Any help with starting this? Books to read, practical tips and suggestions on entries?
For anons who keep a journal/diary - why do you do it? What would you say to someone who wants to keep one themselves? Excerpts and examples from your own are more than welcome.
If you have nothing interesting to write about, start with self-maintenance. That'll give you a good, consistent reason to maintain a journal and experiment with what works for you.
i.e., have morning entries where you brainstorm then write down (in concrete terms) your responsibilities for the day and your priorities. Perhaps include something that describes how you feel. Evening entries can cover what you've accomplished, note what held you back, and also write down your feelings and see how they've changed. If you have time and ideas, then continue writing!
At the very least, your journal entries will be helping you become organized and "put together" enough to stimulate thought. I found that by the end of the week, I was getting more things done, goofing around less, and finding more topics that interested me and thus more substance for free-flow writing after I took care of my responsibilities. I also like to keep a mini composition book in my pocket to serve as a task list and a scratchpad, too.
I've kept my diary since I was 13 and I'm 25 now. I've had periods off where I don't write anything for a month, and intense periods where I write several pages every day for a month. I mostly write in the evenings.
Practical:
- Buy good notebooks that will last for a long time. My first diaries are written in spiral books where the spiral started to screw up, making them difficult to handle.
- Use good pens, with lots of ink, so text doesn't fade. No friction-erasable pens. Never pencils!!
- Put your diary where you can easily access it. I often have mine by my computer because that's where I spend most of my time, so I can easily reach for it whenever I think of something.
- I occasionally write computer entries. Important to print them asap so they can be pasted into the physical diary at a correct timeline and not end up 6 months later.
Even though I never re-read anything older than a few weeks-months, I regret having long periods without any writing at all. Of course, when you start keeping a diary, maybe it's not optimal to force yourself to write massive amounts, in case you burn out and quit it altogether. But the empty periods are to me as if, long periods of my life suddenly went missing. So I guess that's my main advice, try to write something every other day, even if short. I try to write at least three sentences every day, and never forget to write "first time I did X in my life" events, even if nothing more than that one sentence.
I agree with , start with concrete self-maintenance. What you do, did, are going to do today and this week. Extend as you feel like with feelings, abstract plans, etc.
Personally, I really enjoy writing down what I dream. Your dreams really do become more vivid when you write them down in detail.
As I've grown older, I've started to:
- write more about my social relationships, what I talk to others about and what we do - even small things - because I've realized how quickly people can enter and disappear from your life.
- mention current technology, current news, popular topics in society and media, etc. I'm not a deep analyst by any means, but for the purpose of future readers.
write 3 pages a day soon after waking
The first 1&1/2 will be junk sitting in your consciousness that always accumulates overnight, the next 1&1/2 will be more valuable
You can make a small supplement/trade-off if you start a dream diary as well, plus the experiences are interesting and will lead you down the interpretation/lucid dreaming path which is a good thing to be doing with the 1/3 of your life which would otherwise be void
here's an example of a short entry I made.
2 December 2017 (Saturday)
I've done a lot of crochet. Bought yarn.
At first I couldn't find my yarn needle, but then I found it on the floor.
Called mom.
I haven't been eating well due to nausea. I'm on 50 mg of Elvanse right now.
Found an unopened bottle of melatonin.
Tomorrow: eat and crochet.
This week: project, dissertation ceremony.
I hope N make their decision, no matter how it turns out.
The future feels uncertain and worrisome on the more... societal level.
A lot has happened in just these 1-2 years.
Some good replies in this thread. I find my diaries frustrating to read because I rarely start with the whole entry worked out in my mind, so there are often dead ends and redundancies, and I often miss the mark. But I find the exercise very useful as a kind of clearing house for further thought. A lot of the themes or settings in my fiction start out as I-was-thinking-about jottings.
One piece of advice: if you do decide to borrow from yourself, avoid reading back over what you've written. It will be better if you do it from memory.
Good luck.
I don't know why, but I found that super interesting to read. You're a lot more straightforward in your journaling than I am. I write super long rambling meditations that loop back on themselves.
