
Here are a few things I did to try to make this activity successful:
1) I chose a smaller sized notebook. A 4x6 or a 5x7 notebook would seem less overwhelming. Being able to fill a page with one or two sentences gives Jake a bigger sense of accomplishment.

2) I invited Jake to decorate the front cover with stickers and his name so that he would feel proud and have a sense of ownership of the journal.
3) I make the activity very low pressure. I never require him to write more than once sentence and he is allowed to write about a topic of his choosing. I also do not force him to write every day, but rather when he thinks of something he would like to create an entry about.
4) Although I or my husband usually help him with the spelling, we always give Jake a sticker for completing the activity. This way, he can look through his past entries and feel proud about what he's accomplished and he is reminded that we are proud of him as well.
