone got offended and our little family heirloom got tossed. Ugh, what a shame. I kind of wish someone had redacted the offending passages and kept the diary. Anyway, yes, one thing about journals is that “one day someone will read them.” People need to keep that in mind. Thanks, Jean.

I’ve been keeping a journal since I’ve been able to write. It was full of angst during my teen years, but since adulthood, it’s been mostly filled with observations and just whatever’s on my mind that day. Some could be called writing exercises, but I think they’re more like Morning Pages purging my mind of whatever ails it, to free it up for fiction writing.

I was a big teen ranter and whiner too (in my journal). I did morning pages for a while and enjoyed them very much, but I’m not a morning person, so eventually I switched. Now, I guess I write night pages, except I call them moonlight pages. Ha!

Hi melissa,

Great post! I do have a journal and I write there everything you have mentioned: ideas, thought, insights, things I observe around, small stories that come out of my mind in the middle of a train ride.

Regards, Fernanda

I love the multipurpose journal best of all. There are so many different types of journals — who needs a hundred different notebooks floating around? I’m right there with you, Fernanda, although I do have special notebooks for fiction and blogging. Everything else goes into my journal though.

Nice post with some great ideas. As to your questions, I guess I’m a journal slob too. My journal has a little bit of everything and I often put in story ideas and story beginnings. So you could say I get a lot of my writing from what began in my journal. As to what type of journal, I have recently started to keep mine at an online private journaling source, makes it really easy and convenient.

Thanks for posting this.

I’m curious about private online journaling. Do you worry about a third party having control over your journal? Do you back it up locally? I can’t journal electronically anyway. For some reason, I write all poetry and journaling (plus some fiction) longhand. I would love a tablet with a stylus!

I just started using the online journaling a couple of months ago. I use penzu.com, supposedly they use the same encryption that the military uses plus you can lock your journals with two pass codes and no one is suppose to be able to access it but you, not even their staff. You can also download it or print it out at anytime. I use to journal on my computer, because I can type faster than I can write longhand. But constantly downloading to cd and having to upload it each type I wanted to use a different computer was a real pain. I’ve lost journals due to viruses or corrupted cd’s. This way it’s all backedup automatically so I don’t have to worry about losing anything, and I can access it from anywhere. It’s really nice.

Thanks, Tiffiny. I certainly see the benefits of storing a journal online. I guess everything will eventually move to the cloud. Normally, I’m all in favor of technological advances, but storing my stuff (journals, photos, music) somewhere other than my own hard drives is one advance I’m not crazy about. I like the idea, but I am fixed on having my own backup. Anyway, I’ll definitely look into penzu.com. That sounds pretty cool!

I don’t go anywhere without my spiral notebook. I don’t really call it a journal, though. I write everything in it. From grocery lists to affirmations. I tend to think of a journal as being more personal. I cannot underatand a writer who does not keep some form of journal with them at all times. I guess they figure the good ideas will rise to the top.

I kind of understand the good-ideas-rise-to-the-top concept now. A while back, I started conceptualizing a novel and I would just think about my ideas throughout the day — for several months — and didn’t write anything down. And it worked. The best ideas stuck, so then I moved on to brainstorming and note taking. But generally, I write everything down and keep little notebooks stashed in places where I might need them in a pinch (my car, purse, nightstand).

I journaled frequently during our Peace Corps experiences in Ukraine and posted them on my website so they were availableto the public. I was amazed how many people followed them. I received many e-mails from total strangers who were living vicariously through my journals. When we returned to th euSA, we decided to do a stint in AmeriCorps*VISTA and because of my journals, someone contacted me and offered us wonderful housing (a housesitting arrangement) for the duration of our tenure. My journaling is generally reflective. I also do “morning pages” (a la “The Artist’s Way”)…these tend to be rants or details of my day or dreams and schemes and plans…these are private, unedited, quickly tapped out and I do not share them since they may be too intimate or revealing. (I use 750words.com and write as fast as I can for 20 minutes every day – no editing and no thinking just hit it sister!) It is amazing to look back at my journals and relive my thoughts and obeservations. I recommend doing this kind of daily writing. It is cathartic, healing and helps one know themselves. Life is good. “Ginn” In Steamy SC http://www.pulverpages.com (look for my Ukrainian journals there and my Malawi journals and find a link to my blog on my Camino from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela)

I will definitely go check out your journals and 750words.com (I’ve never heard of that site). I love a fast, intense writing session with no editing. That’s where all my best material comes from.

I used to keep diaries when I was a kid and teenager. The ones from my teens were mainly public blogs and I wrote on them nearly everyday. In my twenties I’ve kept a private hardback journal where I write about experiences I don’t want to forget, feelings, stories, lyrics, doodles, rants, etc. I write pretty much anything I want to write about. Sometimes it helps me sort things out and other times it inspires me to write about something.

It is so weird to me that kids these days are keeping public diaries on their blogs. Blogs didn’t exist when I was a teenager (and I’m grateful for that!). When I was a teen and in my twenties, I always wrote down my favorite song lyrics (and made up plenty of my own too). What I love best about journaling is that anything goes. It’s my writing space, so I can write whatever I want there, and so can you!

Hi Melissa, I’ve kept some form of journal writing for years, but in a more deliberately conscious manner for about 8 years, in which I include, as you say, ‘free writes,’ which are so great for personal growth and awareness, as well as sudden insights about family and relationships and story ideas. I love my journal and, as I say, in recent years, keep it handy with me wherever I go.