Yours was oddly aesthetic.
While they might sound mundane at first, I often find entries like these to be the most interesting to read, months or years after the fact, moreso that the pseudo-philosophical ramblings of your younger, more naive self, which often times have very little substance.
I solved the "rambly pseud entry" problem for myself by always taking time and space to "brainstorm" my thoughts, organize them, and then start writing a free-flow entry. At the very least, I'll have something concrete to talk about that I can find insightful, useful, or at least understandable long after the fact. If you're economical with space in your entries, then it could still look aesthetic, too.
I am usually very "foggy" early in the morning and late in the evening, so I've come up with a lot of tricks to help me stay focused, including a small composition notebook to write down ideas to expand upon later as I've mentioned in and continuously tweaking a routine until it is streamlined, intuitive, and capable of being written down and printed out for easy reading. Like all habits, it takes work though.
Personally I find the hardest thing to do is be consistent with entries, especially considering I do literally nothing all day but either read or study various topics, and so what goes in my entries is usually my idle thoughts throughout the day and also a description of the weather or scenery or something like that
Why do I do it? To have some grasp of time; to have a concrete and categorical timeline of the various epochs within my life
I journal every night when I am in bed. I write down whether I had a boring, interesting, or exciting day. My day is usually boring. I write down what I had for breakfast and supper as well. My day's activities and thoughts go in too.
I also keep a poop journal in the bathroom.
I just use a composition book for mine. Nothing fancy.
>I hope N make their decision
I assume this is an alias for someone or something? I do this also but for absolutely everyone. Either that or I just don't reference them at all, I just say "I was told that X" or "I was gifted X for the us in Y" or something like that
I don't know why, I've always felt uncomfortable ascribing real world names and entities to the entries in my journal
A happy person doesn't keep a diary.
This thread made me look back over a journal I kept while I was semi-NEET. Some of the most cringeworthy pseud stuff I've ever written:
>What I really want is this, to stop hating myself so much. I just want to live without being pulled. I like the work that I do, I find it interesting and engrossing, I don't need the allure of accolades or social proof. What I really want to love someone intensely and with abandon, and to be loved in the same way. But I don't want one to be dependent on the other, that would cheapen the whole thing to a transaction, another pull, which defeats the whole purpose. This is the critique of the western relationship, so steeped in the quick gratification of biological impulse. There is no exchange of deep love, no time for it to develop and take seed. There is only the exchange of fluids. Can we be reduced to chemistry?
>It seems to me the greatest and maybe only sin is excess and the only virtue is courage. Biologically, in the eternity of nature it is apparent--all biological systems seek to mitigate excess, wherever it is found. From the entire ecosystem of the planet, cast in a delicate and resilient balance, to the environment of the cell, even the atom. Waste is reduced and recycled, nature subtends towards this seemingly universal virtue. From the play of insects to the play of organ systems, the moment excess begins is the moment one starts to die.
>In scheduling there are 2 main heuristics, Minimize Maximum Lateness, Shortest to Highest, each which applies to a particular problem. I found this similar to the approach of Poor Economics which has two views of economic growth in poverty stricken countries. In the mainstream, such approaches are thought to be universal in the same way that each of the scheduling heuristics have books written solely about them. But the real trick is to apply each heuristic in its proper context. Similarly S-shaped curve and the L-shaped curved (poverty-trap and no poverty trap) are only relevant depending on context and the details of a specific situation.
Journaling in a foreign language is a great way to learn one
Also I sometimes print and paste longer posts I write on forums, usually concerning politics. Writing the same thoughts and points in your diary when you already have a well-written post would be a waste of time. And, music, books, movies etc that I like. Again, it's something people in the future can connect to.
I'm straightforward in my way of talking and tend to not use a lot of "unnecessary" or complex words, but I wrote this very hastily because I needed to sleep, so I think it's a combination of personality and it being a short entry.
