Journaling: Pen to Paper or 'That's what tweets are for'

[Nic]

I am interesting in journaling again. I use to do it all the time, then someone stole my purse and it was lost. Never got into writing the same again. Now some people write really long facebook post and I think, you should journal. My question: Do you journal? Do you edit yourself for audience: your kids (someday), spouse, or when I make it big? Electronic or book form. Do you have more then one journal? Excited to hear your thoughts.

[Candida]

I used to journal quite a bit, too. I usually do it for a few weeks, and then there's a huge jump in the dates on my journal which stay steady for a few weeks and then another huge jump.

I've started a couple of different journals recently. One of them is a Journal that looks like River Song's TARDIS journal (I got it from Think Geek). I was planning on having an adventure every week that I would write about in there. I have only done two entries. I need to think of some more adventures!

The other journal is based on a book I got for Christmas called Your Personal Renaissance. It's all about finding your calling. And the journal is basically answering the questions in the book to figure out what I want to do with my life. I'm just finishing up the first chapter. Through it, I've discovered so far that I enjoy (among other things) reading and community, which is why I've joined this group. I'd like to have a local, face-to-face community to share with, but this on line community is a great start.

When I was in the shower this morning, I was thinking about some old friends and the nicknames they went by, which reminded me of something I read in the newspaper yesterday. It was a fascinating (to me) coincidence. I thought I should write about it in my journal. It's not really an adventure, so maybe I'll start another journal of coincidences or other anecdotes.

I was thinking I could use any of these stories in my journals as short stories, but then I thought that just the stories themselves wouldn't be really interesting, but if they were incorporated into different aspects of a longer story they might have more meaning. I'll have to remember to look back at them when I start writing that novel I've been fantasizing about...

As far as how they're written, I generally write them as if I'm telling a story to anyone who happens to read it (not that I intend anyone to read it). But I try to explain things that seem obvious to me right now because I know when I read things in the future there are details that I won't remember, and if someone else were reading it, they would need a point of reference. And I try to express my emotions as vividly as I can...again so that when I'm not in the moment I can remember what it was like.

I tried for a little while to do a video journal with my webcam, but it just didn't hold my interest. Maybe I will try to do that again, but with the intent of giving it to my son when he gets older. He's always asking me about what was life like when I was little. It could be something he could show his kids (if he ever has any) so they can learn more about their grandma. But I haven't done anything like that yet.

I guess we'll see if any of these journals end up having huge jumps in time like my previous journals do, but I hope to keep up with them better this time.

[Lauren]

I journal when I travel pretty well...
I also collage/scrapbook/sketch... so they are more memory books from points in my life.
I always feel forced if I try and 'make' myself write daily, but if I let it be prose, pictures and such it seems easier for me to keep at it. I will be pretty good for a while and then I take time off. I do blog, which also keeps me pretty motivated to write.

[Jordan]

Candida I like the idea of writing as though you're telling a story to someone, in the past I've always omitted the "obvious" details and then regretted it later.

I haven't kept a journal in any form in a long time, but I recently bought a small leather bound journal because I needed something I could write notes with that would also be somewhat water-resistant. So I might start again. First I need to find something interesting to write about because I find my day-to-day life to be quite boring :O

[Sarah]

I've found that when I'm writing solely about myself, I get bored very easily. Yet when I write about other topics, it's usually something I want to share with friends anyways, so I end up posting it somewhere or letting the idea simmer for a while before I discuss it with anyone.

I do live a lot of my life online, as I have friend and family all over the world, many of which I rarely see in person. Updating/expressing opinions through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads are sometimes the best ways to stay in touch, as it can provide something more interesting than just , "How have you been/How was your day?"

However, when something is really troubling me and I'm not comfortable discussing it with anyone just yet, or I know it's a feeling that will likely be better after a good night's sleep, I'll journal. It's a way for me to work through my thoughts and perhaps save a little face until I can approach something in a more levelheaded manner.

[PointyEars42]

I've kept a thick A4 book for every year since I was 14. A glance at the shelf tells me that, for example, 2007 was a bad year since the book is so slim. 2010 - a good year - is bulging with ticket stubs and restaurant bills and interesting emails that I've pasted in, in addition to what I've written. I highly recommend it just for the perspective you can gain by seeing your problems and thoughts outside your skull. Trying to explain things to a blank page makes you dig a lot deeper into the whys and hows than just having thoughts flitting through your brain. Half way through your rant you often find yourself writing about what's really bothering you since you're referencing some other incident more than what's just happened.

You'll also learn heaps about yourself when you look at older entries. I kept obsessive notes about everything and even plotted things on a graph during my teens and early 20's and was taken aback to realise the type of person I was attracted to changed during the course of my menstrual cycle. Now if I find myself noting the signs of wealth on someone instead of how interesting/dull they are, I assume I'm ovulating & my body is looking for a "provider" to breed with :)

I gave up on Facebook pretty quickly. Its too public a forum and I was writing every post in light of how others would view it instead of whether it expressed how I felt. Also, I couldn't take another effing update about how long a queue someone was waiting in and things of that nature. You don't have a single thought in your head and you're going to share the vacuum with the world? Awesome.