Wreck This Journal
Keri Smith
20 min
7 Key Points
4 RateWhat's inside?
Unleash your creativity with this interactive journal, filled with colorful prompts and activities that encourage you to break the rules and make your mark in a fun, unique way.
You'll learn
1. Fun journaling ideas2. Ditching the fear of messing up3. Boosting your creative juices4. Healing through art and writing5. Turning bad into good6. Enjoying the here and now.Key points
01Why embrace chaos in reading?
Ever found yourself cringing at the sight of a dog-eared book or a coffee-stained page? We've all been taught to treat books with respect, to handle them with care, and to keep them in pristine condition. But what if we told you that there's a whole new way to interact with books that involves tearing, smearing, and generally wreaking havoc on them? Sounds crazy, right? Well, that's exactly what Keri Smith proposes in her book "Wreck This Journal: Now in Color". Traditional reading norms have conditioned us to interact with books in a certain way. We read them, we underline or highlight important parts, and we keep them on our shelves. But Smith suggests that these norms limit our interaction with books. They turn reading into a passive activity, where we simply consume the content without truly engaging with it. By breaking these norms, we can foster creativity and engage with the written material in a whole new way. Smith encourages readers to engage in what she calls 'destructive interactions' with their books. This involves actions like tearing out pages, smearing them with food, or even throwing the book out of the window. While these actions may seem disrespectful or even sacrilegious to some, they can actually lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the content. They force us to interact with the book in a physical way, to leave our mark on it, and to make it truly ours. Embracing chaos is a key part of this approach. Chaos, in this context, refers to the unpredictability and randomness that comes with breaking free from the constraints of traditional reading. It's about letting go of our preconceived notions of how we should interact with books and allowing ourselves to explore new and exciting ways of engaging with the content. This can stimulate creativity, encourage exploration, and make the reading experience more enjoyable and engaging. Creativity plays a crucial role in this unconventional approach to reading. By interacting with the book in unconventional ways, we can stimulate our creative thinking. We're not just passively consuming the content, but actively engaging with it, interpreting it in our own unique way, and even adding to it. This can make the reading experience more engaging and enjoyable, and encourage us to think outside the box. So, are you ready to break free from the constraints of traditional reading norms? Are you ready to embrace chaos, stimulate your creativity, and engage with books in a whole new way? Are you ready to wreck your journal and embrace the chaos in reading?
02Materials for Damaging Your Book
Ever thought of using coffee stains, paint splatters, or even dirt to interact with a book? Sounds crazy, right? But what if these unconventional materials could transform your reading experience into a creative journey? Let's dive into the world of "Wreck This Journal: Now in Color", where the traditional rules of book interaction are thrown out the window. Here, you're encouraged to use a variety of unconventional materials to engage with the book. It's like being handed a blank canvas and a palette of colors, except the canvas is a book and the colors are whatever materials you can get your hands on. But it's not just about using different materials. It's about purposeful damage. Yes, you read that right. You're encouraged to rip, tear, and even burn pages. It's like taking a perfectly good piece of paper, crumpling it up, and then smoothing it out again. The paper is still there, but it's transformed. It's no longer just a piece of paper; it's a piece of art that tells a story of its journey. The book provides a list of materials for you to use, each one contributing to a physical and tactile interaction with the book. Imagine using a coffee stain to create a pattern on a page, or tearing a page into pieces and then putting it back together like a puzzle. Each action, each material used, immerses you deeper into the book, making the reading experience more engaging and personal. This approach introduces the concept of creative destruction. It's about breaking down the traditional boundaries of what a book is and how it should be used, and rebuilding it into something new and unique. It's like taking a well-known recipe and adding your own twist to it. The end result might not be what was originally intended, but it's something that's uniquely yours. So, are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and try this new approach to book interaction? Who knows, you might just discover a new way to express your creativity. And who's to say what the future of book interaction will look like? Maybe one day, we'll all be using coffee stains and paint splatters to read our books.
Continue reading with LeapAhead app
Full summary is waiting for you in the app
03How to creatively wreck your journal?
04'How to creatively wreck your journal?'
05Reflecting on the Process of Wrecking a Journal
06Why the 'wrecked' journal is just the beginning?
07Conclusion
About Keri Smith
Keri Smith is a Canadian author, illustrator, and guerrilla artist. She is best known for her creative and interactive books about self-expression and personal creativity, including "Wreck This Journal," "This is Not a Book," and "How to Be an Explorer of the World."