That’s so interesting because I never get personal insights from my freewrites — just a lot of raw material that I can shape into something like a poem or song. I guess when I do focused freewrites, I solve problems, but in those cases, the freewrite has an intent (as opposed to just writing anything that comes to mind). That’s what I love about freewriting — there are so many different ways to use it.

This is the first time I’ve responded to one of your posts. Yet, you can rest assured that I read them faithfully. Why? Because, um, well, uh, because they are just so darn good!

I learn from you and enjoy the process.

Before I say how I use my journals, I must disclose that I am part owner of a business which sells guided journals as well as a home study course about how to get the most out of using a journal.

My first introduction to journal keeping came while I was in college. I treated the process poorly. I was a very bad date for my poor journal. You can say that while he was always faithful to me I certainly was not that to him.

Later, peer pressure from some very wonderful friends had me reaching for another blank book.

Now, well let’s just say my journals and I have become dearest of friends.

There is one journal which is different from all my others. I began it four years ago and there are only a few pages used. Yet, this journal is used faithfully as it was intended to be used. Once a year my granddaughter and I have a Christmas Tea. After our tea I record things about the tea and ask for her input. She will be six years old when we have our tea this year. This will be the first year her own pen will touch the page.

My desire is that she continue the Christmas Tea Celebration as well as the recording of the event after my death. Perhaps her mom or a friend will join her. Some day her own daughter may be her guest.

At any rate, the treasure she and I are creating together is worth more than any gold I might think of leaving her.

Thank you for your kind words, Yvonne. Your Christmas Tea Celebration and its accompanying journal is a beautiful idea. What a wonderful thing to share with the little ones. I think it’s a lovely tradition.

Yes, I always keep a journal. My thing is to not put any rules on it or it stresses me out. So, it is chaotic, unorganized, pages ripped out, stuff written here and there, scribbles, magazine clippings stuffed inside, pictures stuffed in. Messy.

Rules are stressful, aren’t they? I find that sometimes rules promote creativity but other times (like in my own journal), they hinder it, so I’m with you Kristy — I like a messy journal.

Your post is wondeful!! I do have a journal about which i had forgotten for almost a month :/ Reading your post just reminded of the fact that it was only because of constant reflective writing in my journal that i realised that this (writing) was what i want to do for my entire life! Thank you 🙂

I think a lot of writers start out by keeping a journal. There’s something about journal writing that comes naturally to certain people, and it makes sense that they would go on to become writers.

I started to keep an everyday journal when I was going through a tough time (about 4yrs now), it was suggested to me and ever since I’ve been keeping one. It’s great to get things out,sometimes though it’s hard to put everything down because I’m afraid someone will read it (because they would if they found it).lol but I use my journal for writing thoughts, feelings about things and people,memories,dreams/nightmares, I write about events that have happened too good and bad, I do drawings,sketches,poems,favorite quotes, stick in fav pics etc. Basically a bit of everything!! I prefer leather bound journals with plain paper but at the mo I’m trying out an art blanc journal because the design caught my eye,not to fond of being restricted to lines though! 🙂 I hope I keep one on into my life,sometimes I forget how helpful it is.

Great post! 😀

Your journal sounds a lot like mine! I do have a suggestion for you. If you’re uncomfortable writing your private thoughts in your journal because you’re worried someone will invade your privacy, you might develop a code system or use images instead of text to express certain ideas. I used to use code names for people, and I would sometimes write certain words in another language or using icons. It also makes journaling a little more interesting.

I call my journals Daily Milestones, because that’s what life feels like to me. Even in the most mundane days where I don’t engage in many activities, I can still have an epiphany in some way or another. If I’ve had an activity packed day or week, then I can go off even more!

I also like titling each entry with something witty like Planting Seeds in the Sandbox because it sometimes keeps the focus and intent of a certain entry. That one in particular is about how life is like a giant sandbox and how we, like children, like to play different roles. We plant “seeds” of our imagination to sprout into our reality.

When I first started keeping a journal in 2009, my entries would just be positive messages and revelations about life, but as time went on, they became more personal. I began writing about actual events in my day rather than just abstract inspirations. It felt odd to write about what happened in my day and even more weird to write how I felt about different aspects of the day and my life. I realized if I’m not gonna be honest with myself, especially where I have all the space and time to do so; what chance would I have with being honest with other people or in my creative writing?

It’s really helpful as a fiction writer to keep a journal because I notice a lot of recurring themes to write about: Reminders of how to remain on the path of truth and virtue amongst the many others that would take too much space in my post. One thing I find is how I judge/commend other people. When I write about other people they feel like they become fictional characters because of how I pick apart their faults and qualities. It helps me see them multidimensionally and transfer that realism in the characters I create in my stories.

And of course all this leads to a massive insight to self discovery as I find myself revisitting old entries just in case I’ve strayed from the path.

Thank you, Marlon, for sharing your experience with reflective journaling and explaining how it has benefited you as a writer, storyteller, and human being. What a wonderful testimonial!

Hi Melissa, sounds like your reflective journal is much like mine, with ideas, lists, doodles and plenty of free writing and first drafts of poem. I also note down story ideas and scraps of conversation or a phrase from someone else’s poem or story – so I suppose mine is a journal cum writer;s notebook. I also have a pad specifically for things to do and also my diary and when I look through they also seem to be combination of things, sometimes including pitching ideas and client requests.

