Shall I Start A Journal .... That Is The Question ?

[Anne S. Gray]

I keep several journals where the content is segregated by topic. There is a gardening journal, a canoe trip journal, a cat journal, a journal containing descriptions of our musical gigs, and a book of miscellaneous stories. I write drafts, usually with fountain pens, and then enter the finished work in the journal books with dip pens and India or bulletproof inks. I find that a daily journal (or diary) is tedious to write and boring to read regardless of how interesting it may be to historians a hundred or more years from now.

 

The books I use are "Record" books purchased in office supply stores. They are expensive, but they are well bound, the pages are pre-numbered, and the paper takes fountain pen inks well.

I love the idea of keeping journals on different topics. It would help me use all of the blank journals I've been aquiring.

[Ebu]

I have been keeping a journal for over half a year now, and all of it is for the lady I would like to marry one day. I believe that our story is a love story from another level In the hope that she will read it one day.

 

What am I actually writing? I'm writing about the dreams I see(I'm seeing this lady in my dreams pretty much every time I go to sleep and dream, and she likes the dreams I tell her ).

 

I'm writing about how I develop as a person, how I feel about her, the things I want to do one day, the idea's I get about random stuff. Sometimes when I get this idea, I write about it and tell what I think, then after that I write what her thoughts are and that she should sit beside me and discuss about it one day in the near future.

 

A couple months ago I performed the pilgrimage to Makkah. I brought my Rhodia noteblock and my trusty Lamy Al-Star with me, but I didn't have the time to write, so I just quickly noted things down on my phone so I could write it later. Then one day when I was near the Kaaba(the black cube-ish building), I saw this man sitting with a notebook in his hands. He was journalling too! Man I wish I did the same thing

[Analytic]

I used to be an occasional journaller, though less a daily log type of journal and more of a random thoughts and ideas type note taker.

 

This summer was my first one free of university, and I found that without things like grading periods it was difficult to get an overview of what I had accomplished over the months and so I started a daily journal -- I just cracked day 100 on Saturday.

 

To that end my journal is usually a long form log of what I did that day, sometimes talking about how I felt about it, I use no paragraphs and little punctuation so it's always a wall of unreadable text, but it gives me a chance to look back and see when I solved that big programming problem, or came up with that story idea.

 

I still keep about 3 journals ongoing in more my old style random notes and ideas form, but I am starting to dig the daily brain dump.

 

http://imgur.com/RPRY9QB

 

Ideally it would all be with my CP1 in Take Sumi, but ol' CP needed to go in for servicing, so some of it is in a cheapo Cross Coventry.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Analytic

[VivienR]

I started to writing a journal, and its very good, also it can be very therapeutic. Sometimes I skip a day or so, if I'm so overwhelmed otherwise... But its kind of the only peaceful moments in my day, when I writing in it. Except when my little kitten jumps up, and smear a bit the fresh ink, as well trying to hunt down my pen. Still those moments... Yeah... Only you can decide to write a journal or not, but I think if you start to do that, you will be hooked.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

...my little kitten jumps up, and smear a bit the fresh ink, as well trying to hunt down my pen...

 

Your kitten is following an old feline tradition. I probably first saw this photo somewhere on FPN, but here it is again.

 

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/656/cache/medieval-manuscript-cat-paw-prints_65668_990x742.jpg

[ScottT]

Some great ideas here. Another approach you might enjoy: think of your future self as a pen pal, and write them a note every day or so, just filling them in on stuff in your life that you might like to share. In, say, twenty years you may treasure those notes written to you by a--now--nearly total stranger living in a very different place.

ron

 

Now that is an approach I had never considered. Thanks!

[Yaakova]

 

Your kitten is following an old feline tradition. I probably first saw this photo somewhere on FPN, but here it is again.

 

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/656/cache/medieval-manuscript-cat-paw-prints_65668_990x742.jpg

 

I've seen this picture before on several different sites, and it always makes me smile. Wish I still had this problem ...

[robertChiefsFan]

I keep a daily journal and have done so for just over a year now. It became an invaluable outlet (along with my walk with God) earlier this year when my dad was dying from cancer. I will echo what was said by others above - the decision to keep a journal is very personal, as it should be. For me, I keep one to give myself a way to better organize and express my thoughts and feelings when I have my journal time. I spent the money for a nice, refillable leather journal, which I take with me everywhere I go. Refills for it are $4.00, so it's also fairly inexpensive now.

 

No matter what direction you choose to go with journaling, there is no wrong answer for you!

[Uncial]

I have one I keep as an ink record.

Another is a record of pens, when bought, price paid, looks/design and what the nib is like.

I have two that I write poems in (collected, not written by me, and of differing types).

I have one journal for random stuff like stickers, tickets and random thoughts.

[dornblaser]

I have just started to keep a journal. I ripped out my first page and started over, there is a learning process to find out why you journal. No cat paws yet but our cats are now older and don't hop up onto the desk much anymore.

Edited November 26, 2014 by dornblaser

[Oldtimer]

i draw about what happened on the day and about dreams. I like to interpret my dreams, not based on books and the meaning of dreams but based on whatever is happening in my life. it is very interesting to read them after a few years. Some poems here and there also. Subjects are all over the place, except for sketches, they go in separate notebooks.

[proton007]

Some great ideas here. Another approach you might enjoy: think of your future self as a pen pal, and write them a note every day or so, just filling them in on stuff in your life that you might like to share. In, say, twenty years you may treasure those notes written to you by a--now--nearly total stranger living in a very different place.

ron

 

Agree with ScottT. This is a novel approach, one I hadn't considered.

 

Another approach (highly tied to one's interests) is reflecting on one's reading. Depending on what I read, sometimes if I like a sentence or a passage, I'll write it down and add some commentary of my own. Also makes reading more enjoyable.

