Wrecking a Journal???

I made another discovery today. Hmm, ok, it's not really a discovery as I've seen this book somewhere online before but did not bother to read more about it.

Anyway, I'm talking about Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith. Weird title, huh? Wait, it gets weirder but the concept is really clever. This is not a normal journal where you pick up a pen, sit down and write out your thoughts of the day. You get to do so much more than that and the result will be having a journal which you will never forget in a long time.

Here's the description of the journal from Amazon:

For anyone who's ever wished to, but had trouble starting, keeping, or finishing a journal or sketchbook comes Wreck This Journal, an illustrated book that features a subversive collection of prompts, asking readers to muster up their best mistake- and mess-making abilities to fill the pages of the book (and destroy them). Acclaimed illustrator Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in "destructive" acts-poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting with coffee, and more-in order to experience the true creative process. Readers discover a new way of art and journal making-and new ways to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage in the creative process.

Wow, this journal is listed under the Self-Help category and it has 195 customer reviews! I think I'll get a copy for myself but not at the moment. I've just ordered several books from Amazon (will write a post when I receive them) and bought other stuff so shopping will have to take a back seat for a while.

By the way, check out this YouTube video of a completed copy of Wreck This Journal. The more I watch the video, the more I want to get a copy of the journal to get started!



OMG, check out this other video: To Create is to Destroy: Wreck This Journal #1

I cringed when he tried to crack the spine!!! How could anyone do that to a book???

Some of my favourite Wreck This Journal images:

Pic from here (I think one of the instructions in the journal is to step on two of the pages)

Pic from here

Pic from here

Another book with an almost similar concept is Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes, also by Keri Smith.

About this book (from Amazon):

Your whole life you've been taught to avoid making a mess: Try to keep everything under control, color inside the lines, make it perfect, and at all costs, avoid contact with things that stain. This book asks you to do the opposite of what you have been taught. Think of it as your own personal rumpus room. A place to let loose, to trash, to spew, to do the things you are not allowed to do in the "real world." It's time to make a mess.

The only three rules you'll find in this book:
1. Do not try to make something beautiful.
2. Do not think too much. (There is no "wrong.")
3. Continue under all circumstances.

Ah, both books sound so fun! Do you have a copy of either one of them?