February 28, 2012
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Journals
So those of you who follow my blog on a regular basis may have noticed that I don’t post very often. The reasons for this are twofold. 1. I’m busy focusing on my book. 2. I do most of my ‘blogs’ in my own personal journal.
I received my first journal when I was a freshman in high school. It was more like a diary I suppose as all I did was write “I love you x”, “I love you y”, “I love you z”. I would write one paragraph to the girl I liked that day, then a paragraph about something happening in the news, then a ‘lastly’ with something about sports or family or whatever. It was just a little book so I may have written about 100 words per entry. And that was what I kept for most of high school. More of a diary. I still have it stuffed away somewhere in the basement.
Then I got to college and decided it was time to upgrade what kind of diary/journal I kept. So I bought a small black book that wasn’t much bigger than the high school diary, and would write about the girls I met and the dates I went on, but also details about classes and teachers. It was a diary in some respects, but blended into a journal with details about issues bigger than just those relating to myself. My favorite entry from that journal was the one where I detailed my ‘to conquer’ list of every kind of girl I wanted to sleep with. Haha I didn’t come close to fulfilling that list, but it still makes me laugh to see my mindset at the time.
Then in 2005, I decided it was time to upgrade again and I bought an 80 page college rule notebook of the sort that is typically used for taking notes in class. By this time I was very used to writing essays in college classes and so I decided to try more of an essay format for my journaling. And boy did I grow to love it. 4 pages for most entries. 10 for one about my college overall. But yeah, I was loving the amount of journals I was burning through with essays about everything from my high school experiences, to my college experiences, to hurrican katrina, to my favorite video games, to sports, to just about everything under the sun. You name it, I probably wrote about it during the 2005 to late 2007 time span. I wrote 5 full 80 page journals during that span, and that’s not counting the side journal I kept for my work related thoughts. If it sounds like I’m boasting there’s a reason for that. During this time frame I was all about quantity, and now when I read some of those old entries I see I passed up on quality. Sure it was nice writing 2000 words per entry, but it’s meaningless unless it is backed by genuine quality.
Fast forward to today. I started journaling again back in October of 2011, and almost every single entry is now 500 words, 1 page only. I now know that quanity does not equal quality. I may be at fault now for compressing way too much information, but I do feel like I now get what I need to get out in a limited number of words. I’m happy about my entries now. And other than the occasional mention of a girl who crosses my path, it’s mostly about major issues relevant to what’s going on in the wider world.
And lastly(remember that?), I want to mention that the book I’m writing now is entirely in journal format. 1 page, 500 words per day. Sometimes I’ll combine a couple of entries to make it 900-1000 words an entry, but I feel that to maximize creativity in my book, keeping things compressed is a much better way to go. And you know what I learned back in college writing classes? “Write what you know”. Well I know Final Fantasy 1, and I know journaling. So I’m currently writing a story based upon the Final Fantasy 1 storyline, and doing so in a journal format. I’m enjoying every minute of it.
So that’s it. This is my personal entry. I would like to mention that I’m currently reading Temple Grandin’s book ‘Animals in Translation’. I don’t know why the Amazon site isn’t working, but that’s what I would have put up there. Thanks to my new friend @boulderchristina for recommending it.
Now how about you? Do you keep a diary or journal? Is your blog here on Xanga your creative outlet?
Comments (17)
I do not keep a journal. I fill up notebooks with poems when I have been inspired.
Great! I keep three journals, I write at least once a day. One journal is me, mine, mememe. I share all of my ugly, fear, and anger. This I use as a dumping grounds for bad emotions. One journal my husband and I share. We call it our marriage journal. We write in in often, I write in it every other day or so, he writes about once a week. Here we write our issues with each other but never use it as a weapon against each other. We write what is happening in our marriage and our life together, we write about where we want our life to go. It has been the best tool of our marriage. The other journal is a type of “black book”. I have terrible memory, almost a brain damaged memory, so here I document our lifestyle and activities so I can recall who, when, and how it went. This is a bragging book to some, but for me I need it or I won’t recall things, and it will blur. I could easily repeat mistakes.
