I’ve spent an exorbitant amount of time in the last few weeks reading through my old journals. I’ve been keeping a journal fairly steadily since I was about ten so there’s a long-standing chronicle of the thoughts that I’ve had, the things that I’ve done and the way that experiences I now see in hindsight were actually perceived by me at the time.
I am going through this process in order to gain a better understanding of who I am, what makes me make the choices that I do, what patterns I have that I appreciate and which ones i’d like to change. It’s interesting because the memories are there in my head but they appear different when actually reading through these old scraps of paper and scribbles of ink.
What does this have to do with writing, beyond the obvious writing of a journal? They say that you must always write what you know. They also say that you have to develop your own voice in order to be a good writer. What I’m realizing right now is that developing your own voice requires an intimate understanding of yourself. And writing your own story requires regularly reviewing the situations and interpretations of the past in order to adjust to the present.
The goal of a journal should always be to reach new levels of self-understanding, whether in the writing or in the going back later and reading. And because of the immense benefit that this provides, I believe that all writers should get in the habit of keeping a journal. It’s the writer in you at your rawest and that is the place where all writing should begin.
December 24th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
i have many beautiful journals that i intend to write in…but they’re so beautiful i can’t bare to ink them. so i buy ugly ones and try to write in those ones…but, well. The truth is simple. I really don’t want to journal. I try because I think I should — based on posts like this one — but it just seems i can’t.
Interesting post, though. I like how you relate journaling to finding one’s voice.
January 10th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Amen to your post. I’ve been journaling since I was a kid and it is what I like to call a “mirror.” You learn who and what you are, no matter how good, bad, or ugly it may be. My journal is pretty much the only place I am completely uncensored. I revisit my old thoughts and feelings periodically to see just how far I’ve come and to reinforce the fact that I can and have overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. People always ask what I’m writing. Its mostly what I feel or just random notes and experiences. I wondered to myself at one point, what is the point of this? How can this contribute to my writing career? Recently, I have begun writing a book and my journals will be a major foundation for the plot of my story. Thanks for your insightful, thought-provoking posts.