Sunday, December 6, 2009
Question 4
Danko says, "I encourage my students to keep a journal mainly for the practice of writing, but also to engage in a kind of self-dialouge, even self-examination. And when keeping a journal, we still may have an audience in mind (which itself can be tied to the creation of voice and persona), but it's a place where we can feel comfortable making a mess before we clean things up" (8). Do you keep a journal as a place to practice writing? What do you think of journal writing in your own life?
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I agree with Danko that keeping a journal can help a writer develop a persona and a voice. I have never used a journal to "practice" writing, but I have kept one as a place to develop my thoughts about certain subjects, or just to write about the happenings in my life. When I am writing in a journal, however, I don't really have any sort of audience in mind besides myself, so when I try to take my persona into a personal essay or something that other people will read, my style ends up changing. I don't know if anyone else has had this happen to them. Writing is just a different experience for me when I know that others are going to be reading my piece.
ReplyDeleteI agree that knowing others will read what I am writing has an effect on my writing. I have always, and probably always will hate work-shopping my writing, and Bukowski said something of the same think, so I feel that I am in good company. That being said, I do think that there are benefits to knowing that your writing is going to be on display. I think that is can serve to force us to really look with a more critical eye at our writing. However, I still prefer a more abstract and distant audience to an immediate one, which means I still hate workshop. But now I realize that I have strayed very far from the original topic. On the actual topic, I don't really like the idea of a journal, but I do like the idea of making yourself write as often as possible and especially the idea of having something to write in or on if there is an occasion where an idea strikes you and you don't want to lose it (personally I just usually just use the back of receipts, paystubs, or empty cigarette packages for that).
ReplyDeleteI used to journal quite a bit. I agree that writing for oneself is quite different than writing for an audience. Due to this difference, I don't know how useful journal writing is as "practice." I feel like journaling really only develops one voice--our own personal voice--and because we write only for ourselves, we don't push ourselves to write well. On the other hand, I still see journaling as a very valuable practice. Though it may not push us to new levels as writers, it does help us to develop as thinkers. Journals are an opportunity to think through things on a page. This is very helpful. Journals also provide an excellent resource for writers. I often reference old journals when writing a new piece. This can be helpful for many reasons. The things we write in journals can provide inspiration, something to expound upon in a more polished piece. Journals can also give us a very real voice to read and mimic. For example, I am writing a personal essay about a time that I _____. I can return to a journal entry from that time or from a time when something similar happened and mimic the voice in which I wrote, the voice which naturally flowed from such a situation. In this way, though the journal in itself may not push us to be better writers, it is a valuable resource for those who wish to become better writers.
ReplyDeleteI've had the same sort of experience with journal writing. There have been many times I've gone back to old journals when I need inspiration. But I find that although that works for me sometimes, I can never really use a past journal entry as more than inspiration for a topic, because I'm not the same person as I was when I wrote it. I probably won't be in the same mood as I was when I wrote the original entry, or I've experienced something that gives me a new outlook on the subject I wrote about. There are many factors that affect our writing, and while we may write about our feelings on a certain subject one day, the next day we may feel completely different.
ReplyDeleteExactly, and it's the fact that I'm no longer the same person that I was when I wrote X journal entry that makes it useful. I feel like, by reading the older entries, I can to some extent remember what it felt like and who I was back then. It allows me to put myself in the shoes of a younger me and to use that younger me as my persona. That, for me, has been one of the most useful aspects of referencing past journal entries.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon these quotes once upon a time:
ReplyDelete"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." - Not sure....
"You must write for yourself, above all. - Gustave Flaubert
Journaling is such a necessity for me, mostly because I have a terrible memory. Even if I cannot fully capture a moment, even if the words are quite right, at least I can refer back to it for further inspiration. In some entries I usually try to capture important details, immediate feelings. There is nothing worse than trying to recall an event only to have memory distort the details.
I identify with Amanda and David's experiences in trying to figure out the person you once were through past journal entries. There is nothing that jars my memory more than sorting through some of my ridiculous looking journals that I once had. I cringe just thinking about a particularly embarrassing aqua, crushed velvet confection and the content inside is even more incriminating.
I have recent journals that bear witness to my more "writerly" attempts.They contain some poems that I'm darned proud of. And unlike some of my attempts as a 'personal essayist', the words just flowed.
Oh, and Brian - I reallllllly don't like workshopping either. I think it's mostly the reading my works aloud that bothers me the most. I do appreciate and welcome the creative input of others but more often than not my own critical eye gets in the way of what I actually present to the class.
I personally cannot keep a journal or a diary or a consistent blog for that matter... I have tried my whole life. I love the idea of receiving journals as gifts but unfortunately the relationship between me and the journal remains superficial--with me just making an introductory entry one page post cover. I get through the basics, my name, who gave me the journal and why, and then I'll usually talk about some recent trial I have faced or perhaps a resolution I will aspire to complete but alas, never do. I do not, however, dispute that journaling is an exceptional way of practicing writing--as a craft.
ReplyDelete