Great post! I can’t wait to read your book. You still haven’t received your book from Amazon? This is why I use a Kindle.
No noo, I’m the same way. I think a journal is way more personalized, I write things I don’t want opinions on from anyone other than my reflective self. I’ve always had one, it’s the kind of outlet that works best for me. Half the time on xanga I reconsider my updates because of how personal I get with my entries, I’d rather write it down.
@Paul_Partisan - I’ll have to keep an eye out on your blog for if/when you post a poem. I can be pretty dense when it comes to poetry…but whatever…I’ll still read it and appreciate it.
@BoulderChristina - lol ‘me, mine, mememe’. I don’t know if I could ever be truly honest in a journal like that. I just always feel like someday one of my kids(if I have them) or nieces or nephews will get ahold of it after I pass and then they’ll see me in all my ugliness. I like the concept of a marriage journal. That’s the kind of thing that years down the road you two can look back on and say, “I remember those days…ah the memories!” The book arrived yesterday in the mail, but on Xanga you have an option of putting up what you are currently listening to, or playing, or reading. I tried to put up Animals in Translation but the Amazon server is down or something. Thanks for the rec for both the book and this post.
@specialxplaces - Yeah I learned back when I first joined Xanga to favor the pencil and paper over the computer when it comes to personalized entries. Yes it’s nice to get some feedback when it comes to how you feel about something, but when it’s the really personal stuff and you get negative feedback it can be a really lousy feeling.
Throughout middle school and high school, I kept a journal. It was just a simple notebook with 80-100 pages and I would write about my day, what was going on, etc. I use xanga now. If Im writing something private or just for myself then I’ll make it a private entry.
hopefully xanga will never tank!haha.
@heythereJOANN - Yeah everything about the book I’m writing that I mentioned is on a second account under protected posts. This account here is the one one that can read them. I’m sure the Xanga servers can see them so I’ll just have to trust they don’t ‘talk’ as you put it.
@Shadowrunner81 - When do you plan on finishing your book?
@heythereJOANN - Oh….perhaps sometime next year. I write about 500 words a day so it’ll be awhile. But I’m enjoying it as I go which I think is far more valuable than the book will ever be. I kinda feel like I’m contributing something to the arts.
I had one other xanga that was used partly for poetry, short fictions and allegories…back when I had the patience for such efforts. I wish I’d kept some of those pieces.
I have a journal. I’ve had a journal ever since I was 12, but I don’t really write it in much anymore since I since blogging on Xanga again. I probably should start writing in my journal again, though.
@AgainstTheWind1 - What kind of fiction did you write?
@Shining_Garnet - As long as it doesn’t distract you from your xanga entries. I haven’t known you that long but I like your style.
Mostly either allegories of many genres, and a decent amount of military/thriller/espionage based short stories.
The latter were never great, though. I’m good at character development, until I try to write the character, lol
For sure. Xanga has documented my life since since I was 15 years old through poetry and private diary entries.
Have you ever looked in the therapeutic benefits of journaling? The results are amazing far superior to the anti depressant use for depression
@AgainstTheWind1 - You should take that up again. Maybe a character who’s unafraid of swimming with gators? haha
@jzrocker - I have tons of old Xanga entries from 2005-2007 that kind of tell my story. All privatized though. I’m glad I didn’t delete them.
@trunthepaige - I don’t have to look. I KNOW the therapeutic effects of journaling. That’s one of the reasons why I took it up again.
I’ve kept a journal since I was 12. I however have issues with trust so do not hold on to them. Once I am finished, my writing hits the trash can. I used Xanga for years for my writing. I have had countless sites (most closed down). I don’t really look at Xanga as a creative outlet for myself. It is just a way for me to pass the time. Anything personal for the most part will be kept to myself unless I slip up (like that one night) and post something. Those post always get removed.