A WRITER'S JOURNAL

"I write journals and would recommend journal writing to anyone who wishes to pursue a writing career. You learn a lot. You also remember a lot... and memory is important."
Judy Collins 




Why do so many creative people believe in keeping a journal? It was my eleventh grade English teacher, a woman I adored, who told me that serious writers kept a notebook to jot down ideas and to examine who and what had influenced them.

 Since I aspired even then to be a serious writer, it seemed a marvelous idea. I bought myself the prettiest book I could find, sacrificing my hard-earned babysitting funds, and I began my first foray into journaling. It was an excellent tool for introspection--except for one thing--my mother (who had many wonderful qualities) believed it was her responsibility to control what her children thought and believed. Nothing was off limits to her. I knew that if she found my journal she would read it and attempt to "correct" any thoughts or behavior she disapproved of. Did that stop me? Absolutely not. In fact, it became a point of clandestine rebellion.

 I read the most controversial books I could get my hands on and expressed the most outrageous opinions. Perhaps it was just yearning for independence, but I indulged in observing, thinking, and sometimes even doing things I knew would horrify my very conservative, religious mother. I hid my journal in the most secret spot I could find.

Eventually she found this little book "quite by accident" and I was lectured mercilessly by her and my father. But that didn't end my passion to record the details of my life and my seeking. If anything, it strengthened it. I found a better hiding place.  I continued the journal habit as  I left home, went to college, got married, had a son, made a career, all of the time considering writing as my primary vocation.

I wrote late at night and early in the morning and whenever I could find a free moment. I used my journals to express my joys and frustrations and to scribble down ideas for stories, poems, or  plays I would write when I had the time. When I did find a free moment, I mined my journals for the ideas and feelings I had stored up. It was a marvelous resource and still is. Although the times have changed, emotions remain the same. I can read about an experience of heartbreak or joy and be swept back to the moment I experienced it. With effort I can transform it into my current work.

Some writers say you should choose an ugly tablet for your journal because then you won't feel pressure to "write" when you scribble down your thoughts, but I find I prefer a notebook that gives me pleasure to hold, look at, and write in. I don't feel the need to be impressive in my journal, just to get down my thoughts and hopefully find something in it for later use.

What are your thoughts and preferences about keeping a journal ?