Today I have a special post. It's special because of two reasons. Number one, it is written by Holly Christine who is the author of three novels, including the most recent one Tuesday Tells It Slant
. Number two, it's about keeping diaries which I never could pull off even though I tried and now I am hoping that what Holly has to say will inspire me to go back and try my hand at journal writing again. I also hope it will give you a push to dust off that old diary with only two pages filled in and the rest waiting to be written on. Enjoy!
. Number two, it's about keeping diaries which I never could pull off even though I tried and now I am hoping that what Holly has to say will inspire me to go back and try my hand at journal writing again. I also hope it will give you a push to dust off that old diary with only two pages filled in and the rest waiting to be written on. Enjoy!
Keeping a journal at times seems unnecessary. We have cameras on our phones and text messages and Facebook to look back on, right?
My parents were preparing to sell their home a few years ago and I was faced with these old diaries (one had a lock on it and a unicorn on the cover). I started to read through them and became flooded with emotion. I could see the changes in my life in my own handwriting. It was powerful and entertaining all at the same time. I had forgotten what a gossip queen I was in fifth grade.
Back then, I wrote with the idea that recording my life in pen was important and timeless. For some reason, the emotional impact is much more extreme in pen. It’s quicker too. It’s a release, a physical release that stays on paper for as long as you like.
This moment of reading my old diary entries inspired the basis of Tuesday Tells it Slant. I kept thinking that it would be easy to erase these old memories that I had. Perhaps I wanted to forget that I fought with my younger brother. Couldn’t I just rip the page out? I had forgotten about that fight up until the moment I saw it in my diary.
. I kept thinking that it would be easy to erase these old memories that I had. Perhaps I wanted to forget that I fought with my younger brother. Couldn’t I just rip the page out? I had forgotten about that fight up until the moment I saw it in my diary. Throughout the book, Tuesday changes her old diary entries, eliminating all painful memories. But in the process, she loses her self; her soul seems halfhearted and confused. Her diary, as it turns out, is like an extension of her existence.
But all entries aren’t necessarily painful memories. My mother kept a journal of her pregnancy with me and recently gave it to me. It is written in pen on regular notebook paper and it is a tradition that I plan to continue.
A diary is a gift to your future and your present soul. It can inspire the future while recording the present and is like an old photo of your emotions: timeless.
Thank you for the opportunity to guest blog and happy readings!
~Holly Christine
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If you liked what Holly wrote and would like to read more, please make sure you visit her website and check out the three novels written by her:
The Nine Lives of Clemenza
Retail Ready
Tuesday Tells It Slant
What a great post! I used to journal all the time too, but haven't done it recently (in the last 10+ years!). I keep meaning to start again...
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely post. I've tried my hand at a diary several times and have never stuck to it for very long, I'm sad to say.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post :)
ReplyDeleteI used to write a diary but not anymore
When I was a kid (7-8), I used to have one. Eventually, I stopped and when I started working I realized that it would be pretty amazing to write more about my everyday life aside from the usual meetings and client call schedules.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the opportunity to guest blog! I try to journal a few times per week and also attempt a balance of good and bad entries (although I think it helps to push my frustrations into paper;)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post, Lilly. Thank you to Holly Christine. I will definitely check out her website. I have always kept a journal, not on a daily basis but I always have one available and ready to write in when I feel like it. Sometimes I take long breaks in between entries, sometimes I go for months writing everyday, it depends on my mood.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to go back and read my old diaries. Sure, some of the entries seem silly, embarassing or childish, but I was young when I wrote some of them! It's interesting to read what was important to me back then, who I was friends with, how I felt about things and it's amazing to see how things change as you mature. I have always been a fan of writing letters, and handwriting. There is something so personal about it and so immediate. You can't go back and just delete it like you can on a computer. Your immediate thoughts are recorded, you can't delete it after you write it & try to make it better. It is what it is! It makes it more interesting.
This was a fun post, Lilly!
Lovely post!
ReplyDeleteI was never good at keeping diaries, either. I always had the best intentions. Tried to make it a very pretty cover. Tried to make it a habit. But it never failed that I would forget all about it before January finished. My book blog is the longest I have written anywhere!
I like the idea of the pregnancy diary. I think it is so sweet.
Holly's book sounds like a good read.
What a wonderful guest post! I love journaling - I have never tried to keep a daily diary, but journaling is something different for me. It's a way of knowing yourself and nurturing yourself, and as Holly says, writing is "a gift to your future and your present soul". Love the way she puts that!
ReplyDelete