Writing is often considered the most difficult and time-consuming skill to teach. There is a strong prejudice against writing lessons among Turkish students and teachers, both at high school and university levels. This paper describes the problems that students and teachers have in undergraduate writing classes and suggests journal writing as an alternative approach. The study, based on a research project in a Turkish state university, aims to help to solve some of the problems stemming from students' cultural and educational backgrounds whilst also considering changes and developments observed in different areas of learning and teaching. Each area is dealt with giving examples from students' journal entries, offering the opportunity to study areas of improvement not apparent in the classroom situation. Feedback from students is also considered, providing an insight into their attitude towards journal writing. Conclusions are drawn regarding a definition of ability in writing and what constitutes development in the skill. (Contains 3 tables.)