Lost Journal

While cleaning out your house, you stumble upon a journal you don’t remember writing in. As you flip through the pages, it becomes apparent that this journal belongs to a fictional character (either a character you’ve written, or a character from one of your favorite books). Share one of the entries from the journal.

Do you keep a journal? I keep a notebook by my side at all times, but not for any specific purpose. My notebooks collect extraneous thoughts—thoughts about work projects, notes from meetings, ideas for new articles and events and writing prompts, and of course, snippets of scenes from my work-in-progress. As a result, I have a veritable truckload of wildly disorganized not-particularly-helpful journals in the drawers of my desk; but their very existence helps me refine and focus the thoughts I need to utilize at any given moment. Others have different (probably better) techniques for leveraging journaling as a writing tool, but we all have our quirks.

Writing Prompt: Lost Journal

While cleaning out a closet, you stumble upon a journal you don't recognize. As you flip through the pages, it becomes apparent that this journal belongs to a fictional character (either an original character you've written about before, or a character from one of your favorite books). Share one of the entries.

Post your response in 500 words or fewer in the comments below.

Jess Zafarris is the Executive Director of Marketing & Communications for Gotham Ghostwriters and the former Digital Content Director for Writer’s Digest. Her eight years of experience in digital and print content direction include such roles as editor-in-chief of HOW Design magazine and online content director of HOW and PRINT magazine, as well as writing for the Denver Business Journal, ABC News, and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She spends much of her spare time researching curious word histories and writing about them at UselessEtymology.com. Follow her at @jesszafarris or @uselessety on Twitter.