Thanks, Sue. I love learning about how other writers use their journals, notebooks, and other writing tools. I’m glad you shared yours!

Hi Melissa,

I have been filling sketchbooks for years as a way of developing my watercolor painting skills, but I am a writer too, so inevitably I worte abd write a lot too, sometimes more than I sketched. Currrently, my main journal is a sewn-binding refill from Renaissance-Art. I have about 14 of them filled. I use mostly the 5.5 x 8.5 size and put my own hardbound covers on them when done, usualy with a sketch or writing on it and imitation leather trip. I use them for sketches on the spot or from photos, like a scrapbook at times, pasting in photos and this and that. An yes, resflections, insights, acconts of evens and trips, just about anything.

Good post, as usual. Thanks.

Hi Bill! Even though I can’t see your journals, they sound beautiful! I love when words and art come together.

I honestly don’t keep a journal,but I periodicaly write in a tablet ideas for new story development. ps.I have a book out the title is THE SIR DAVID THOMAS SERIES.Perhaps it may be something you would like to read.

A tablet or notebook could be considered a journal.

Honestly, i also don’t keep a journal, but I’d write my story ideas, probable developments of them , brainy quotes by others in every-day life and any interesting observation in my phone, laptop, or on a variety of papers (which do not form a notebook in whole!). But I have a separate notebook to jot down ideas for my thesis research report. I guess I’ll keep on writing my creative notes also in future in the same manner.

Yes, now with all these electronic devices, I think a lot of writers’ notes are becoming spread out. I use Evernote, which syncs to all my devices, including my computer. It has tons of great features — for example, you can clip stuff from the web. You can also create multiple notebooks.

Hi Melissa, Personally, I love keeping journals. I have multiple journals for different things. My private journal is just a regular composition notebook where I write down basically all my thoughts and things that happen to me. Occasionally, I paste pictures and articles. Another journal I keep is a spiral-bound notebook where I write down ideas, poems, short stories, etc. I have a couple of those, and I tend to read through them from time to time. I find it helpful to keep journals, that way, I can see the progress I’ve made over the years.

I love flipping through my old idea journals. I often find little treasures that I’ve forgotten about! Sometimes I even find an old idea that I’m now ready to use.

As silly as it might sound to some, I have MANY journals I keep at once. Of course, I have many to begin with and have been journaling since 1983…I have a journal of daily quotes filled with awe inspiring quotes from famous or important to me people. I journal of family history stories for when the thoughts and memories arise, I record them. My everyday (but not always every day) journal filled with intimate and inspiring yet sometimes dark and dreary moments in life. I have two journals (one for each of my children) loaded with photos and stories of important and important to me events to record in each of their lives. I have a Christmas and Thanksgiving journal so I can record each and every holiday and gathering with family and friends and including the preparing and gift giving. A travel journal that I use to prep for journeys and attach receipts and pics and business cards. I must not forget to mention the Bibliophile Reader’s Journal to record books I am reading so that I remember the most important details from each. An honorable mention is the Homes I Have Lived In Journal where I sketch out each home’s floor plan and add pics from our old albums to depict a room that just happened to be in old photos we took. One might ask, why so many as opposed to combining all in one? My simplest answer is; each journal represents a complex chapter in the Life of Me.

That’s awesome, Marcy! What a wonderful collection you’re creating.

I have already been trying to experiment on different types of journaling method since I was a child. My family knew how attached I have always been to notebooks.However, I would always find it too tedious to keep different notebooks for different aspects of my life. Finally, at 2018, I discovered the bullet journaling method. That was when I realized that I could actually keep an all-in-one journal. Currently, my bullet journal houses my ideas, my Bible reading and book reading reflections, and my thoughts. It also serves as my diary. But probably the most treasured part of my journal is Dream Notes section where I keep my most memorable dreams. That is because I would usually have weird and vivid dreams that sometimes serve as reflections of my current mental or emotional state. Other times, those dreams could be excellent sources for stories and poems. I’m always amazed of what my mind could conceive while I’m asleep. So I keep them recorded in my journal.

I use a variation of bullet journaling too. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now (just ordered my third one) and it’s been pretty awesome. I use mine strictly as a planner, calendar, and tracker. I’m not sure I’ll keep all those journals; they’re mostly full of work-related stuff. So I like to keep my creative journals separate. I love notebooks too. Can’t have too many!

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50 Inspiring Journal Prompts to Spark Your Creativity

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Benefits of Using Journal Prompts

How to use journal prompts, journal prompts you can try, how do you come up with a journal prompt.

A journal can be a trusted companion that helps you reflect on your thoughts, feelings, actions, decisions, and relationships. Research shows that journaling is linked to better planning, lower stress, and better physical and mental health.

Whether you write in your journal regularly or you’re just getting started, you might sometimes find yourself staring at a blank page and wondering what to write. If you’re at a loss for words, a journal prompt can come to the rescue.

Journal prompts are suggestions, ideas, or questions that can help guide and inspire your journal entries, says Sabrina Romanoff , PsyD, a clinical psychologist and professor at Yeshiva University.

“Prompts are typically themes to reflect on or questions that are meant to motivate you to think deeper about something,” Dr. Romanoff adds.

In this article, we suggest some journal prompts that can spark your creativity . We also ask the expert for some strategies that can help you create your own journal prompts.

