Writing about writing
I've been toying with the idea of making journal writing some kind of new year's resolution. Unfortunately that means I need to write journal entries. Here is a question that has popped into my mind now that I am trying to write a journal entry: should I go back and edit my entry before posting it?
Already I have rewritten a good portion of this entry. It was crap; I didn't like it. But what am I trying to get at with these entries? Should they be unfiltered? If I edit myself, will I subconsciously filter things? What tone should I be writing with anyway?
It's important to me because I believe you can learn a lot about someone by the way he/she writes what is on his/her mind. Sometimes I read what I've written and I can't believe how unbelievably dull and emotionless it makes me sound. I think it's because I have an easier time transcribing the logic in my head than anything else.
What's the end goal of it all? I'd like some kind of record I can look back on, to remind me what was going through my mind as I went through life. I feel like what's important to you and how you think about it can change too subtly to keep track of, and I regret not making some sort of mental photograph to look back on. Even though I currently have no inclination to look back on the earlier entries I've written. Well, I'm sure there will come a time...
I want to go back to the concept of learning about other people through their diaries. It's kind of like wearing glasses that let you see the world the way they see it. And I still have a sort of fascination for that idea--I can clearly remember thinking that the way Emily and hhh wrote entries embodied the differences in the way they perceived other people. Emily has a way of writing about people that I envied, like you can really get a sense of their nature and the way they influence the people around them. When hhh wrote about other people, it felt intensely personal, almost as if you were understanding the nature of someone's personality based on how he or she made hhh feel. When I write about other people it tends to just feel like an assessment.
I have a pretty complicated story to get down in the next few days, as I would like to write about some Cragin family drama. It will probably be filtered. But maybe it would be a good time to try to characterize people with a bit more empathy.
Also also, I should characterize my fiance' Anna before we get married, so that in x years, I can point to the post and say, "I knew she was a bloodthirsty pirate when I married her! ARRRRRR" She's taken up this "restart writing in a journal" challenge as well, so maybe I can challenge her to characterize /me/.
Already I have rewritten a good portion of this entry. It was crap; I didn't like it. But what am I trying to get at with these entries? Should they be unfiltered? If I edit myself, will I subconsciously filter things? What tone should I be writing with anyway?
It's important to me because I believe you can learn a lot about someone by the way he/she writes what is on his/her mind. Sometimes I read what I've written and I can't believe how unbelievably dull and emotionless it makes me sound. I think it's because I have an easier time transcribing the logic in my head than anything else.
What's the end goal of it all? I'd like some kind of record I can look back on, to remind me what was going through my mind as I went through life. I feel like what's important to you and how you think about it can change too subtly to keep track of, and I regret not making some sort of mental photograph to look back on. Even though I currently have no inclination to look back on the earlier entries I've written. Well, I'm sure there will come a time...
I want to go back to the concept of learning about other people through their diaries. It's kind of like wearing glasses that let you see the world the way they see it. And I still have a sort of fascination for that idea--I can clearly remember thinking that the way Emily and hhh wrote entries embodied the differences in the way they perceived other people. Emily has a way of writing about people that I envied, like you can really get a sense of their nature and the way they influence the people around them. When hhh wrote about other people, it felt intensely personal, almost as if you were understanding the nature of someone's personality based on how he or she made hhh feel. When I write about other people it tends to just feel like an assessment.
I have a pretty complicated story to get down in the next few days, as I would like to write about some Cragin family drama. It will probably be filtered. But maybe it would be a good time to try to characterize people with a bit more empathy.
Also also, I should characterize my fiance' Anna before we get married, so that in x years, I can point to the post and say, "I knew she was a bloodthirsty pirate when I married her! ARRRRRR" She's taken up this "restart writing in a journal" challenge as well, so maybe I can challenge her to characterize /me/.