Do any of you guys actually have a diary?

[Anonymous No.16181610]

I’m curious because I was told keeping one will not only improve your writing, but will help you emotionally. I’m afraid of starting one because I feel like I’ll become mute.

[Anonymous No.16181621]

> I feel like I’ll become mute
That makes no sense yet i know exactly what you mean

[Anonymous No.16181651]

>>16181621
I meant that I already don't use my voice a lot, and starting a diary will eliminate make me stop. Also, I have a problem where I hide how I really feel through irony and "jokes".

[Anonymous No.16181691]

Yep. They are great. Every writer you ever admired kept one.
Just don’t be a fag and lie or joke in your own journal.

Write your thoughts as they come, talk to yourself. It’s really amazing to see just how messed up you are. I mean really see it. You can tell where your handwriting gets harder and bigger, and how you will ramble like a spaz and then catch yourself doing it.
You’ll see patterns, like “shit. I write about how gay things are A LOT, why is that?”

And then you find out your gay.
Seriously though, it’s good for you. I’m always glad I wrote in my journal.

[Anonymous No.16181730]

>>16181691
Is it worth have a physical one or should I just keep using notes on my Iphone?

[Anonymous No.16181957]

>>16181730
not the same anon but I'd say write it on paper. I used to write mine on the PC, but two weeks ago I switched to paper and I find that I pay much more attention to what I'm thinking about and writing now. I just find it much easier to focus and uncover things that occupy my mind now

[Anonymous No.16182150]

I agree with going to paper. Computerized / typing isn't the same. As much as William Burroughs touted the typewriter, he would always keep a paper journal.
Not a great example but I think you can get the gist.

I have been journaling in those school composition books for years. I use a fountain pen that it way easy to write with. It's fun. I would just go to a bar across the street when it was quiet and sit down with a pint and just go... It wasn't always a diary - sometimes just whatever came to my mind but in the end some really messed up stuff started to surface. My longtime girlfriend read some of them and got REALLY PISSED and threw them out.
I don't regret writing the things I did but she took al lot of stuff as so offensive that she felt the need to destroy it.

I wish I had those to this day. I also keep scraps and articles pasted into my journals. Also, drawings and origami instructions and whatever random shit. It's a good outlet and general record to go back to and reference when I'm writing lyrics.

> pic not related but a fountain pen gets things done beautifully

[Anonymous No.16182417]

>>16181957
>>16182150
Thanks for the advice. I have a black notebook I was saving for drawing but I'll use it as my dairy.

[Anonymous No.16182839]

>>16182417
I have a blank page hardback black book that I think is designed for drawing but it makes for a great diary / journal because there are no lines. It really does let you open up and just go to do whatever you want and let your writing actually take form (literally, penmanship) and also you can just draw at will if you want to mix things up. I love that format and when I look back at some of my favorite writers from childhood, they did the same thing. I'm thinking stuff like the Father Christmas Letters by Tolkien and other private stuff like that really wasn't meant to be published at all.

[Anonymous No.16182877]

Natalie Goldberg has a lot of books on Zen writing that was very helpful for me. You don't really need to get any of them, basically she is saying, just go with the flow no matter what and just write whatever comes into your head. There's more to it then that but that's the idea.
"Writing Down the Bones" is a good book to help one jump-start and get into the practice of journaling.
It's probably overpriced, by now, and a lot of her ideas are already out there, but if you can find her stuff at a library it would be worth it to check out a copy just for reference.

[Anonymous No.16182902]

>>16181691
>>16181730
>>16181957
>>16182417
>>16182839
Paper is superior every time. I just enter a zen mode with paper and my river of thoughts hit the edge of the world, fall, and crash upon the paper beneath my pen.

The only thing that worries me (I am a software dev/eng fag) is people finding my journal. I hide it in my backpack... but it will only be time until someone finds it. Putting a lock on it seems like an autistic solution that would make someone want to open it. I am currently writing it in a red journal... maybe I should downgrade the notebook/paper into something unassuming like a regular shitty 99 cents one that no one will bother opening?

[Anonymous No.16183044]

>>16182902
Like a boss. I like your style.

I used to worry about people getting into my journal (mostly because there's some really raunchy stuff -- SOMETIMES; it's mostly boring and just for me). I would use the older ones for culling stuff for future works of intent.
I personally have gone to just what you've said, those shitty 99 cent composition books. Sometimes you can get them for 25 cents on special. Depends on the time of year. Doesn't matter. Why I like those is that they are semi-hard-bound (stiff covers) and their size is perfect for any kind of carrying case or to just hold and not lug around.

