Grammar Pulis

There’s a special group of people who live the last quarter of every year with trembling hands, nerves on edge, and a tendency to get too excited. By the middle of January, they start calming down.

Don’t worry about these folks. It’s not a chronic disease. It’s just a symptom of overcaffeination. A natural result of trying to consume 12 cups of regular coffee and 9 more cups of the holiday varieties. Their goal: to earn enough stickers to get themselves a free journal from Starbucks.

I understand. I’m a rabid collector of journals myself. I prefer the ones with unlined pages. I prefer paying for them since I do not have the patience for collecting stickers. Some people are crazy about moleskins. Some people like them big. Some people like them small and handy. But really, any kind of notebook will do to enable you to journal your thoughts.

There are many benefits to writing a journal. One of them is improving your writing skills. I always tell my students that one of the most effective ways to become a better writer is just to write, write, write. Journal writing enables you to do that while having fun.

Write as often as you can. You do not have to wait for something monumentally significant to happen. You can write about the mundane. Write about your daily activities. Write about that guy who always takes the same jeepney you ride on the way to work. Write about your boss and her weird habits. Write about your plans to have a haircut in the coming weekend. Or your plans for the next five years. Or how you spent the last 5 hours. Write about anything. Just write.

Journal writing may not automatically improve your grammar, but as you develop the writing habit, you would find writing to be enjoyable and well worth the effort to consciously improve.

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