 |
News
Be sure to check out Cyn Balog's interview posted the other day here on Myspace and also the excerpt vlogs posted on the blogspot here.
Guest Blog
Dear Diary…
Like Anna Reiley in Twenty Boy Summer, when I was a teen, my journal was my constant companion. I wrote volumes during high school, scribbling away at lunch, in study hall, sitting on the gym sidelines when the teacher bought my ready-made “cramps” excuse. I even wrote during other classes by disguising my journaling as enthusiastic note-taking.
3-subject spiral notebooks were my favorite, because I could decorate the front and back covers inside and out as well as the inner dividers. I could stick extra stuff in the pockets, too, like stickers and phone numbers and magazine cutouts that conveyed my ever-changing moods. Those journals rocked.
Sadly, they no longer exist. Well maybe they exist in a landfill somewhere, but I’ll never see them again. That’s a really long and stupid (on my part) story, but it doesn’t matter now. Because a few years later, still long before I’d write the first lines of Twenty Boy Summer, I marched into an art supply store in New York City and bought myself a new journal. It was quite the “I Will Survive” moment, and I’ll never forget the feeling of that notebook in my hands again, pen pressed against paper, words spilling out fast to keep up with my long pent-up thoughts.
Still, I was nervous. It had been about 3 years since I’d journaled. What would I write about now, after all this time? What if I die during my impossibly long commute on the subway and someone finds my private journal? What if someone finds it and reads it? What if someone finds it, reads it, and decides it’s totally stupid or lame or mortifying, all while I’m completely dead on the subway and these total strangers are reading my secrets and judging me? What if?
Yes. What if?
What if Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath, or Anne Morrow Lindbergh had asked the same thing? These three diarists are my favorite and have inspired me in both writing and in life, but what if I never had the chance to meet them on the page because they were too afraid of exposing their own truths? None of these women hide from their deepest pain or lie on the page, and for that, I truly admire them. Their heavy, complex works remind me why it’s so important to write about our own lives, even while we’re busy writing the fictional lives of our characters.
From personal experience, I know that when I’m journaling regularly about real life and emotion, I’m happier. More calm. Content. It’s like my mind and soul go for a much-needed walk in the fresh air and sunshine every time I sit down to write, later infusing my fiction with life, passion, truth, and authenticity that I might otherwise miss. And journaling leaves a record. Proof that I existed and experienced and loved and cried and laughed and freaked out occasionally, too.
So whether you’re a published author, an aspiring writer, or a Book Chic visitor who simply loves to read, I’d love your thoughts on journaling. If you already keep a journal (or have kept one in the past), has it affected your writing, reading, or other aspects of your life? Why do you journal, and what do you write about? Do you ever re-read your entries or share them with others? Do you draw in or otherwise decorate your journal? How would you feel if your journal was published? Would you ever read a friend or loved one’s journal under any circumstances? If you don’t journal, why not? Would you consider trying it? Have you read any published journals or diaries that you enjoyed?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and suggestions! Happy writing and reading to all!
Contest
To enter this contest, answer Sarah's question and you'll be entered! A random commenter will be selected to win an ARC of Twenty Boy Summer! This contest will be over Sunday, June 28 at 8pm EST. A winner will be notified by Myspace email shortly after.
12:22 AM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|