I break them in by numbering each page in the top right hand corner (if not already numbered - lab books have numbers) then start a table of contents about 5 pages in and give that a girth of about 3 to 4 pages. Then I will cover it with a brown paper bag so that each one ends up with its own personality by the end of filling it up with ideas. I usually end up drawing and writing some BS on the front and back, notes, etc... And then at some point I will write a title on the outside spine that I've squared off because the brown paper bag cover can be creased.
I've been doing this for years and I like going back to them for reference (mostly the stuff I've scrap-booked with cut-outs glued onto the pages and not necessarily my own writings) but they look cool on a bookshelf since they all are different but have a uniform design.
The contents, though... Don't know if I should keep them. Then again, who really gives a fuck? I'm not a dev/eng fag so there really isn't anything to be compromised.

Anyways, paper works well for me. It's more visceral and connects better than anything a keyboard can even come close to.

[Anonymous No.16183078]

I have kept a diary since 2001. It's a text file, though when I travel I take a notebook. It's about 500,000 words. I don't think it's improved my writing. Joining critique groups and talking to other writers has improved my writing. Mostly it's useful for just helping me remember where I was and what I was doing. Sometimes it helps me emotionally.

[Anonymous No.16183109]

>>16183044
>I'm not a dev/eng fag so there really isn't anything to be compromised.
Oh, I don't keep anything job related on paper. I was just trying to say 99% of my stuff is digital (todo, other non-emotional notes, etc) and it's dumb easy to keep it secure via encryption.

You can't do that with paper. Now, none of the contents of what I write on paper are 'important', but people are fucking assholes and will use it to emotionally blackmail you about random shit or think because you write down your thoughts, you're broken somehow.

My complaint really only matters if you're surrounded by bad/emotionally stunted people. So, you have to 'protect' yourself against them.

[Anonymous No.16183149]

>>16183078
When I travel, I've found that the most incredible memory recall trick has been to keep a journal of what I ate.
No kidding.
That has such a recall factor that I can put myself back into wherever, whenever that happened. Some basic notes do help, like itty-bitty details of a place that may seem insignificant at the time really does force your brain to go back to that place in a flash. Stuff like a dank smell of mold or cracks in a brick sidewalk, moss on a wall, the way a street light flickered. Stupid stuff like that combined with food. If I've got receipts of the food order, I'll jot things down on the back.
>helping me remember where I was and what I was doing.

[Anonymous No.16183205]

>>16183109
Hmm...
Got ya.
That's tricky. I suppose that gets into the territory of how much power they have over your position. It's easy to say "fuck 'em" but if doing so affects your livelihood then yeah, you've got a choice to make.
Personally, I would not keep a red journal with a lock on it because, you're right, it just BEGS to be opened up.

[Anonymous No.16183249]

>>16181610
Keeping a journal at first feels good. The tough part is making it a hobby. There's a point however where you realize how much of a loser you are when you recognize patterns of your own behavior. It won't leave you though

[Anonymous No.16183342]

>>16183249
But isn't that the point when you can figure out the things that are patterns that you may want to keep and the repetitions that you may want to stop doing?

[Anonymous No.16183497]

>>16183249
Loser? Or winner?

[Anonymous No.16183503]

>>16182150
Burroughs’ grandfather had patents for type writers, who couldve bet that Burroughs rooted for type writers while privately using hand writing.

Burroughs was a goober

[Anonymous No.16183707]

>>16183503
Yeah, he was a goober.
I think it was the adding machines, no?
I can't remember and I'm not gonna bother looking it up. But to the point, I do remember Bill kept a journal and even his last entry was interesting. Something about the best painkiller is ...love. And the script trailed off into a scribble. I'm assuming a heart attack but it's all there.

Having said that, he was a heroin addict and murdered his wife and ran away from it all. A true coward. But some of his techniques for writing were pretty interesting. Using the cut-up method of journals, for instance is interesting. Not great, mind you, but interesting results. A scattershot, Rorschach kind of glimpse into somebody's mind.

I would never recommend that guy's forays into journaling / diary-keeping to anybody. Guns, alcohol and heroin don't mix well.

Skinny Puppy is interesting to listen to but is that life worth it?

[Anonymous No.16183939]

I don't even know how I would start it. The only thing I've been doing for the past month has been reading, studying math and learning German. Social interactions have been limited to 4chan, and even then I mostly lurk