Prompted journaling, also known as guided journaling, offers several benefits:

• Starting point: If you’ve never tried journaling before or if you’re experiencing writer’s block, journal prompts can help you get started.
• Direction: Prompts can provide direction to your writing, says Dr. Romanoff. By focusing on a specific topic or question, you can explore your thoughts and feelings around it. 
• Structure: Sometimes, you might prefer to write down your thoughts freely as they occur. However, there may be times when you want to organize your thoughts more coherently. Journal prompts can provide the structure you need to organize your thoughts.
• Creativity: Using different journal prompts can introduce variety to your journaling experience. It can encourage you to think more creatively and approach things from different angles.
• Insight: Journal prompts can provide topics or themes that help you explore fresh perspectives and new dimensions of yourself, says Dr. Romanoff. This process can help you discover personal insights and promote greater self-awareness .
• Consistency: Having a prompt to guide each journaling session can encourage you to maintain a regular journaling practice. The prompts can make journaling feel like a purposeful and engaging activity, which may help you be more consistent with it.

These are some strategies that can help you use journal prompts:

• Find prompts that inspire you: Dr. Romanoff suggests making a list of prompts that you find inspiring or motivating—you can come up with your own, buy a journal with prompts, or look online for examples.
• Decide your frequency: It can be helpful to set a frequency for journaling, such as daily, weekly, monthly or at any other interval that works for you. You can use prompts every time you journal or just when you’re feeling stagnant and craving inspiration or motivation for your journaling session, says Dr. Romanoff.
• Keep an open mind: Approach prompted journaling with an open mind . Reflect on the prompt and explore where it takes you. You can write as much or as little as you like. 
• Get creative: Don’t be afraid to get creative with your responses or limit yourself only to words. You can even pen down your thoughts and feelings in the form of drawings or poetry, if you prefer.
• Be honest and authentic: Honesty is key to getting the most out of journaling. Write from the heart and don't be afraid to express your true feelings, even if they are complex or challenging.
• Reflect on your responses: After you've written your responses, take a moment to reflect on what you've written. Consider how your thoughts and emotions have evolved over the course of writing them down.

These are some journal prompts that can help you get started.

Self-Discovery Prompts

Self-discovery prompts can help you self-reflect and get to know yourself better. Greater self-awareness is linked to improved emotional intelligence.

These are some journal prompts that can enable self-discovery:

• First, list five words that best describe you. Then, think about which five words you would like to describe yourself.
• Complete this sentence: “My life would be incomplete without….”
• Reflect on a phrase, quote, or mantra that resonates with you. Explain why it’s significant to you.
• Make a list of the things in your life that you’re most grateful for.
• Explain what you do best.
• Reflect on the qualities that you value most in others.
• Share three things that made you smile today.
• List your best and worst habits.
• Write down three life lessons you’ve learned.
• Explain what love means to you.
• Describe the values that are most important to you and consider whether your actions align with them.
• Think about what you would do with your life if you had unlimited resources and explain why.
• Describe what is stressing you out and how you’re coping with it.
• Write about your biggest regret and what you would do differently in hindsight.
• Identify and label the fears and insecurities that are holding you back right now.

Personal Growth Prompts

These are some journal prompts that can encourage personal growth:

• What are three short-term goals you would like to achieve within the next three months?
• What are three long-term goals you would like to achieve within the next five years?
• Which skill would you like to cultivate in yourself?
• Which qualities do you admire most in others that you would like to develop in yourself?
• Which areas of your life would benefit from more self-discipline ?
• What is your worst habit and how would you change it?
• What’s something new you would like to try?
• What habit do you want to add to your daily routine?
• What would you like to contribute to your community?
• What is the biggest challenge you’re dealing with right now?
• What is the biggest failure you’ve ever faced and what have you learned from it?
• How would you like to be remembered by others?
• How can you better support your loved ones?
• What boundaries would you like to set in your relationships to protect yourself?

Mindfulness Prompts

Mindfulness prompts can help you become more aware of your thoughts, emotions, senses, and surroundings. Being more mindful can help you be more intentional and purposeful in the way you live your life.

These are some journal prompts that can support greater mindfulness:

• Describe a meal you ate today. What colors, textures, tastes, and feelings did you experience?
• Pick an everyday object from your surroundings, like a plant or a pencil. Write a detailed description of it as if you've never seen it before.
• Focus on a sound in the background, such as the ticking of a clock or the rustling of the breeze. Describe the sound and its impact on you.
• Close your eyes for a minute and pay attention to your breath. When you open your eyes, write down what it felt like.
• Describe your ideal day from morning to night. What activities, people, and experiences would be part of it?
• Reflect on your thoughts without judgment . Identify and describe any feelings you're experiencing in the present moment.
• Write about a recent interaction with someone. What were their words, expressions, and gestures? How did you feel during the interaction?
• Think back to a moment of happiness you experienced recently. Relive the sensations, thoughts, and emotions associated with it.
• Think about the place where you feel most at peace. What makes it special to you?
• Recall a time when you were worrying about something in the future. How did it affect your present moment and what would you have done differently?

Creativity Prompts

These are some journal prompts that can spark creativity :

• Write a letter to your favorite fictional character, describing your life to them.
• Make a list of questions you would like to ask a future version of yourself.
• Think about your favorite word or phrase. Explain why you love it.
• Choose a random object from your surroundings. What qualities do you have in common with it?
• Make a list of ten unusual ways to use a common household item. Get creative and think outside the box.
• Write a conversation between two inanimate objects, giving them personalities and voices.
• Invent a gadget that would make your life more efficient or interesting.
• Choose a word from a foreign language that doesn't have a direct English translation. Describe the last time you encountered or experienced it.
• Imagine you get the chance to be any animal for a day. Which animal would you pick and what would you do?
• Invent a new holiday and outline the traditions, celebrations, and rituals associated with it, based on your values.
• If you have a time machine and you can go anywhere in the past or future, where would you go and what would you do there?

