I started reading The Artist's Way but I haven't got very far. I discovered the website 750words.com which helped me type out my morning pages. Once your reach the 750 word count mark it gives you stats about what you wrote about. As someone who loves stats and data, I was really motivated to write the 750 words just to see what my results would be 🙂
Oooo. I love stats too! I could guess what I mostly write about with my morning pages, but I'd love to see it in chart form. For me, writing by hand first thing in the morning feels really peaceful and generative. Maybe I'll have to make charts of my own.🙃
I've considered creating an excel spreadsheet of all my journal entries and somehow trying to analyze them. It'll probably take a while because it'd mean I'd have to type out all my handwritten entries but i think it'd be a fun project. 😁
You can use the iPhone camera feature to catch text… and I’ve heard it works for handwriting as well but haven’t tested it. Maybe other phones have this too?
I've yet to find a diary methodology that works for me. But, after reading this, I'm discovering I haven't tried many. Mostly just back and forth attempts between traditional journal entries and morning pages. Both felt more burdensome and obligatory than enjoyable. But, the one line entry and the practice suggested by Lynda Barry are ways of keeping a diary I haven't though of or encountered before. In some ways I've started using my collage practice as a kind of diary. I've started making collages inspired by songs I hear and passages I read. Art has always been a form of record keeping, why not make record keeping an art form?
A collage diary would be a great addition to my list! I find traditional diary writing--as in recording my days as they happened--to be incredibly boring. So I've settled into more of a poetic/metaphor-filled style that serves me better.
I do the same! I love collages. I’m no artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I just love slapping things into a notebook. Something about ripping or tearing things, and gluing them in a combination of commonplace book, collage, diary, etc. is just cathartic. Being kind of a visual person I like to see pictures and photos in my diary/journal, and it can be anything as random as a photo of someplace I would like to visit, someplace I have visited, an interesting piece of architecture I snapped while out and about or a sticker or business card from a stationary shop for an item I’ve received in the mail, particularly from Japan. They have the best stationary and the best methods of wrapping their products. I save the wrappings and glue in my journal. Ticket stubs, etc.
Yes! I love this. My love affair with pens and fancy paper really took off when I taught in South Korea. A lot of the pens I bought, I later learned, were actually imported from Japan.
My diary habit has evolved so much over the years - until 2 years ago, I exclusively jotted down quotes from books I'd read in a A5-sized notebook, but ever since I started a weekly Substack habit I've carried a tiny pocket diary to capture the serendipitous ideas and things I come across. I now never leave anywhere without it and I'm excited to read them in a few years' time to see the evolution of my thinking.
I hope you're still copying out quotes from books! That's one of my favorite ways to diary. And carrying around a pocket notebook is such a great idea. I love that it captures your thoughts in real time and that it probably is a bit battered from transport--the sign of a well-loved notebook!
I dreamed up a way to heal small animals using a microwave. After watching 2 hamsters & 1 gerbil explode, I came up with the realization that dreams can't ALWAYS be trusted...... I'm headed for the door.....
When I was 22-23 yrs old I took buses and trains from Montana to Guatemala then settled in New Orleans for a year. I kept a journal the entire time. Over 40 years later, trying to figure out what to write about in a debut novel, I saw my old journals and it struck me like lightning, I could write about those early days and create a crime noir out of it, which I did. Title: A Killer Story. The journals made it all happen, 40 years later.
I keep various journals for different things. Since college(1990), I keep a private journal and my current one looks like yours, but black. That one I started in 2016 and contains thoughts on big events, lists of current thoughts and gratitudes, my thoughts on books I read, and generally things I’m working on in my head...kind of like therapy. I just started a 10 year sentence a day journal after finishing a 5 year. Love looking back on my day through the years. I keep a separate book journal since 2017 where I record books read and quotes to remember. I always have an art journal going, too which is more visual. In 2022 it was more monthly, but last year was a collage a day. Oh, and I’ve been trying the Bullet Journal for work related thoughts and to dos. I’ve been thinking I need to just keep everything in one, but somehow they are all working for me.
