Book Review: Journal Magic for Writers 14 Day Writing Challenge by Mari L. McCarthy

Happy Thanksgiving! Whether you're reading this before any pre-meal time with friends and family or while you're letting that turkey and cranberry sauce digest, I'm here to help you as you begin to make your list of gifts to buy the writers in your lives.

Mari L. McCarthy, who recently toured with us for her book Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live, has number of e-books available in her online store, and Journal Magic is perfect for writers. See my thoughts below.

Review:
Having completed Mari McCarthy’s e-book 28 Days Weight Control Journaling Challenge and the exercises in her self-help memoir Journaling Power I wondered if journaling could also help me work through some feelings of writer’s block I’ve been having with a few of my fiction manuscripts. Browsing through Mari’s online store, Journal Magic for Writers jumped out at me and I downloaded it that same day.

Her e-books appeal to me because they are inexpensive but chock full of great information and exercises. Journal Magic for Writers is a 14-day challenge that gradually helps writers work through issues that may be keeping them from moving forward with their writing. The exercises Mari uses are ones that I normally wouldn’t think about including in my journal, such as finding the joy in play, acknowledging things I’m fearful of, experimenting with my writing voice, and concrete steps I can take to achieve my writing goals.

One of the things I was reminded of was how writing down notes in a journal can serve as a source of inspiration for writers of all genres—from memoir, to fiction, to writers hoping to break into a mainstream magazine with a human-interest story. Everyday observations that may seem insignificant at the time (a newspaper article, for example) can easily turn into a storyline in a book or topic for a news article.

After completing the challenge I felt invigorated and excited to be a writer again, as I had been in somewhat of a slump where I felt I didn’t know how to be creative anymore.

I was so nervous to start this first read through but as you can see I may need more stickies and red ink. #amrevising #writinglife

A photo posted by rlroberson (@rlroberson) on Nov 21, 2016 at 11:05am PST

My journal is now also full of some great ideas for future articles and stories, so I encourage any of my writer friends to take the challenge or purchase this e-book as a gift for any writer friends.

Blessings to you all, my friends!

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who is addicted to the smell of old books and never met a secondhand bookstore she didn't love. Learn more about her at FinishedPages.com.