These are some strategies that can help you come up with your own journal prompts:

• Decide your goals: First, consider what your goal of journaling is and then work backwards to find ways to achieve that goal, says Dr. Romanoff. For instance, she says gratitude , relationships, learning, self-growth, or creativity are goals that you might want to pursue.
• Find prompts that align with your goals: Write down a few prompts that resonate with you and align with your current goals, interests, or areas of focus. You can add more or tweak them as you go along.
• Mix and match different prompts: Feel free to mix and match prompts from different sources or create your own variations. Experiment with different types of prompts to keep your journaling practice engaging and varied.
• Build on existing prompts: If a prompt leads you to new insights or questions, consider exploring those ideas in subsequent journal entries. You can use your initial response as a springboard for deeper exploration.

Journaling can be a form of self-care , a way to connect with yourself, or a creative exercise. 

If you enjoy journaling, having prompts can help guide your thoughts and focus your attention in a specific direction. Having a new journal prompt to work on every time you’re in the mood to journal can be exciting, comforting, and even a little scary. Just think of each prompt as an opportunity to learn something new about yourself.

Pena‐Silva RA, Velasco‐Castro JM, Matsingos C, Jaramillo‐Rincon SX. Journaling as an effective tool to promote metacognition and enhance study methods in a pharmacology course, during and after the pandemic . FASEB J . 2022;36(Suppl 1):10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R4840. doi:10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R4840

Drigas AS, Papoutsi C. A new layered model on emotional intelligence . Behav Sci (Basel) . 2018;8(5):45. doi:10.3390/bs8050045

Crego A, Yela JR, Gómez-Martínez MÁ, Riesco-Matías P, Petisco-Rodríguez C. Relationships between mindfulness, purpose in life, happiness, anxiety, and depression: testing a mediation model in a sample of women . Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2021;18(3):925. doi:10.3390/ijerph18030925

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

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‘show don’t tell’: what creative writing has to teach philosophy.

1. Discovery versus Recovery

I think I summed up my attitude to philosophy when I said: philosophy ought really to be written only as a poetic composition. It must, as it seems to me, be possible to gather from this how far my thinking belongs to the present, future or past. For I was thereby revealing myself as someone who cannot quite do what he would like to be able to do. [ 5 ] (p. 24e)

Our engagement in language is active only as long as we are finding the universe. When we cease to find the universe, then actually we cease to have the occasion of language. That great proportion of modern poets who have suffered shipwreck in language are really no longer engaged in finding the universe. Language has in a way grown sufficient to them. But we have a searching psyche, a searching mind or simply a longing or a need for language to continue in the universe. Language for me is an engagement in which we are finding the universe. [ 10 ] (p. 81)

You were silly like us; your gift survived it all: The parish of rich women, physical decay, Yourself. Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry. Now Ireland has her madness and her weather still, For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives In the valley of its making where executives Would never want to tamper, flows on south From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs, Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives, A way of happening, a mouth.

2. Ode to the Manifest Image

There exists at present a living human body, which is my body. This body was born at a certain time in the past, and has existed continuously ever since, though not without undergoing changes; it was, for instance, much smaller when it was born, and for some time afterwards, than it is now. Ever since it was born, it has been either in contact with or not far from the surface of the earth; and, at every moment since it was born, there have also existed many other things, having shape and size in three dimensions [in the same familiar sense in which it has], from which it has been at various distances [in the familiar sense in which it is now at a distance both from that mantelpiece and from that bookcase, and at a greater distance from the bookcase than it is from the mantelpiece]; also there have [very often, at all events] existed some other things of this kind with which it was in contact [in the familiar sense in which it is now in contact with the pen I am holding in my right hand and with some of the clothes I am wearing]. Among the things which have, in this sense, formed part of its environment [i.e., have been either in contact with it, or at some distance from it, however great ] there have, at every moment since its birth, been large numbers of other living human bodies, each of which has, like it, [a] at some time been born, [b] continued to exist from some time after birth, [c] been, at every moment of its life after birth, either in contact with or not far from the surface of the earth; and many of these bodies have already died and ceased to exist. But the earth had existed also for many years before my body was born; and for many of these years, also, large numbers of human bodies had, at every moment, been alive upon it; and many of these bodies had died and ceased to exist before it was born Finally [to come to a different class of propositions], I am a human being, and I have, at different times since my body was born, had many different experiences, of each of many different kinds: e.g., I have often perceived both my own body and other things which formed part of its environment, including other human bodies; I have not only perceived things of this kind, but have also observed facts about them, such as, for instance, the fact which I am now observing, that that mantelpiece is at present nearer to my body than that bookcase; I have been aware of other facts, which I was not at the time observing, such as, for instance, the fact, of which I am now aware, that my body existed yesterday and was then also for some time nearer to that mantelpiece than to that bookcase; I have had expectations with regard to the future, and many beliefs of other kinds, both true and false; I have thought of imaginary things and persons and incidents, in the reality of which I did not believe; I have had dreams; and I have had feelings of many different kinds. And, just as my body has been the body of a human being, namely myself, who has, during his lifetime, had many experiences of each of these [and other] different kinds; so, in the case of very many of the other human bodies which have lived upon the earth, each has been the body of a different human being, who has, during the lifetime of that body, had many different experiences of each of these [and other] different kinds. [ 14 ] (pp. 106–107)