I do write long ramblings. When I do, I usually don't think a lot about where I want to end up. Often, it's a topic I've thought about for some time, so the writing process is more about putting it down in text rather than reaching a new conclusion. I still mentally ramble a lot, though I haven't written much of it down lately. I don't know why. Maybe life to me has reached a level of complexity, where I don't find journaling my thoughts about minute parts of it to be helpful.
The ramblings are a main reason why I don't read older diaries. They're naive or not very interesting, though in any case, old diaries are anxiety-inducing. But I try to not censor myself. I strive to express myself as I am right now, no matter how I believe I will look back on my current self.
It's an organization, I used an alias here because what it is isn't relevant to the entry itself.
I never use aliases in my diary, but I know the uncomfortable feeling. For me it's more about certain topics and things I do, rather than including others. Sometimes I have to postpone writing about an event or only write parts of it at first, and then complete it later on. The topics and things can be very mundane, but as an easy example: I have no problems writing about or discussing sex in a general sense or listening to others' sex life and experiences, but I'm really uncomfortable writing about my own thoughts and experiences, no matter how basic they are. I've become better at it by forcing myself to write even if I feel anxious. I also use tricks like closing my eyes while writing the most difficult words. Once I'm past the initial block, I can usually write somewhat freely.
Journaling is good when you have no one to talk to.
This, so much man.
Im the exact same, I always feel so weird writing down the names, especially when its about dreams.
>practical tips and suggestions on entries?
Don't worry about length or grammar or content, just force yourself to put something to paper every single day. Some sort of pattern is good, like I always do my entry before bed. I also always begin with an extremely clear date and conclude by transcribing a poem or part of a poem I'm trying to memorize.
Example of one of my longer entries:
28 September 2017 10:42 PM Thursday night
>I heard on a podcast recently that often when people attempt suicide by handgun (i.e. a bullet to the brain) they fire incorrectly. Something goes wrong, they aim at the wrong part of their head, and they are trapped with a destroyed face and destroyed life BUT STILL CONSCIOUS. There is a period between that and the next gunshot wherein the would-be suicide is forced to endure unspeakable pain complimented with the knowledge that half his head is physically gone and he did it to himself. I say 'next gunshot' because I assume that if the suicide has the ability he will do everything within his power to remove himself from this situation--but not all victims of such accidents have the luxury of a second attempt. Some bleed out, some are forced by their failing strength and medical professionals to continue to live under even more degraded circumstances than those which triggered the suicide attempt in the first place, indeed, some become grotesque and mentally retarded and saddle their families with prolonged and expensive care for a perverted image of their former self.
Then I transcribed Keats's Ode to Autumn
Example of one of my shorter entries:
3 November 2017 9:44 PM Friday night
>Very tired. Time for bed.
And then I copied out a haiku by Ransetsu
>why do you do it?
No fucking clue, really. I think it helps keep me on track towards my goals and I sometimes enjoy rereading the older entries. I've kept a journal off and on since I was 13 and I find it interesting to track how my thoughts have developed since then (or haven't)
When I write mine I usually talk about important things that have happened, my interactions, my progress towards specific goals. So for example it might read more like a conversation with a councillor, but from what Ive read here most people use it like a planner or talk about mundane stuff.
Doesnt this defeat the point of a journal? Isnt the point to remember events and how you felt etc. not just to archive the most pointless shit like what you had for tea, where is the enjoyment going to come from re-reading stuff like that?
I just dont get it.
I keep track of all of those things in my journal. Not everything has has to be a matter of enjoyment, though usually listing what happened can help you recollect your memories of a day that you've liked in particular. Recording mundane details and keeping track of yourself can also be useful for self-improvement, i.e., I made and printed out a chart based on a modified 2-dimensional map of emotions (valence/arousal theory) so I can quantify my moods over a long period of time. It's been working well so far after some initial tinkering for perspective and consistency. It'll be nice to see it visualized after a few months.
Commonplace book/s.
Write as if you're writing a letter to someone, except you don't.
Wow, everything here is really awesome to read! Thanks anons.
>Don't worry about length or grammar or content, just force yourself to put something to paper every single day.
Objection, your honour.
