Silent Journal Club

Pre-COVID, I belonged to a silent book club. Meetings went like this: You had a small socializing period, then you silently read, and then you regrouped to talk about what you read. So a book club, but everyone chose their own book.

The format translated well to Zoom, and we took the club online for a year or two. We started the call with everyone going around saying what they were reading. Then we entered a period of silent reading. And then we all regrouped on the call to discuss what we just read. I got a lot of book recommendations that way, and I was always prepared to participate because I just brought whatever book I was reading.

The club fell apart when we tried to get back together in person. Oh well.

I recently read about the same concept (sort of) except with journaling. The idea would be that you’d start the meeting with a bit of socializing. Maybe talk about good things you’ve read or written since the last meeting. Then a prompt would be given, and everyone would write for twenty minutes. The end of the meeting would be coming back together to discuss the prompt and see how a single idea could be expressed so different depending on your experience or mindset. The host for the month would bring the writing prompt.

I’m kind of interested in starting my own group like this. What do you think? Blogging in real time?