Addis represents Moore’s propositions as

belonging to the common-sense view of reality. These are propositions which he claimed to know with certainty to be true, but which could not be justified, Propositions belonging to the common-sense view of reality are those which are held by all mankind. [ 7 ] (p. 136)

Nothing could be more remarkable than seeing a man who thinks he is unobserved performing some quite simple everyday activity. Let us imagine a theatre; the curtain goes up and we see a man alone in a room, walking up and down, lighting a cigarette, sitting down, etc. so that suddenly we are observing a human being from outside in a way that ordinarily we can never observe ourselves; it would be like watching a chapter of biography with our own eyes,—surely that would be uncanny and wonderful at the same time. We should be observing something more wonderful than anything a playwright could arrange to be acted or spoken on the stage: life itself—But then we do this every day without its making the slightest impression on us! True enough, but we do not see it from that point of view’. [ 5 ] (p. 4e)

‘You must say something new and yet it must all be old.

In fact you must confine yourself to saying old things—and all the same it must be completely new!

Different interpretations must correspond to different applications.

A poet too has constantly to ask himself: ‘but is what I am writing really true?’—and this does not necessarily mean: ‘is this how it happens in reality?’.

Yes, you have got to assemble bits of old material. But into a Building ’. —[ 5 ] (p. 40e)

How does he know such things? I mean, apart from any philosophical claim into whose service he would press such findings, how can he so much as have the idea that these fleets of consciousness, which is obviously all he’d got to go on, are accurate wakes of our own? And the fact is, so much of what he shows to be true of his consciousness is true of ours [of mine]. This is perhaps the fact of his writing to be most impressed by; it may be the fact he is most impressed by—that what he does can be done at all. [ 23 ] (p. 20)

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Musgrave, D. ‘Show Don’t Tell’: What Creative Writing Has to Teach Philosophy. Philosophies 2024 , 9 , 150. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies9050150

Musgrave D. ‘Show Don’t Tell’: What Creative Writing Has to Teach Philosophy. Philosophies . 2024; 9(5):150. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies9050150

Musgrave, David. 2024. "‘Show Don’t Tell’: What Creative Writing Has to Teach Philosophy" Philosophies 9, no. 5: 150. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies9050150

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24 of the Best Places to Submit Creative Nonfiction Online

Sean Glatch  |  March 31, 2021  |  2 Comments

After weeks of deliberating over the right words and fine-tuning your creative nonfiction piece , you’re ready to begin submitting to literary nonfiction journals. The only problem is finding the right home for your creative nonfiction submission. What journals or literary nonfiction magazines should you prioritize submitting your work to?

Find your answer here: we’ve searched the net for great creative nonfiction journals, and any of the following 24 publications is a wonderful home for creative nonfiction—guaranteed.

If you’re looking to submit multiple genres of work, take a look at the best places to submit poetry and the best places to submit fiction , too!

24 Creative Nonfiction Magazines to Submit To

Just like our other guides on the best literary journals to submit to, we’ve divided this article into three different categories:

• Great journals to secure your first publications in
• Competitive journals for writers with previous publications
• High-tier creative nonfiction journals at the summit of publishing

Any publication in the following 24 journals is sure to jumpstart your literary career. So, let’s explore the best nonfiction magazines and journals!

Creative Nonfiction Magazines: Great First Publications

The following eight journals sponsor creative nonfiction from both emerging and established writers, making them great opportunities for writers in any stage of their journey.

1. Sundog Lit

Sundog Lit loves the weird and experimental, and it regularly seeks innovative nonfiction for its biannual journal. All submitted works should be well-researched and play with both form and content. Submit your hybrid content to this great creative nonfiction journal!

2. River Teeth Journal

River Teeth Journal specializes in narrative nonfiction. The journal operates with the motto “Good Writing Counts and Facts Matter,” which captures their preference for well-researched and thoughtfully composed CNF. Literary nonfiction submissions are open twice a year, typically between September and May.

3. Atticus Review

Atticus Review posts daily nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. They publish work that is unabashed and resilient, finding hope in even the toughest of situations. All published works after September 19th, 2020 receive a $10 award from this creative nonfiction journal!

4. Barren Magazine

Barren Magazine publishes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and photography, preferring works with grit and muster. Each publication of this creative nonfiction magazine includes prompts: for their 17th issue, the prompts are “unorthodox, sensational, kinetic, quixotic, & transcendent.”

5. The Offing

The editors at The Offing look for work that’s innovative, genre-bending, and challenges conventions. The Offing is especially keen to support both new and established authors, making them a welcome home for your creative nonfiction submissions.

6. Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse sponsors emerging and diverse voices in its biannual publication. Submissions for this journal remain open between September and May, and they typically range between 2,500 and 5,000 words. This is a great literary journal to submit to for writers of all styles and narratives!

7. Dogwood: a Journal of Poetry and Prose

Dogwood is a journal of poetry and prose based out of Fairfield University. This annual publication only opens for submissions in the Fall, and each edition includes prizes for top pieces. Literary nonfiction from all walks of life are welcome here.

8. Montana Mouthful

Straight out of the Treasure State, Montana Mouthful seeks “just a mouthful” of fiction and nonfiction. Creative nonfiction submissions should not exceed 2,000 words but should still deliver a cogent, memorable story.