One reason I keep a diary is to keep my hand in as a writer. I think diarists should apply meticulous literary standards, as if they were writing a memoir for publication. Sloppy writing habits should never be indulged or encouraged.
Also, I can't see the point in writing something every day. The prosaic details of life will make for humdrum reading later on. I wait until I have some worthwhile development to report (not necessarily earth-shattering, just something that signifies progress in my life.)
Demonstrating why you should write everyday and not be fussed about grammar or content. If you don't you'll sound like this bellend
>why do you do it?
To save my life from obscurity, and give myself something to read on my deathbed. I want to be reassured that I've led a worthwhile life.
What would you say to someone who wants to keep one themselves?
Excerpts and examples from your own are more than welcome.
>A re-application of the lubricant was essential. This time C kept her hands to herself, which allowed me to concentrate better. On the last occasion, I had kept my thumb lodged in the arch of C's vulva (I distinctly remembered the Braille sensation of sebaceous glands on the inside of her labium) where it presumably rubbed the shaft of her clitoris and helped her to the loud, abandoned orgasm that so surprised me at the time. Now, however, she reported that I was missing the mark, and that direct contact would be better. This was easier said than done, as C's clit is a small, mobile and elusive organ, as she freely admitted. More than once I had been frustrated by the challenge of bringing this slippery fish to bay with my fingertips. The pad of the thumb, however, is a bigger and blunter instrument, almost ideally suited to the task. Several times its quarry squirmed out from under it, but could always be found again by moving downwards and then up, between the labia minora. The head of C's clitoris, suddenly large, round and inquisitive, found itself up against my thumbtip, and this time did not get away. The rapid, sympathetic rocking of C's hips, in time with the thrusting of my finger and rubbing of my thumb, attested to the approach of her orgasm. It wasn't long before I felt the tight and welcoming embrace of her cunt, and she moaned aloud: not as loudly as last time, but for rather longer. She would later reveal that this was a chain of orgasms, rather than a single emphatic denouement.
If you'd rather sound like a pleb, I dare say it suits you better.
>I never use aliases in my diary, but I know the uncomfortable feeling. For me it's more about certain topics and things I do, rather than including others. Sometimes I have to postpone writing about an event or only write parts of it at first, and then complete it later on. The topics and things can be very mundane, but as an easy example: I have no problems writing about or discussing sex in a general sense or listening to others' sex life and experiences, but I'm really uncomfortable writing about my own thoughts and experiences, no matter how basic they are. I've become better at it by forcing myself to write even if I feel anxious. I also use tricks like closing my eyes while writing the most difficult words. Once I'm past the initial block, I can usually write somewhat freely.
clowsing your little pweddy eyes. Come on...get a grip. Also "something people in the future can connect to," do you really think anyone in the whole wide world is going to read your journal?
Dude that was the most autistic thing I have ever read in my life. I am surprised that 1. you fingered a lass and 2. that your not aware of how much of sperg you sound. Like I mean the fucking prose dude, why are you using such a high formality and vocabulary? who are you trying to impress? I get wanting to make it to a high standard but jesus fucking christ.
"Challenge of bringing this slippery fish to bay with my fingertips."
I have no idea what the fuck I just read, this cant be real.
>Like I mean the fucking prose dude
>Also, I can't see the point in writing something every day.
But surely writing something every day develops a good habit and works to improve your own writing? Isn't it like a muscle that needs exercise every day, where writing becomes easier the more you do it, and you can then turn the humdrum into something interesting with practice?
When my daughter was born six months ago, my mom gave me a journal to write my thoughts in. But I honestly just don't see the point. I kept a journal while travelling through Brazil and I am glad I did it because there are a lot of details that I wouldn't have remembered. But this baby thing, I don't have any thoughts or feelings outside of "I love this baby," "she is so amazing," "Being a parent is difficult and tests your patience and sanity," and"Wow that's a lot of poop."
My mom basically gave me this journal that I don't have the time or motivation to write in and all it has done is make me feel guilty about not writing in it. My wife sometimes writes down the date that she first ate some food or the first time she laughed out loud. But I never write there.