I always have several notebooks going at once too. I like the enforced organization of it. I've been able to keep the same diary going for so long because I have so many other notebooks to capture other aspects of my life.
There's another use for diaries - to use them to see how well you recall your past self 'the 'single participant diary method'!
Here's a recent and fantastic diary study - easy paper to read as well: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10798175/ - one interesting conclusion: 'I remembered less than two thirds of the recorded events and the retention curve showed a curvilinear shape.' We have big forgetting rates...
The Ethics and Consent section are hilarious:
"The author provided the single participant with information regarding anonymity and confidentiality. The single participant provided consent for processing and analysis of the data, not in a written form, but mentally."
Oh, I love this, Shane! I know there's a whole bunch of scientific literature focused on notebooks and diaries that I've been meaning to dig into. So, I'm very happy to know about this study!
I was doing an A4 page by hand every morning for a long time, and never again read what I was writing there. It still helped alot to ease my mind.
Now I'm using journaling more to work on important or original ideas in essay style, often using it then for newsletter, mails or blogposts. However, I do not write like this every morning.
What I do by hand, with a fountain pen, on very particular paper, is writing long letters to friends, authors of books I read etc. This achieves close social contacts AND is some sort of journaling for me.
It's a Faber Castell fountain pen from the Bentley collection that I got as a present (I just saw the ridiculous price for the first time). But the thing rolls down the paper like a Swiss train. I can refill it without using cartridges (which sometimes ink-stains my hands a little, but I love these stains as much as I love those from beetroot when I cook). The paper is hand-scooped from a German papermill, also a present. And I don't know, people tell me my handwriting is gourgeous (I don't really think so), but this pen and this paper make me a handwriting expert more than I should be, actually. It's a joy to write like this, and it gives me a deep peace of mind.
Keeping a diary is indeed a gift to your future self! This was such an interesting look at all the different ways of doing it. I've been keeping a comic diary for 8 years now and I love looking up "on this day a year ago" (or 5 years ago or whatever - it's fascinating). Also so good for processing thoughts and, like Lynda Barry says, capturing tiny things you observe as you go about day to day life like athat dropped hot dog moment. I love experimenting with format and have even included 'life the flap' and gatefolds if the occasion demands it.... you can find out more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvzJwQn1DoY
Isn't it so interesting how the literature we read influences our own writing style? When I was reading a lot more 19th-century fiction, my sentences were significantly longer.
I love writing daily on loose sheets of paper;quality of paper makes a huge difference to the experience; that I bind together as a diary at the end of the year.
I started reading The Artist's Way but I haven't got very far. I discovered the website 750words.com which helped me type out my morning pages. Once your reach the 750 word count mark it gives you stats about what you wrote about. As someone who loves stats and data, I was really motivated to write the 750 words just to see what my results would be 🙂
Oooo. I love stats too! I could guess what I mostly write about with my morning pages, but I'd love to see it in chart form. For me, writing by hand first thing in the morning feels really peaceful and generative. Maybe I'll have to make charts of my own.🙃
I've considered creating an excel spreadsheet of all my journal entries and somehow trying to analyze them. It'll probably take a while because it'd mean I'd have to type out all my handwritten entries but i think it'd be a fun project. 😁
That's some impressive dedication to journaling and data!
You can use the iPhone camera feature to catch text… and I’ve heard it works for handwriting as well but haven’t tested it. Maybe other phones have this too?
I hadn't thought about that! That would be a great way to quickly transfer my written journal entries. Thanks!
I've yet to find a diary methodology that works for me. But, after reading this, I'm discovering I haven't tried many. Mostly just back and forth attempts between traditional journal entries and morning pages. Both felt more burdensome and obligatory than enjoyable. But, the one line entry and the practice suggested by Lynda Barry are ways of keeping a diary I haven't though of or encountered before. In some ways I've started using my collage practice as a kind of diary. I've started making collages inspired by songs I hear and passages I read. Art has always been a form of record keeping, why not make record keeping an art form?
