2006 will be my thirty-second year of keeping a paper journal

[pegkerr]

I learned about the LJ community embodiment from dreamflower02 (note: if you want to join, join now: they are locking down membership on Jan 1), and this is the intro entry I posted there.

I started keeping a daily paper journal when I was fourteen; this year I will turn 46. I used to use a journal sold at Woolworths. When all the Woolworths in my area went out of business, I started using the At-A-Glance model SD-385:



I think the fact that I have kept a journal so long and so faithfully is a large part of the reason I went on to become a published novelist. Certainly I learned how to quickly delineate scenes, characters, dialogue. It has been integral to the cultivation of my inner mind.

An issue which I have had to consider is what to do with all my journals after I die. My husband will be allowed to read them if he survives me, and my girls after they reach the age of 21. Other than that, I don't know. I suppose it might be an issue if I have enough of a literary legacy that they are of interest to scholars, or perhaps they might be of interest to a historical society.

I have been very faithful. I will skip a day now and then, but I probably make an entry 95% of the time. Probably the longest period of time I have missed was two weeks.

I keep a Moleskine book in my purse and use those for jotting down notes, phone numbers, bits from books I'm reading in bookstores but don't want to buy.

And I keep this LiveJournal, and I print out entries having to do with my family life or my children and bind those. So I'm living a pretty well-documented life.

Comments

Keeping a diary

[nwl.livejournal.com]

I don't recall when I started keeping a diary, probably early teens. I used to get a standard "diary" with a little lock and key. One of my college diaries was stolen out of rwl's car when I was in the hospital, so I stopped keeping one for a few years.

When I started up again, the diary with a lock seems a bit childish, so I use a standard bound note book and write my own dates in it.

What I write in LJ doesn't come close to what I write in my diary.

What I was going to say concerning your diaries when you pass away - in the ASK AMY column in the Post, someone was wondering what to do with the papers her mother left behind, such as college degrees, etc. Amy had some suggestions such as the local historical society. In subsequent columns, several other people have made suggestions. I would guess that her advice column is on the web. If not let me know and I'll do some research.