Diaries, Journals, and Writing

In addition to being a reader, I am a writer. I have never had an interest in writing a book. Instead, I love to journal and to write about my passions, including books and reading. It was only recently while listening to the Wild Geese podcast episode “A Writing Practice to Help You Meet Yourself,” that I started to consider myself a writer. I started reading books about writing and journaling. I’ve always loved reading published diaries, which go along nicely with this topic. Here are some books that are inspiring me to keep writing.

I tracked down two Joan Didion essays mentioned in the Wild Geese podcast. In “Why I Write,” included in the book “Let Me Tell You What I Mean,” Didion talks about what makes her a writer: “…it took me some years to discover what I was./ Which was a writer. /By which I mean not a ‘good’ writer or a ‘bad’ writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper” (Let Me Tell 49). Didion’s thoughts on writing are also included in the book “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” in the essay “On Keeping a Notebook.” She notes, “The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it” (Slouching 193).

“Ongoingness: The End of a Diary” by Sarah Manguso is a quick read of Manguso’s thoughts on keeping a diary for most of her life. For decades she had a compulsive need to record her day. Manguso’s need to write changed when she had a child, and she documents this change as well. I found a lot of gems among her observations and enjoyed the brief format. Recommended for those who journal, this can be read in one or two sittings.

“Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries” by Susan Snyder is an oversized book featuring diaries from the Bancroft Library, a special collection at the University of California Berkeley. This book includes a large variety of different diary types, from page-a-day diaries and ring binders to lined and blank notebooks. The illustrations range from beautiful and awe-inspiring to awkward doodles. I especially enjoyed seeing the meticulously organized entries of engineer Abner Doble, whose 23-years’ worth of daily to-do lists are included in the Bancroft Library. Yoshiko Uchida was a novelist who was forced to live in a Japanese American relocation camp during WWII. Her writings and illustrations inspired a novel “Journey to Topaz.”14-year-old Carrie LeConte spent a month in 1878 camping in Yosemite Valley, and completed two notebooks with observations and humorous drawings of her family and the characters they met on their trip.

“Secret Voices: A Year of Women’s Diaries” edited by Sarah Gristwood contains entries from over one hundred diaries. Gristwood posits that historically “The diary has been the echo chamber for a woman’s own voice, as opposed to what she was supposed to say” (Secret Voices 6.) Organized by date, starting with January 1, this anthology collects women’s diary entries through the years. It is wonderful to open to any page, and it is especially enjoyable to read seasonally. On January 19, 1838, Queen Victoria wrote in her journal “The cold increases, the snow is getting deep, and I hear the Thames is frozen over very nearly, which has not happened since 1814” (ibid 37). In an entry from January 3, 1904, author L. M. Montgomery notes the importance of writing in her life “…I must have a journal to overflow in. It is a companion–and a relief” (p17). I am giving myself a secondhand copy of this book for Christmas.

I will conclude with my favorite World War II diaries. “These Wonderful Rumours” by May Smith details living through the homefront in England, and to my delight also includes the titles of the many books she reads. “Few Eggs, No Oranges” by Vere Hodgson is a daily diary of resilience. Vere details living in London during the Blitz, kept up all night by bombings, falling into bed when the all-clear sounded and exhaustedly getting up a few hours later to go to work.

Katelyn Boyer is the Adult Services Librarian at the Fergus Falls Public Library