A collage diary would be a great addition to my list! I find traditional diary writing--as in recording my days as they happened--to be incredibly boring. So I've settled into more of a poetic/metaphor-filled style that serves me better.
Love the idea of a poetic diary! That's got my attention! I'd love to hear more about how that plays out!
I do the same! I love collages. I’m no artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I just love slapping things into a notebook. Something about ripping or tearing things, and gluing them in a combination of commonplace book, collage, diary, etc. is just cathartic. Being kind of a visual person I like to see pictures and photos in my diary/journal, and it can be anything as random as a photo of someplace I would like to visit, someplace I have visited, an interesting piece of architecture I snapped while out and about or a sticker or business card from a stationary shop for an item I’ve received in the mail, particularly from Japan. They have the best stationary and the best methods of wrapping their products. I save the wrappings and glue in my journal. Ticket stubs, etc.
Yes! I love this. My love affair with pens and fancy paper really took off when I taught in South Korea. A lot of the pens I bought, I later learned, were actually imported from Japan.
So many good ideas in your reply! I love your approach! Thanks so much for sharing!
My diary habit has evolved so much over the years - until 2 years ago, I exclusively jotted down quotes from books I'd read in a A5-sized notebook, but ever since I started a weekly Substack habit I've carried a tiny pocket diary to capture the serendipitous ideas and things I come across. I now never leave anywhere without it and I'm excited to read them in a few years' time to see the evolution of my thinking.
I hope you're still copying out quotes from books! That's one of my favorite ways to diary. And carrying around a pocket notebook is such a great idea. I love that it captures your thoughts in real time and that it probably is a bit battered from transport--the sign of a well-loved notebook!
I recently started a music practice diary, which is proving most useful: https://open.substack.com/pub/terryfreedman/p/start-the-week-54?r=18suih&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I love this, Terry!
Thanks, Jillian. It makes for interesting reading (for myself I mean, in terms of progress (or lack of it))
What about DREAM DIARIES ? I still make notes of unusual dreams that I can remember. I figure that Sigmund would approve as well as Carl Gustav.
Yes!! That would have been a perfect addition.
Sometimes I land on the right coordinates.....
Ha! You often do in my experience.
As a plucky 13 year old i once dreamt i could beat the stock market. i jumped out of bed to record the exact method, but wasn't fast enough!
I dreamed up a way to heal small animals using a microwave. After watching 2 hamsters & 1 gerbil explode, I came up with the realization that dreams can't ALWAYS be trusted...... I'm headed for the door.....
maybe they exploded with happiness
When I was 22-23 yrs old I took buses and trains from Montana to Guatemala then settled in New Orleans for a year. I kept a journal the entire time. Over 40 years later, trying to figure out what to write about in a debut novel, I saw my old journals and it struck me like lightning, I could write about those early days and create a crime noir out of it, which I did. Title: A Killer Story. The journals made it all happen, 40 years later.
Wow! Those journals really were a gift you gave to your future self!
I keep various journals for different things. Since college(1990), I keep a private journal and my current one looks like yours, but black. That one I started in 2016 and contains thoughts on big events, lists of current thoughts and gratitudes, my thoughts on books I read, and generally things I’m working on in my head...kind of like therapy. I just started a 10 year sentence a day journal after finishing a 5 year. Love looking back on my day through the years. I keep a separate book journal since 2017 where I record books read and quotes to remember. I always have an art journal going, too which is more visual. In 2022 it was more monthly, but last year was a collage a day. Oh, and I’ve been trying the Bullet Journal for work related thoughts and to dos. I’ve been thinking I need to just keep everything in one, but somehow they are all working for me.
I always have several notebooks going at once too. I like the enforced organization of it. I've been able to keep the same diary going for so long because I have so many other notebooks to capture other aspects of my life.
There's another use for diaries - to use them to see how well you recall your past self 'the 'single participant diary method'!
