Inner Outings: Adventures in Journal Writing

Each week I tutor a learner though a local adult literacy program. Lori is a friend who wants help with spelling and grammar, as well as writing a book about her healing journey. Recently we've been using cards from The Diarist's Deck as writing prompts to help get us started. There are 33 cards from which to choose. While these cards, and the accompanying book, are described as "adventures in journal writing," they can also serve as a doorway to the larger story waiting to be told in the form of a memoir. It's often difficult to write about relationships, such as with a parent, but a card with a prompt as a writing springboard helps us begin. Then the parent story is reached, not directly at first, but from a meandering writing path. The cards in The Diarist's Deck also act as a visual stimulus to creativity. The cards are large, measuring five by seven inches, with collage creations by Charlene Geiss. "Each of the topics was selected to invigorate your mind, stir your soul, and make you eager to write," the authors write. And yes indeed, Lori and I are eager to write with the help of the cards. We're always amazed and surprised by the writing journey inspired by them. The cards fall into three categories: introspection, investigation and purification. The introspective cards include such phrases as, "I Remember," and "When I Was a Child," to allow one to write in a contemplative manner. The investigative subjects include "Heart Song," and "The Masks I Wear." In this category your writing "will be more descriptive, even exploratory or questioning." The purifying topics "are meant to cleanse, liberate and heal." They include "My Greatest Fear," and "I Forgive," which may inspire you to give voice to suppressed fears or problems, allowing them into your consciousness. "The effect," as the authors write, "is enormously therapeutic and can bring closure." The accompanying book called Book of Exploration has a chapter on "Keeping a Journal. The Inner Outings Method, Using the Diarist's Deck, and Hints and Writing Tips." The latter chapter offers descriptions of many writing techniques including the imagined letter, rage writing, non-dominant hand writing and postcards. The authors remind us that "the diary is being used increasingly for both therapy and healing." Each of the card prompts has a chapter designed to help you "pursue your unique self with abandon." The chapter entitled "Celebrating My Strengths" is a good boost for personal awareness and growth, as are all the chapters. Each chapter includes several questions for delving deeper into your story. If you don't know where to start, or need a nudge now and then, these resources, The Diarist's Deck and Book of Exploration, will give you lots of ideas and encouragement. You can use the set on your own but getting together with a friend to write and share your writing is especially gratifying. As valuable as these tools are for diarists, I think they are a wonderful resource for

I have always kept a journal, but after reading this book and doing free writes, I am beginning to realize how much a journal can really mean! Jessup and Geiss ask such pertinent, thoughtful questions and help to open up unexplored parts of my memory and being. It is so well written--very clear and nurturing for beginners, yet challenging and fresh for avid writters. The cards add beautiful and poetic visualization. Inner Outings is a staple for anyone who wants to be creative.

For people who have writers block: This book will completely turn you around!! This guide helped me feel more creative than I ever have. The cards are beautiful, and each chapter has insightful questions and ideas that are neither too specific nor too vague. Your journal can be anything you want it to be--how great! This book is perfect for everyone.

In their journaling manifesto Inner Outings, Jessup and Geiss have established a technique equally suited to the seasoned journal writer and novice alike. The cards are beautifully designed and inspirational, the accompanying book witty and thought provoking. Together they are an excellent tool for breaking through writer's block, and the walls of the subconscious. Whether you're cracking open a hand-crafted journal or switching on the computer screen, Inner Outings helps conquer the fear of the blank page and unleash the writer within us all.

Some people think keeping a journal is just a matter of jotting down the day's events on a blank page: "Had breakfast at Denny's. Picked up pants at dry cleaners. Lunch with Fred." That's one way, but it's about as rewarding as corn flakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. INNER OUTINGS takes journaling into the realm of haute cuisine. It's an appealingly packaged box that puts together a deck of cards and a book. The cards are evocative collages embellished with a word or phrase to get you thinking outside the lines as you approach your journal. The book is a combination of a blueprint on how to use the cards, advice on how to approach journaling, some history, some psychology, and a very practical and exhaustive index of journaling resources on the web. Charlene Geiss and Claudia Jessup have put together the perfect package.