I would rather keep my own journal about my own life. But maybe that's just because I am selfish. I'm 23. This baby wasn't on purpose. I am not happy in my relationship right now but I know that we can make it work. I am getting Veeky Forums and reading a lot more books than I ever have. I feel trapped in my life at times. I don't want to write that stuff in a journal that is supposed to be about the sunshine and rainbow feelings of being a parent. And if I write down my secrets in there, I know my wife will read them as she did once in the past.
Sorry for rambling.
You need to develop a code, user. Every serious diarist needs one.
ooh nice, good idea
There's nothing wrong with this entry
>But surely writing something every day develops a good habit and works to improve your own writing?
Good writing needs a good subject, and I'd prefer to wait for one. Besides, there are practical obstacles to writing every day. Who's got the time?
>Isn't it like a muscle that needs exercise every day, where writing becomes easier the more you do it
Writing regularly is essential, but 2-3 entries per week seems to keep me ticking over nicely. I don't want my writing to disrupt the very life I'm trying to record ...
>and you can then turn the humdrum into something interesting with practice?
Maybe at first, but every single day? That would become grating and laborious for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.
what are the main differences between making notes in a moleskin and writing in sizable journal
>Start personal diary
>never tempted to write anything but fuming entries about gf I don't love
It's enlightening, if nothing else.
>>Isn't it like a muscle that needs exercise every day, where writing becomes easier the more you do it
INSTEAD OF WRITING EVERY DAY YOU SHOULD WRITE EVERY SECOND DAY
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
How do arguments like this even start and why do they never seem to end?
I used to write in muh notebook, but since I almost lost it a couple times and also needed more privacy, I write in digital form now.
Pic related: Day One app.
You want them to end? Try shutting up.
Get one of those locked leather journal covers from Etsy for your current journal. Get a safe or something for old journals. That should be enough to keep your thoughts safe.
I always carry a pocket notebook I write in. I write really small (similar to pic related). I usually write in long form about philosophical ideas, history, skills I need to know for different projects. I never use it for small notes and reminders, the phone is better for that. I guess you could call it a commonplace book.
This is a really good idea
Huh, so it really seems like journalling is a way to put down your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences on paper. And it helps you sort all of that out and helps you get better at expressing it. And, I guess what that means to each writer is going to be different compared to everyone else, ultimately. And keeping a diary or a log of your day is a part of that - keeps you grounded in the world around you.
For a while I wrote down my day to day thoughts but they would always turn into pages-long Elliot Rodger essays about society and incoherent armchair philosophy. It disturbed me to re-read them so I stopped.
Favourite diaries, Veeky Forums?
>Kafka
>Friedrich Reck’s ‘Diary of a Man in Despair’
>Sylvia Plath
No idea - I've been meaning to pick up published diaries myself, so recommendations would be amazing.
I've just started one in the past week and a half or so. I started it for the same reason as most people, to record things I don't want to forget and to get my thoughts/feelings down on paper so that I can more easily engage with them and at least have a chance of recognizing and/or fixing any maladaptive thought patterns. Kind of like a surrogate therapy session until I can see a real one.
Also, this happens a lot I just write pages of inane shit that happened to me or that I did throughout the day, but I also digress A LOT and end up pontificating about why I think the way I do, what my feelings mean, my relationship with different people etc etc etc.
I suppose you're right. It's a way to practice self expression without making yourself vulnerable
Pessoa, probably. Why do people read others' diaries, though? Letters seem more interesting.
I have the letters of Mann and Chekhov, interesting in their own right but it makes me wish I had Mann’s diaries. I enjoy the rawness of the diary.
That's the most presentable stuff I could find. It's all so self-centered, but I guess NEET-dom forces that.
There are some interesting tidbits between the rants though:
>Regarding learning I think I can safely conclude that all learning must operate
under three simplified principles:
# Active recall
# Spaced repetition
# Mental simulation
oh wow look guys
user knows the secret formula of how to be happy!
I don't know. But I've read tons of notes and letters written by older relatives who I never had the chance to meet. It's fun to go where they've gone and do what they've done.