Creative Nonfiction Magazines: Reputable Literary Journals to Submit To

The following literary magazines and creative nonfiction journals can be tough competition, but with a few previous publications under your belt and a special story ready for print, the following journals could jumpstart your literary career. All of these journals have fantastic literary nonfiction examples!

9. Conjunctions

Conjunctions publishes daring works of poetry and prose, living by its motto to “Read Dangerously!” Submitted works should provoke, excite, and linger with the reader. Conjunctions publishes both a biannual magazine and a weekly online journal, both of which house fantastic literary journalism.

10. Black Warrior Review

Black Warrior Review is a biannual literary journal run by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This Whiting Awarded journal nurtures groundbreaking literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, with many of its authors going on to win Pushcarts and Best of the Net prizes!

11. Hippocampus

Hippocampus Magazine is one of the best creative nonfiction magazines out there, as it focuses solely on the publication of personal essays and nonfiction stories. Their strictly digital publication is highly literary and has many great creative nonfiction examples and pieces. Despite being a highly competitive journal, both new and emerging writers can find a home at Hippocampus .

12. American Literary Review

The American Literary Review , run out of the University of North Texas, publishes engaging and precise stories and poetry. The journal is currently on hiatus, but read some of its back issues and you’ll understand why it’s a great literary journal to submit to.

13. Fourth Genre

Fourth Genre is a biannual creative nonfiction journal published through Michigan State University. The journal amplifies diverse and powerful voices, seeking stories that are refreshing, earnest, and imaginative. Fourth Genre only publishes nonfiction, so read its back issues for some great creative nonfiction examples!

14. The Cincinnati Review

The Cincinnati Review is interested in literary nonfiction that can “knock your socks off.” Submissions for personal essays are open between September and January; writers can also submit flash nonfiction year-round to its miCRo series.

15. Creative Nonfiction

“True stories, well told” is the motto of Creative Nonfiction , the aptly-named journal of all things CNF. Creative Nonfiction celebrates a diverse range of voices and experiences, championing both new and established essayists. Between its literary publications and its creative nonfiction blog, writers can learn a lot from this journal. Send your creative nonfiction submissions to Creative Nonfiction !

16. Witness

Witness publishes prose and poetry that examines and analyzes the modern day. They seek stories about modern issues and events, often publishing bold and eclectic takes on serious issues. Witness is a more politically-oriented journal, making it a leader in contemporary literary journalism.

Creative Nonfiction Magazines: The Summit of Literary Nonfiction

The following journals are notoriously difficult to publish in, as writers often have to have a name built for themselves in the literary world. Nonetheless, the following publications exist at the summit of CNF, so keep these publications on your radar as top literary journals to submit to.

AGNI , a highly literary publication run at Boston University, publishes fiery, transformative prose and poetry. Creative nonfiction submissions should be polished, inventive, and highly original. Be sure to read their previous publications for an idea of what they look for!

18. The Atlantic

The Atlantic is well-respected for its literary journalism, making it a premier publisher of creative nonfiction. Though many of its published pieces are solicited, The Atlantic is always looking for fresh, bold stories and poetry, so it’s a premier place for nonfiction magazine submissions.

Salon does not present itself as a creative nonfiction journal, but many of its previous magazine issues are highly literary in nature, examining current issues with a sharp, educated lens. If you have nonfiction stories that are both personal and global in nature, Salon accepts queries for articles and editorials, so check them out!

20. The Antioch Review

The Antioch Review is a real page-turner, as their past publications can attest to. This highly literary journal publishes fantastic prose and poetry, and if you have a creative nonfiction piece that’s riveting and influential, The Antioch Review is looking for your creative nonfiction submissions.

21. The Colorado Review

The Colorado Review is a tri-annual publication steeped in history, with original issues featuring poetry and prose from Langston Hughes, E. E. Cummings, Henry Miller, etc. The journal is committed to contemporary literature, seeking voices that are transformative and capture today’s (or tomorrow’s) zeitgeist. The Colorado Review is a fantastic space for literary journalism and will certainly welcome your creative nonfiction.

22. The Virginia Quarterly

The Virginia Quarterly publishes a wide array of literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, promising both ample readership and ample pay. VQR seeks inventive and imaginative stories, and it accepts both personal essays and nonfiction pieces on literary and cultural criticism. Submissions are generally open in July, but keep tuned for any special announcements or brief reading periods!

23. New England Review

New England Review is a quarterly publication of all things literary. The journal is dedicated to publishing both emerging and established voices, though it remains a highly competitive journal for creative nonfiction. NER is a great literary journal to submit to for stories that are engaged, critical, and sparkling.

24. North American Review

The North American Review is the oldest literary magazine in the United States. Since its inception in 1815, it remains one of the best nonfiction magazines to submit to, publishing strong literary voices with imaginative story arcs and moving messages. Nonfiction magazine submissions at North American Review are always spectacular—go check them out!

Tips for Publishing Your Creative Nonfiction Submissions

“How do I get my nonfiction published with so many other voices in the room?” This is a question we hear often, and as writers in the modern day, we can’t help but notice how diverse the publishing world is, and how everything “has already been written.” How can you make sure your story gets published in the right creative nonfiction magazines?