Here's a recent and fantastic diary study - easy paper to read as well: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10798175/ - one interesting conclusion: 'I remembered less than two thirds of the recorded events and the retention curve showed a curvilinear shape.' We have big forgetting rates...
The Ethics and Consent section are hilarious:
"The author provided the single participant with information regarding anonymity and confidentiality. The single participant provided consent for processing and analysis of the data, not in a written form, but mentally."
Oh, I love this, Shane! I know there's a whole bunch of scientific literature focused on notebooks and diaries that I've been meaning to dig into. So, I'm very happy to know about this study!
Love that Ethics and Consent section!
These single participant studies can be really great: often much more fruitful than work with numerous participants. Consenting yourself is hilarious!
(PS: I hate to self-advertise, but my new book digs into diaries just a little bit. )
It's always the people deserving of self-promotion who don't like to self-promote. 🙂
Diaries AND memory, sorry
I was doing an A4 page by hand every morning for a long time, and never again read what I was writing there. It still helped alot to ease my mind.
Now I'm using journaling more to work on important or original ideas in essay style, often using it then for newsletter, mails or blogposts. However, I do not write like this every morning.
What I do by hand, with a fountain pen, on very particular paper, is writing long letters to friends, authors of books I read etc. This achieves close social contacts AND is some sort of journaling for me.
Letters are such a wonderful form of shared journaling. And nice paper and a fountain pen do wonders too!
It's a Faber Castell fountain pen from the Bentley collection that I got as a present (I just saw the ridiculous price for the first time). But the thing rolls down the paper like a Swiss train. I can refill it without using cartridges (which sometimes ink-stains my hands a little, but I love these stains as much as I love those from beetroot when I cook). The paper is hand-scooped from a German papermill, also a present. And I don't know, people tell me my handwriting is gourgeous (I don't really think so), but this pen and this paper make me a handwriting expert more than I should be, actually. It's a joy to write like this, and it gives me a deep peace of mind.
Just your description of the pen and paper are gorgeous!
Keeping a diary is indeed a gift to your future self! This was such an interesting look at all the different ways of doing it. I've been keeping a comic diary for 8 years now and I love looking up "on this day a year ago" (or 5 years ago or whatever - it's fascinating). Also so good for processing thoughts and, like Lynda Barry says, capturing tiny things you observe as you go about day to day life like athat dropped hot dog moment. I love experimenting with format and have even included 'life the flap' and gatefolds if the occasion demands it.... you can find out more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvzJwQn1DoY
I love the idea of a comic diary! I'm always looking to expand my artistic practices.
Loved this video! Enjoyed seeing your diaries!
Aw thankyou, so glad you enjoyed it! 🥰
I love one liners! Writing it down brings heaven on material 3D reality. May we write ourselves towards the future we imagine ❤️
Beautifully said! Writing does give our memories another dimension. And yes, I hope that for all of us as well.
I read Rickman’s diary last year. I loved the terseness! I found his style rubbing off on my own diary entries while I was reading it.
I agree, the best part were the visuals—I wish there were way more!
Isn't it so interesting how the literature we read influences our own writing style? When I was reading a lot more 19th-century fiction, my sentences were significantly longer.
Always! Looking back at my books you can tell when I’m reading James Baldwin or anyone else with imitation-worthy sentences
Oh, to write like Baldwin! **Swoon**
I use Lynda Barry's Review Frame with my students as a music listening journal: https://open.substack.com/pub/twochords/p/listening-and-responding-ii?r=2szd0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Wonderful! I'm going to introduce my students to the review frame in a few weeks. I think they'll love it!
Your diary looks so well loved 🥹😍
Oh, it really, really is! There was a time I wouldn't travel anywhere without it. It's been all over the world.
I love that! Those are the best kind of journals!! ❤️
This inspires me to push the habit (aka restart it :D). Merci!!
I love writing daily on loose sheets of paper;quality of paper makes a huge difference to the experience; that I bind together as a diary at the end of the year.