Will My Journal Be Important To Folks In The Future?

[Polanova]

The WWW was invented in 1989, released to the unassuming public in 1991

Edited February 20, 2017 by Polanova

[Arkamas]

Aaaaannd back to journals.

[Rhincodon]

Probably my earliest journals will be inconsequential, as they were written when I was in elementary/middle school and, as far as I recall, are mostly detailed descriptions of books I read or movies I saw.

 

I watch a lot of police procedurals so I occasionally imagine my journals helping gain insight to anyone looking to learn about me. Or if someone finds them in a box and decides to take interest. Although, what may seem mundane to the writer could be fascinating to whomever finds them - there are stories of ordinary folks' journals being discovered and gaining attention.

[Octo]

Keep them.

 

My parents kept boxes of the letters my grandmother wrote weekly. As my parents executor, I began to shred the letters, but had to stop. Even though the contents are mundane, they create images of life as lived in those times. A historian requested them if I decided not to keep them. I intend to suggest that my heirs donate the letters if they do not want them.

 

Those letters caused me to become serious about writing my own memories, etc. Times do change. My grandparents were born in the late 1800's and died in the 1960's to 1990. Someday your writings will be just as interesting to someone.

[knarflj]

I have a friend who published a novel based on the journal of a mid-ninetheenth century ancestor, so you never know.

 

I certainly don't expect anyone to find material for a novel in my journals, but although I write for myself and not for posterity, I do expect that if they survive long enough, some descendent or other will find them interesting.

 

Jenny

[ridiculopathy]

If you aren't a famous person, I think it would depend on a few things:

- How much your descendants liked you

- How sentimental/nostalgic your descendants are

- How well-curated your writings are (otherwise it'll take a dedicated reader to find the interesting bits)

 

Well, who knows. Maybe you will become a narrated quote in a Ken Burns-style documentary one day. Although there will be a lot to choose from (e.g. blogs, social media postings, this forum...) assuming that "whatever happens on the internet stays on the internet forever" still holds.

[Kolyd]

The thing is with mine. I want it to be useful to historians in maybe 10, 100 maybe 1000 years So I think it's all about the little stuff, mention little things which mean nothing to you - but might give the future historians everything. If you annoyed that fuel prices are high - don't just say that, maybe add how much it actually was and what you would expect them to be. I also try to detail events, big or small, in as much detail as I can - the bigger picture can often be completed by the little, tiny things.

Some may argue that this isn't really relevant in the age of computers and the Internet, but I mean who knows? Maybe there won't be electricity in the future!

[gweimer1]

I've been writing a journal for a few years now. I have a number of them finished. Without going into a lot of detail, my journals were what I thought would be words of love and hope for future years. Things changed at the end of last year, and as I read through some of my own words, I realized that overpowering those words of love and hope were those of abject loneliness and isolation. As life presents us with surprises, my life has taken a marvelous turn for the best, and my journal, in step, started a fresh book by closing a long chapter of my life that makes me sad. The future is so wonderful right now, it's hard to believe it's really happening.

 

My old journals will be thrown away. The words will never be read by anyone. It's the way it has to be.