That's A Lot Of Journaling

[Tojusi]

Take a look at this article, it's quite long but worth it:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/30/diary-somebody-148-lost-notebooks-life-discarded-alexander-masters

 

Fascinating.

 

And something to ponder for all those people who want to burn their journals - this may add fuel to the fire so to speak. This is what can happen if the diaries are found by someone. It could end up in a book.

[PaganArcher]

Wow. I'm almost tempted to pick up a copy just to see it all laid out.

 

That's some impressive writing.

[ethernautrix]

Thanks for sharing this fascinating story!

[migo984]

Talking about voluminous writing, Charles Darwin was a prodigious letter-writer. He wrote over 15,000!! letters between 1821 & 1882 - at least that's how many have been found to date, with more turning up all the time.

 

The Darwin Correspondence Project is fascinating, and it's well worth exploring the web-site.

 

https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk

[IrishEyes]

I loved the article. I'm going to see if zwack thinks we might like to have the bio. I like it best when he reads to me. It's an intimate, loving, comforting experience for me, especially when he reads to me as I fall asleep at night :-). I wonder if we'd both enjoy this, or just me? I'm sure he'll tell me if/when he reads this thread.

[inkstainedruth]

I've been doing morning pages journals for a dozen or so years. I think I'm on about volume 24 at this point. I switched over from "pretty" to "practical" a couple of years ago, so I'm now on my third Miquelrius notebook (the 200 page one lasted about 5 months; the first 300 page one took me through the rest of the year and I think into January. I think the second 300 page one should last until fall. (That's 3 pp. per day, nearly every day; so I really needed journals with capacity (and FP friendly paper).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ridiculopathy]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

I've had difficulty maintaining a diary/journal on a consistent basis. I'm impressed (and admire!) that she was able to write so absorbingly on day-to-day life!

[DrDebG]

I started journal writing in my 20's and have kept it up every day every since. Yet, I don't really write about events, merely thoughts, prayers, what I am studying. I have about 2 large boxes full of filled journals. I haven't sorted them out yet by date - they are all just jumbled together. Some large, some small - all kinds from composition notebooks, moleskines, Leuchterms, etc. For the past year or so, I am used a Traveler's Notebook regularly. I have at least a dozen of the Tomoe River like inserts filed. I like the size and portability.

[inkandseeds]

Great article, thank you.

 

I feel humbled as i am only on volume 42 currently. Unfortunately, i didn't start when i was twelve.

[john74]

Thank you for posting this article, it was a great read.

 

I have been journaling everyday for a bit over a year now. I write 3-4 pages a day on average, ~200 words per page. I have been using the Tomoe River paper inserts for Midori travelers notebooks for journaling. I just started volume 17.

[Runnin_Ute]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

I've had difficulty maintaining a diary/journal on a consistent basis. I'm impressed (and admire!) that she was able to write so absorbingly on day-to-day life!

Sounds like me. I truly believe I need to be better at it, too. To the point I even make it an item in my daily planner to do, but doesn't often get done. At least not often enough.

 

I need to work at it more. I know the importance of it, because once I was trying to remember the details of something that happened in the summer of 1981, had been keeping a journal during that period of time. Went to find it to jog my memory.... no such luck. The time frame in question I wrote not a word. I regret it completely.

 

This was a great article Tojusi - thanks for sharing!

[Studio97]

I plan to order the book A Life Discarded. Fascinating article. It seems there may have been 1000 volumes. Incredible. Makes my suitcase of filled journals seem small. I had long spells of little to no writing to prolific periods but over the years I have not given up. Now getting older I feel the need to write even stronger. I wonder if I have hit 1 million words or in the hundreds of thousands. I just know its a lot.

[Rhincodon]

Thank you for the link to the article; it was fascinating and inspiring. I used to journal very regularly but stopped for a couple years when I began to doubt its purpose. I've picked it back up now, and I think I'll try to be better at it. Although I don't know if I would be able to match her!

[ac12]

I started journaling as I was relearning to write. It was simply a method for me to write more, and practice improving my hand. At the time I was relearning to write, I think I filled a notebook in about 3 weeks. But then writing in my journal became a habit. And like an addiction, I have to write, every day. If I don't write 3+ pages a day, I don't feel right. I think after about 3 years, I am on volume 28. Now my wife asks, 'where are you going to put the journals?"

 

Because I was writing so much I decided against getting "good" (aka expensive) notebooks. I just use inexpensive spiral bound notebooks that I got from Staples. Staples 'back to school sale,' they were 17 cents each. So I got 30. That way I don't worry about how much I write. I got the "made in Brazil" notebooks, as the ones made in other countries were not as good. The notebooks are good for down to a F nib. Finer than that, it sometimes is not a pleasant feel, as the EF nibs feel the minior texture of the paper. This depends very much on the specific pen/nib, some are better or worse than others.

 

But I do not write anything private, so there is nothing "juicy" for anyone who finds it to read.

Edited May 6, 2016 by ac12

[Baenlynn]

Oh my. Right in the feels! Journaling was one of the things that kept me sane through my teens, something I haven't done enough of in recent years.

[saskia_madding]

This was a fascinating read, thanks for sharing!

 

I've been journaling since I was 12 (now 37), but sadly, a mold infestation in my bedroom caused by an unknown to me leaky roof claimed several of my journals, including the ones from my early years (12 - 18). I was not thrilled to have to throw them out, but they were covered in black mold and really unhealthy to keep around.

[PaperDarts]

What a great story, thanks for sharing it. Truly, inspiration to all of us who scribble.

 

I still have my first diary, a tiny green book given to me when I was seven years old, to record a special holiday. I confess that some of the pages were clearly completed by my mom. I didn't keep a diary/journal again until I was a teenager, and in a fit of embarrassment in my early 20s threw them all out - how I wish I'd tolerated my younger self better!

 

Since I was 21 I've been a steady journal writer, not every single day, but close to that. Whenever I open a decades-old book it's like falling down a rabbit-hold into that exact time. Some of my friends have burned their journals but I don't think I could bear to do that. I'm really not sure what to do with the two desk drawers full of notebooks - but the Guardian article is an inspiring story of the possibilities.

[amberleadavis]

That's a great article and an even better story. This is definitely one of the people who could be around here:

 

She began when she was 12, because her parents gave her a pot of green ink for Christmas, and she likes green ink. Since then, “these little books full of heartbreak” have served many purposes: a refuge, a place to let her worst thoughts out for a runaround, “a form of prayer”. She continues writing them today, “because I enjoy the sound of the pen on the page”.