Edited November 26, 2014 by proton007

[moylek]

I started a journal in 1990 in a spare lab notebook that I had lying around when I found myself alone in a new apartment, sans university roommates, and just broken up with my fiancée and feeling very sorry for myself. It's pretty torturous stuff.

Over the years the journals have been a place to mope, to try out relationship theories, to record bits of things I've read, to note instances of _l'esprit d'escalier_ or to practice bon mots for future use. Of late, the entries are often mundane, but they often take the form of secular prayer: confession of faults; noting of things to change; keeping track of events and vices.

I just started volume 16 last month. I used to run through three books a year, but then after I got married, it became more like a volume every three years.

About a year ago, I returned to near-daily writing. Largely because the less often I wrote, the bigger a deal it seemed when I did write: so much to catch up on.

A bit of self-consciousness aside, I can't imagine any reason not to get a nice book and see where you go.

Edited November 26, 2014 by moylek

[bogiesan]

I advise that you resist the temptation to buy cheap notebooks. You have nice writing instruments. Use good papers, good inks, good words, and good vibes.

[The Crabby Rooster]

Such a great thread -- some really great ideas in these thoughtful responses.

[Michigan]

I write daily. I have found my writing skills improve with practice. I decline to check spelling with reference materials.

 

My intended audience is my descendants after I am dead. I really wish my ancestors had kept diaries. It would broaden my identity. Best of luck.

[Joe in Seattle]

I've journalled for years, but I also keep a separate notebook to write reviews of movies I see.

[ac12]

I keep a journal, and am onto my 17th volume since starting about 2 years ago.

I use composition books and spiral bound single subject notebooks, and am thinking about going to loose leaf paper kept in a binder. Each has its pros and cons.

 

I started simply to write, while trying to improve my handwriting. I would write "anything" just to practice to improve my handwriting.

The 2nd reason was to get my arm muscles trained to write, as I used to be a finger writer. So I needed the repeated use of the arm muscles to train my arm to write.

4 months later and it became a habit to write "something" in the notebook.

 

I will write anywhere from 1 page to about a dozen pages a day, depending on what I am doing, and what I feel like writing.

What I write is "anything" from what I am doing, where I ate (if a restaurant), what I ate, the weather, thoughts, stuff I have to do that day and/or the next day, or just rambling thoughts.

I have thought about specific journals for different subjects (photography, gardening, etc.), but I have not gotten there yet. Everything is just in the one journal.

 

It is also an excuse to use my pens and different inks. I will change pens and ink color when I change a subject, so it is easy to see where a new subject is.

[lmarine0510]

I have tried to journal before, but I never have been able to stand it for more than a couple of weeks. The problem is that I end up writing some variation of the same thing every day. My life is boring and consistent, and the journals reflect on that painfully.

[Runnin_Ute]

I have had a variety of experiences with a journal over the years. During a two year period of time when I was doing volunteer service for my church I was pretty good writing at least one to three times a week for the first 18 months or so. I was originally scheduled to come home in October 1981. No entries between July 5 and September 5, and none between then and the time I came home about two weeks later. A few months ago, I wanted to refresh my memory on something that happened during that period of time. I went to my journal to find the information and lo and behold there was none. I was devastated. Those two years were some of the most important things I have ever done in my life. And here was this information - gone. Our memories are imperfect in the best of times, let alone after over 30 years.

 

You may never have a need to look back like I did that time, but you never know. I was really good and wrote something almost daily in January and February of this year. But since it has been very sporadic. Just today I wrote about a family event that was held last night (11/24), the rest of the day was only a few lines, but that event took up a half page or more. I included the people that were there, which also lets me know who wasn't. (16/23) That was in a Red n Black A4 casebound notebook. I also have a A5 Leuchtturm1917 that I take notes of talks and lessons and things in church and some other meetings. I could and have, but don't always transcribe some of that information into the master book (the A4).

 

I like the idea of writing a letter to yourself. Even if it is only once a week. I also include things like quotes, poems all kinds of stuff into my journal(s). I have done more journalling since December 2012 than I had in the 25+ years previous. Or it was more formalized anyway.

 

Since 1986 I have been a Franklin(Covey) planner user. Oftentimes, just my notes and things and the occasional note marked "Journal Entry" in my planner over that time. I took a lot of class notes while at the University of Utah in that planner. Most of my planner notes are business related, or information about jobs I applied or interviewed for over the years - including the ads I answered. But my point is your journalling will evolve over time. Mine certainly has. I even have a few regrets. Those missed few months in 1981. When I have had the opportunity to speak to young people who were going to perform the same kind of service I have told them, the biggest regret I have is that I didn't journal enough.

 

It may seem mundane to you today. Or even a month from now. But years from now it will be a big deal. If not for you, for your descendants. Children and grandchildren. Cleon Skousen had an impressive library/number of volumes, but he was doing more than just writing a journal - and his of course was something he developed over time. He was creating a personal history for his children, grandchildren and beyond. So they would be able to learn about him and the things he did with his life.

 

I have in my possession a history written by my grandmother, her childhood, being courted by my grandfather and how their romance blossomed and until his death in 1959 when I was only 13 months old. We share a middle name and I have some of his things. A beautiful writing desk, a set of books he used to study business to help him run his plumbing business which is now in its third generation. (my cousin now owns the business) But those books and desk are precious to me. As is the connection which I do not know how to understand or explain. Someday I will understand it, I know that, but I know not when.

 

Each one of us has a different story to tell. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

Another way to use your pens (one I take full advantage of) is get on the snail mail thread in "The Write Stuff" forum https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/2314-snail-mail-writing-list/

Edited November 26, 2014 by Runnin_Ute