[Brownskins]

I have never been good in keeping journals where the pages are not easily removed (stitched) simply because I run through several drafts before I settle for my final journal entry. I currently use a word processor to write down my thoughts, essays, insights, ideas, etc. and I save them as electronic word documents. I want to shift back to a paper journal that I can physically pass on to my kids and their future kids. So, now I am racking my brain as to how I can keep my journal neat and with minimal erasures, given that I will be using pen and ink once again.

Question: What is your approach to journaling?

Just gathering ideas, so obviously there will be no right or wrong suggestions!

 

[Bec]

I've always kept a handwritten journal, ever since I was about 8. My memory isn't the best, and I like having a record of what I was actually doing. Most of the time it's quite mundane and probably totally boring to anyone else reading it.

Every now and then I attempt to make it a bit more interesting and philosophical instead of just 'I did this with Bob, then I saw Karen and we went here, and then this and that blahblahblah'.

If I ever become famous, my biographers will be tediously bored and disappointed with my journals!

Reading back on them, they're ever so angsty whenever I go through a breakup.

I've fallen out of the habit this year though - I really should get back into it. And make them a bit more interesting...

 

[Tris]

I like journaling, and used to do it A LOT as a kid.  I used to do it for every single day, but then noticed sometimes...there really isn't anything going on.  So I mainly do it when I feel I actually have something to say or that I want to keep on record.  Perhaps to pass down or...not.

The main reason for me is to release some pent up stress or emotions before nodding off to sleep.  I used to keep it an electronic journal...but found that physically having my trusty fountain pen and cheap notebook in hand more enjoyable and relaxing.  It's something that I like to do...it's for MY benefit.

I have gone back to read some of my old entries (some are massive) and either laugh or think about how difficult or easy things were back then.  Especially those when I was in the 5th/6th grade.

I like doing it for now, and I don't know how long I will continue as there are some years I don't have account of.  It also has taken a bit of a different spin now that I see my grandfather.  He's about 104/105 (lunar calendar, hard to make exact dates so his actual date of birth is not on record), and has never said much of anything to his family, but we always wonder what his life must've been like.  Sure we have some odd stories here and there, but nothing much directly from him.  He used to constantly write or "journal" (we think) and kept them all hidden away.  I know my family would LOVE to hear stories from his childhood or when he was younger.  Now that he has Alzheimers and not mobile, he talks EVEN LESS.  We all are sad that these things will be lost once he is gone.

Tris

 

[Brownskins]

Wow, I didn't even factor in Alzheimers... All the more I am motivated to pursue journaling.  Knowing myself, I will hate to see erasures or torn pages, but I will have to live with first drafts... that way, my kids will also get to see how my thought process and editing works.  I just feel like a passed on physical journal is more precious than a laptop that will be so obsolete by the time they inherit it.  I know there's always the 'cloud', but still...  I may not do this daily, but on the days when I feel like it, I will.

 

[Hadou]

I'd do more handwritten stuff, but I have worse penmanship than my 5-year-old. 

I usually open up notepad and jot stuff down throughout the day, maybe a couple times a week and put together a weekly summary as my official "entry" in a journal.

 

[Brownskins]

I have settled for noting random thoughts in a notepad throughout the day and then every Friday draft a paragraph or 2 using Word, then writing it into my journal. After a while, I may be able to scribble directly into the journal but for now, am training myself to be brief and direct to the point.

 

[KindleGirl]

What journals I do have are hand written. I started doing it about 10 years ago, mainly to help with my scrapbooking. I knew I'd never remember everything when it came time to do a page so I could refer back to the journal. It has worked out great in most cases, although the last year or two I haven't been keeping up. I tend to only write when there is something exciting going on, not just everyday things. I only wish I had done this years ago when my kids were little. So many things I know I have forgotten over the years that would have been fun to read now. But with 4 young kids I wouldn't have had time to write, or it wouldn't have made sense!