Of course, no story is guaranteed publication, but if you’ve written an earnest, sparkling story with grit, character, and truth, then the right literary journals to submit to are in this list. Additionally, you can boost your chances of success with the following publishing tips:

Start With a Powerful Title

Your creative nonfiction submissions should draw the reader in right away, which means starting with an attention-grabbing title. Your title could be a singular and obscure word, or it could be a long description, or anything in-between—the goal is to stand out while representing your story faithfully.

Here are some great titles we saw from a brief glance at the literary nonfiction examples from Hippocampus :

• Bar Bathroom Graffiti in New Orleans: A One Year Catalog by Kirsten Reneau
• Necrokedeia for Children by Mark Hall
• Ford Motor Company Tells Me About Perseverance by Alexis Annunziata

These titles give you an idea about the story itself while also drawing you in with wit, humor, or obscurity. Literary editors have thousands of stories to read each year; give them something to notice so you can stand out among the rest!

Follow the Creative Nonfiction Journal’s Formatting Guidelines

A surefire way to receive rejections on your literary nonfiction is to ignore the formatting guidelines. Each journal has its own requirements, though they often align with MLA formatting requirements, but be sure you follow the journal’s instructions faithfully, or else they may discard your submission without even reading it.

Read the Creative Nonfiction Magazine’s Past Issues

The 24 publications mentioned in this article are some of the best nonfiction magazines in the world, in part because they adhere so strongly to their tastes and preferences. As such, no two journals are alike, and each publication has its own expectations for the nonfiction they read and publish. Before you submit your creative nonfiction, be sure to read some past publications and gauge whether your essay will fit in with the journal’s literary tastes.

Keep Track of Your Submissions

Many creative nonfiction journals allow simultaneous submissions, meaning you can submit the same piece to multiple journals. However, if one journal accepts your work, you need to notify the other journals that it has been accepted and is no longer available for consideration.

Keeping track of your creative nonfiction submissions in a spreadsheet or personal organizer is essential: if multiple journals publish your story, it could harm your chances of getting published in the future.

Aim High—But Not Too High

Your personal essay deserves to be read, but if you’re only submitting to journals like VQR or The Atlantic, it might never see the light of day. Part of the publishing process means building your publication history and portfolio.

Your literary journalism will one day get published in Salon or the New York Times, but until then, focus on getting recognized in smaller and medium sized journals—and don’t let rejections bring you down, because it’s only up from here!

Fine-Tune Your Creative Nonfiction Submissions with Writers.com

Looking for extra help on writing your personal essay, lyric essay, or hybrid nonfiction piece? The instructors at Writers.com are ready to assist you. Gain valuable insight and diverse perspectives on your nonfiction stories before submitting them to the 24 creative nonfiction magazines we’ve listed.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Sean Glatch

This is a very well written, informative and inclusive article, and I will follow up. The art piece is wonderful.

Here is another market that pays authors https://www.authormag.com/paying-market/

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Why Teach Creative Writing? Examining the Challenges of Its Pedagogies

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• https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2020.1847043

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Facilitate their students’ personal growth and healing

Encourage the exploration of unknown topics ? Help their students sell their writing

Connect them with significant texts and well-established creative writing processes and practices

Foster critique about the world through their writing ? Cultivate profound learning

• Creative writing
• the Cox Report
• why teach creative writing
• creative writing and healing
• creative writing and activism
• creative writing and cultural heritage
• creative writing and the marketplace

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Notes on contributors, francis gilbert.

Francis Gilbert is a Lecturer in Education at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he is Head of MA Education Programmes and the MA in Creative Writing and Education as well as being course leader for PGCE English. He has taught creative writing for many years and has published novels, memoirs, social polemics and educational guides. Before becoming an academic, he worked for a quarter of a century in various English state schools teaching English, Drama and Media Studies to 11-18-year olds. He has appeared many times on radio and TV, including Newsnight, the Today Programme, Woman’s Hour and Channel 4 News. His most recent publications include the audiobooks of his novel Who Do You Love (Blue Door Press 2017) and educational commentary Analysis and Study Guide: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (FGI Publishing 2014) and ‘Different ways of descending into the crypt: methodologies and methods for researching creative writing’ co-authored with Dr. Vicky Macleroy for New Writing (July 2020).

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Reading & Writing (Aug 2024)

Challenges experienced by teachers in implementing the creative writing curriculum

• Jessica M.-A. Jansen,
• Millicent Ngema

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Background: Teaching creative writing in the early grades provides learners with the opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas which contributes to their holistic development. Curriculum documents have been neatly laid out, yet in practice, it is challenging, and teachers struggle to find effective ways of teaching and assessing creative writing skills. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges that teachers experience in implementing the creative writing curriculum in Grade 3. Method: The study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach which used an exploratory case study design. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit six Grade 3 teachers from two selected primary schools. Focus group interviews, classroom observations and document analysis were used to generate data. Results: The results revealed that the intended curriculum for teaching writing skills is not necessarily the curriculum that is implemented in schools. Teachers were frustrated although helpful guidelines were available in the policy document. Genres like opinion writing were neglected. Conclusion: The impact of and challenges (such as didactical neglect, subject-related issues, and negative teacher attitudes) related to misinterpretation or even a lack of knowledge of curriculum documents were discussed, and practical recommendations were made. Contribution: The study recommends that a joint effort be made between all role players, such as the school management and teachers to deal with the challenges stemming from a lack of knowledge of curriculum documents. Teacher training programmes should include curriculum knowledge as part of their training.

• intended curriculum
• teacher knowledge
• teaching strategies
• creative writing.

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