Of walking in ice is good, and funny.
Also, 4 types of learning: by allegory, integration, analysis, synthesis. Writing this down because I know I'll return to this archived thread in the future.
While my aesthetic preference would be a leather-bound notebook filled with my own distinctive script, I am afraid that my fourth grade penmanship teacher would be disappointed. Instead, for the past five years I've been journaling with my phone's standard notes app. This gives me the opportunity to log my dreams immediately after waking up, jot down my thoughts and observations when I have a free moment, and take notes when I am reading. For better or worse my entries are forever saved.
>12-9-2017
>After two hours of listening to brass band marches and Christmas albums, I was broadsided by a series of unfortunate events. The road to hell was paved with my failure to plug in the bottle warmer. I waited for thirty minutes in vain as the frozen bag of mothers milk refused to melt. When I finally discovered my error he was already full of sound and fury. A few minutes later the batch was ready. To my astonishment he wouldn't accept his meal. He would take two or three gulps then spit out the bottle. After twenty mils I realized that the milk was sour. Onto the next bag. Again, after what seemed like an eternity, I managed to melt the block of milk as the warmer was now working as intended. With the baby in my right arm I attempted to drain the bag. This proved to be unsuccessful, so returned to baby to the bouncer which drove him bananas. I filled the bottle only to discover that this too was absolutely rotten. Dammit. He was shrieking like a demon. Finally, the last bag in the fridge seemed to be satisfactory. Though once again I had to go through another round of attempting to pour the milk into the bottle, failing miserably as the baby was crying on my hip, placing the child in the bouncer, and listening to his screams as I transferred the milk. I rushed him to the rocker, propped him into place on my right leg, and gave him the bottle. The little guy latched and downed the full amount without hesitating. Sleep soon followed. However, it must have taken twenty minutes for his red blotches to disappear from his face.
I try to record my dreams as soon as I wake up, and sometimes turn them into poetry.
Lost 3 years' worth when my last phone fell into a lake, so I haven't been doing it with the same passion since I had to start over.
>back up your phone bro
Miss me with that Apple NWO shit
Jesus
The quality of Moleskin journals does not justify the cost. They won't stand the rest of time.
Literally nothing - it's all about preference, but I do agree with . Moleskines are themselves overpriced and underengineered as quality journals.
cool.
>the virgin daily journal vs the chad life summary manifesto murder suicide
how do i write journal entries that won't make me cringe a year or more down the line? i was doing it consistently a few years ago but looking back on my old dogshit entries made me physically ill and i stopped
what's the alternative fellas, req me a good journal to write in. my dad is looking for presents
...
I back this. It needs to be A6 (pocket) size. 160+ pages and softcover.
I would also like to know, wife is looking for presents
This desu. I often digress in my thoughts and while a journal would help keep me centered, it'd be such a pain to read myself, as I tend to be a bit dramatic depending on my mood. I guess the solution is vouching to not ever read it or wait an arbitrary amount of time.
>conquest of the useless
a fellow man of taste i see
Although my greatest problem would be in which language to write. English is my second language but it's what I use to think. I actually feel ashamed to think in my mother tongue and find it easier to express myself in English. Any journal keeping ESL anons willing to share their experiences?
Wew.
I don't know if its a good or bad compulsion to be repulsed from overly floury writing. I'm not sure if I know how to bullshit things anymore. Everytime I write something that isn't straightforward and plain it seems fake and pretentious as fuck not to mention overly complicated.
honestly i might just try and adopt this guy's approach rather than spewing my bullshit i'll just keep nice, short records of my thoughts and experiences from that day
...
He is a greater writer than he is a filmmaker.
Can any of you recommend a specific product/brand?
I have a plain bound blank book, but I mainly just want a little notepad for jotting down some ideas when I'm out. I could write them into my phone, but I don't always bring it or want to use my fingers. Especially during winter.
I haven't really done it before so I don't want to get scammed on some floppy sack of shit that's overdesigned and overexpensive or is too bulky.