How to Write a Journal
For someone like me, it is a very strange habit to write in a diary. Not only that I have never written before, but it strikes me that later neither I, nor anyone else, will care for the outpouring of a thirteen year old schoolgirl.
This is an excerpt from a Jewish girl's diary, in Nazi Germany, whom we all know as Anne Frank. Writing a journal or a diary I feel is not for anyone else. It is for your own sake and for chronicling how you felt at a particular point of time in the adventurous and roller coaster of a journey called life. It is a way to let out your innermost feelings and not just a record of the happenings. It is also about what your take was on that. Does this excite you? If it does, then join me as I try to figure out how to write a journal.
Why Write a Journal?
There are several reasons for writing a journal. The first and the foremost reason is to express yourself. There are times when we cannot express what we want to really. Keeping a journal can help you vent those feelings by putting them down on paper. Having a journal helps you keep a note of the important events in your life and your feelings and emotions at that time about them. It also is a great way to know how you have also changed! I mean I used to keep a journal cum diary in school for a few years then I stopped. Then when I started again in college, it was amazing and funny to read my reactions and the flow of writing from my school days. So in a sense you also realize your own transition from a particular flow of thoughts and mentality to another. Those small quirks about your friends, your connection with them and so on, all these things are a pleasure to read later. In another sense, a journal can help you be clear about your own thoughts and your own self and what you want. Apart from all these, it is simply fun to have a habit of writing a journal!
Writing a Journal
If you might have come across Anne Frank's diary, I think it was close to a journal rather than a diary. As she had described the horrifying and depressing events she was witnessing along with what she felt about it. That's what writing a journal is all about. It is not just a record of the events of your life, it is also about your insights on that. Moreover, a journal entry can be your perspective on anything, and not just your life and what has transcribed. On the other hand, a diary is just a description of what has happened in your life.
Starting Off
You will have to buy a diary or a proper journal, to start off. Pick a journal which is very 'you'. It is your life, your story, so the journal has to be which fits what you are. Actually even a simple diary can do, because after all you have to write and express, though it is your take whether to buy a proper journal or work with a diary.
Entering the Word World
Once you have got hold of the journal, it is time to attack the paper with words and emotions! On a serious note, though, put in the date and the time when you start off. In some cases it might be important to put in the location as well. The location can count in case of people who were in the army and witnessed huge wars and the like or were involved in an issue which had an impact on the whole world. It is best to put in the entry just before bedtime, for mere mortals!
Write What
Well, this factor is completely up to you. You can write anything, absolutely anything. You can pen down your thoughts on absolutely anything and anyone! It is your own perception of your world - success, failure, pleasure, love, first date, the first proposal, grandchildren, anything. There is no limit to what you can write in your journal.
Keep it With You Always
The best way to chronicle your feelings at the same instant (not like if someone is proposing to you, you make him stop and put in the entry!) is to keep the journal handy at all times. It can happen that you forget to put it down on paper and then the memory of that moment is lost forever.
Write Easy
If you do not want to have a proper diary, you can have a word file on your computer or a blog on the Internet. That could be your digital journal. Personally, I feel that writing the story of your life in your own words is anytime a better idea. It has that personal touch which a digital journal will lack. Write in a lucid and clear manner and it has to be legible too! Who knows who will read it 30 years from now!
Eventually, take your own good time to write and pen down your thoughts carefully and regularly. Because it will be like a mirror for you when you read it after years together!
That was all there was to writing a journal! I hope you found this to be useful and this has motivated you to write a journal! I close my scribbling here!
