Journaling
This post was written by Jessica from Classy in Philadelphia:
Thinking back on my writing history, I realized that one thing has remained constant through my 15 or so years of writing. I’ve always kept some kind of diary, journal, or blog.
I started with a diary probably when I was about six. It had a tiny lock on it, and I hid the key ever so cleverly in my desk drawer. I’m not sure what I wrote about, but I know that I eventually lost the key and had to rip the small plastic diary open. Sort of defeats the purpose, huh?
In first grade, we kept journals in class. I wrote about the most random things in an attempt to fill my journal the fastest. On each page, I came up with a topic and briefly wrote on that topic. The topics were quite random….they ranged from odes to bacon to poems to my mom.
As I grew older, I kept journals in marble notebooks that I decorated with magazine cut-outs. Check out my post today to get a glimpse of my infamous notebooks. I filled these journals with stories about boys, school, and friends.
As the Internet became ever more popular, I moved my journal online to Blurty. After Blurty, there was Xanga. And after Xanga, there was Livejournal. Of course, after Livejournal, I moved to my newest and most current home Blogger. I loved the idea of putting my words onto the computer screen and getting instant responses from friends and readers. I still love the concept, and it’s what keeps me blogging.
After all these years of journaling, I realized: this is what makes me a writer. Some people might consider writing in a journal silly or cheesy, but I truly believe that writing every day has helped me to become a better writer. It doesn’t matter that the grammar is off, or the spelling isn’t perfect; it’s shaped my writing and given me inspiration to keep going.
I’ve mentioned this before on my blog, but one of my goals is to write a chick lit novel. Reading through my journals, diaries, and blogs has been a great source of inspiration for the kind of material I hope to write. Sometimes the easiest way to find a story idea, is through your own personal history. How will you remember those silly details and nuances without having the written or typed documentation? I feel lucky to know that I have whole books of my life already documented.
I think that it doesn’t matter what you’re writing, but just that you’re writing every day. What’s so great about blogging is that every day that we blog, we must think of a topic that will interest our readers. We’re constantly brainstorming, drafting, and editing. Every day, we start the process again.
I no longer hand write in a journal. I am relying on my blog to relay the history of my college years to me.
Do you write in a journal or diary? Why or why not? Do you think that blogging or journaling has helped to improve your writing skills? Discuss in the comments below!
March 9th, 2009 at 4:28 am
When I was younger, I journaled. I always bought new ones, but I’d lost them or just pack them away before filling the pages. I look back on some of them now, and a lot of the things I wrote are just embarassing! It’s humbling to look back, though.
I have a journal now, but I haven’t written in it in months. I mostly rely on my blog as well.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Haha, I also always bought new journals, or made new notebooks, and never finished them. I guess I’ve always loved a fresh start.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I did a post with my journal excerpts in it at the end of January, http://amric1409-lifeasiknowit.blogspot.com/2009/01/flashback-friday-journal-excerpts.html.
I still keep a journal now but I write in it sporadically. Mostly when I’m mad at my boyfriend, haha. I COMPLETELY agree with you that blogging has shaped my writing. I feel like since I’ve started blogging everyday I’ve become a better writer and have learned more about my own writing style.
I really think that if someone wants to be a writer they should do some form of writing everyday. The reason I enjoy blogging is because I can get feedback on my writing through it!
Great post today!
March 9th, 2009 at 7:15 am
I never got into journaling. I would do it here and there but nothing significant. Blogging is a strange thing for me because I blog whatever motivates me. Which is probably why my blog is so random. Though now I’m curious what I did write when I did journal.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:56 am
I’ve tried, for years and years and years, to keep a journal and… it just hasn’t happened. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s because I tried to write before bed, and I’d usually be so tired that I’d just collapse? But I’m with you- the blog is, more or less, a kind of journal. Though it’s different in some ways, in others it’s very similar.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:41 am
I think journaling is a great way to get some writing in every day, and for myself it’s a good way to have a record of life as I am quite forgetful.
Here is a much longer answer to the question:
http://crayolapen.tumblr.com/post/84935821/more-on-journaling
March 9th, 2009 at 11:31 am
The really odd thing is that I prefer to handwrite in a journal. But typing is just perfectly geared for multi-tasking. I don’t even have to keep my eyes on the screen. And so blogging is just easier because I have much less time than I used to.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I do like handwriting too. If I need to just splurge out everything at once, I would type cuz I type faster than I can write. However, my only qualm about writing is that it can be illegible at times.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I agree with you… handwriting in a journal is infinitely better. I even have a favorite type of pen that I always stock up on to enhance the experience.
They have loads of book on determining personality through handwriting. I have yet to see a similar book correlate a person’s mind with a font…
March 9th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I think something that may be challenging or another experience where I have not encountered could improve my writing. I do not keep a journal and that would just be informal writing and not the type of writing that could really show my abilities except the fact that I can write in that aspect. In some way blogging helps with showing an interest in writing. I think blogging helps to show my ways and the way that I think writing should be and how things are from my perspective.
March 9th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I started to journal when I was 13. It was mostly about juvenile things like boys and how my teenage world would end if my mother never gave me freedom. I look back on it and I was pretty dramatic. But now I just journal when I feel low or moments of uncertainty, oh and for my poetry.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I too journal… blog… and “other write”. I find that each verbal platform expands the way I perceive and event.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Blogging has definitely been good for me because it gets me writing more regularly. I’m hoping it will inspire me to pursue larger writing projects like the novel I’m working on.
March 9th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Can’t say that I keep a physical diary anymore. I mean I’d love to, but my memory can only take so much. Writing in it daily would be a chore and eventually I would grow tired of it. I never want writing to be a chore, any more than essays and papers at school. I do keep a digital journal, called my blog. So I do have one of sorts.
Oh blogging has helped my writing immensely. Entering the blog sphere, I gained access to criticism and feedback, something I didn’t have much of before, beyond papers, etc. So blogging for me is an extension of writing. In the everyday course of my life I don’t get the chance to write as much as I’d like, but blogging keeps me in practice.
What can I say? I love to blog.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:21 am
I agree…writing in a journal now would be a chore to me. Blogging never feels like a chore, and essentially, I’m writing similar things that I would put in a journal.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Oh hey mind reader. I was JUST thinking about how blogging has completely taken the place of journaling for me, and that in addition to my blog, I really need to have a private journal going as well. Because honestly, no matter how open I am in my blog, there are things I don’t write about. And I really want to keep a record of everything that’s going on “behind the scenes,” so to speak.
Yeah, you’ve inspired me. Journal time.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:21 am
I do know what you mean. There are some things I don’t write on my blog that I would write in a journal, but I honestly don’t have the time right now. Glad I inspired you though
March 10th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
DUH! I kept all sorts of journals. I wrote poems and entries about boys and how I hates all of my friends. Because they sucked. I read them now and I realize how naive I was, how I felt like Jr High and High School were IT, you know? I wonder if in 5 years I’ll look back at BB4H and think the same thing…