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Summary: a wonderful asset to a writer's library!
Review: Let's face it. No matter how exciting, busy, and fulfilled our lives are, not every day is a day to be recorded for posterity. Some days the most exciting thing that happens to me is that I get out bed. For those of us who like to record our daily adventures or just like to take a moment to regroup, journaling is one of the best ways to keep it all together. Not since scrapbooking replaced journaling as America's favorite activity has there been a better how-to guide on journaling. The Journal Wheel Guide Book is a handy-dandy little guide (50 pages) that is a useful tool for both the beginning journal writer and the old pro who wants to liven up his/her normal entries. The Guide Book is broken into two sections. First there is the "wheel." Writers match the month and date along with his/her mood to get a technique number. The 13 techniques give the writer a particular style to establish their style. For example, today's month and date, along with an apathetic mood, matched technique number 11 "unsent letters." The writer writes a letter that may be express anger, unrequited love, or any other myriad of feelings, but is never sent because it stays neatly on the pages of the journal. The second section of The Journal Wheel Guide Book, Thirty-One Topics, is designed to use the techniques with prompts or suggestions---ideas to help you get the words on paper. I've found that the Thirty-One Topics is an excellent source for me to sharpen my fiction writing skills, especially if I'm not having a "good" writing day. I can take a character or a situation, add one of the topics---chosen strictly by closing my eyes and pointing--and move into uncharted territory or bring them/it more clearly into focus. The Journal Wheel Guide Book is a wonderful asset to a writer's library.
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Summary: Pushes you to think outside your usual box
Review: This is a Journal wheel with accompanying book to explain how to use the wheel. I usually don't need help finding things to write about, but I bought the wheel to show my journaling class. Then I started using it. You place the wheel on the date and dial your mood. When you turn the wheel over, it gives you a topic such as work, travel, weather. It also suggests a technique such as listing, dialog, free writing. All the techniques are describe in the book along with suggestions for what to write about when you get certain combinations. I had a really sad day last week, since my cat of 16 years died. The wheel told me to write dialog about transportation. That seemed weird, but I ended up writing about conversation I had with my daughter while we were driving around looking for him under bushes. I don't think I would have otherwise recorded that conversation. This wheel and book could be helpful to non-experienced journalers as well. It would help them become familiar with different types of writing.
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Summary: Random Prompts for the Journaler Gone Stale
Review: This little work (wheel, about 6" in diameter, and 6" x 9" pamphlet with 46 pages of content) looks best suited for the experienced journaler who has found the well of inspiration run dry. Line up the month and day with your mood, and the wheel assigns you one of thirty-one topics _and_ one of twelve techniques to use. There are explanations for reference in the pamphlet, as well as an invitation to develop new ways of using the wheel. Several pages of additional prompts are thrown in as a bonus at the end. The wheel is well-made, with a place for owner's name, and looks like it will age well, but I have only had mine for a few months as of this writing so cannot say for sure. The element of the random involved with spinning the wheel helps contribute to a sense of spontaneity welcome to any writer gone stale. Having a different technique assigned also nudges the user out of his/her comfort zone. Worth the money if you like to use prompts in journal-writing.
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