One of my favourite parts of the weekend newspaper is always the letters to the editor. There's something about reading what the people think on certain newsworthy topics. I will often read these letters with my journal beside me and jot down thoughts in response to the comments people make. If I'm stirred enough I will write my reply there, too. I've been known to form these into actual letters, too, and have had some published. Often, though, the exercise of responding to my thoughts in my journal has been enough.
Read some letters to the editor in your local newspaper. Clip out the ones that strike a chord in you for whatever reason and put them in your journal so you can write about them at your leisure. First write in response to the original writer, then address the topic with your views clearly stated, lastly try to see how the other writer came to their point of view. Put yourself in their shoes and write more about their point of view. It's amazing how much this will help your understanding of what other people suffer.
I hope you enjoy this journal writing prompt. Please leave any comments in the section below.
Heather
Photo used with permission from stock.xchng
. This is a book I've owned for quite some time. I have several other books on journal writing, but Rainer's book remains a favourite. Please share your favourite journal writing books, also any with a focus on visual journalling. I'm compiling a list as a resource for journal keepers of all persuasions everywhere. 
