In Blogging as Social Action: A Genre Analysis of the Weblog,
Miller and Shephard refer to two exigences fulfilled by the personal blog: the need for self-exploration and the desire to form community. They draw connections between blogging and journaling, which I had previously understood as the the former allowing the writer to consciously expose private thoughts to the public, and the latter as a solely personal endeavour. To my surprise, the article presents scholars who argue that writing for the self is impossible, rather that the journal as an “audience-less” genre is misconstructed.
This was difficult for me to process; I began to wonder who the audience of such a personal text would be. Is it intended, or unexpected? In her academic journal, Writing Diaries, Reading Diaries: The Mechanics of Memory, Steinitz, one of the cited scholars, affirms that as long as diaries have existed, they have been read by others (Steinitz, 43). She describes its role in creating a “collective memory”, shaped by the intersection of the experience of one individual and the interpretation of the reader, that transcends time (55).
Expecting such scrutiny could bring me to filter my entries. In fact, when confiding in my diary, am I secretly hoping that someone will discover it? Do I expect that, far into the future, someone will use my journal to make sense of this generation? Perhaps this conscious, or subconscious, desire to contribute could take away from my freedom.
However, in his paper In Defense of Private Writing: Consequences for Theory and Research, Peter Elbow asserts that writing for the self is entirely possible, even despite social influence (Elbow, 141-145). He also suggests the existence of uncontrolled writing, that is not even restricted by personal thought (Elbow, 163).
Two books introduce such techniques to free the mind: Writing Down Your Soul by Janet Conner, and The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Both emphasize the importance of fast writing to avoid any interference by self or external influence. Both explore the possibility and benefits of writing to only yourself.
Have you considered the possibility of your journal account’s role as a commentary on today’s society? Do you believe your thoughts to be honest and unfiltered, or does the statement “you are your worst critic” apply to journaling?
Adèle Therias
Adèle,
The questions that you ask in this post really make the reader think, and that’s awesome. The first famous journal-writer who comes to my mind is, not surprisingly, Anne Frank. What’s interesting is that during her time in hiding, Anne heard a radio broadcast encouraging people to save their diaries. She then began rewriting large sections of her entries. I wonder what kinds of edits one would make when preparing for an unknown audience. Did she portray herself in a more favorable light or her situation in a more dramatic tone? After Anne’s death in a Nazi concentration camp, her father Otto followed her wishes and published her diary. There must be plenty of other situations too where diaries get published without the writer’s permission. Is this a violation of their rights to privacy?
Thank you for your comment Naomi,
You’re right, many diaries are published without consent, and I believe the goal is to put them to use by contributing them to the public in order to improve the common understanding of significant events and personal experience.
It does seem like a violation of privacy, my question is then, do we learn more about personal experiences by revealing intimate and unguarded details about someone then by traditional methods of research (interview, literature, purposely written autobiographies…)?
Personal letters have been studied by high school classes to better understand peoples’ experience of World War I. While it is an arguable invasion of privacy, such practice increases students’ understanding of historical events and allows for a greater appreciation of individual experience and fosters a connection with the past. The first paragraphs on this page explore this benefit. http://www.archives.gov/education/history-in-the-raw.html
The concept that “fast writing can avoid interference by self or external influence” you have mentioned briefly sounds fascinating and very intriguing.
Janet Conner believes that people tend to slow down and “reflect” when they write a journal and in order to go beyond simply reflecting we need to write really fast. This idea is very new to me. It reminded me of the times when I try to write down the deeper thoughts of the mind yet lost them because I spent too much time trying to phrase and polish my language. Julia Cameron, as well, suggests that some of the writings we do in life do not have to necessarily be “artistic”. In my opinion, fast writing may be a technique that would work for scholars even if it’s not for “soul writing” or “mo(u)rning pages”. Fast writing is a very smart way to loyally record the ideas that occur in our minds. As long as the ideas are valid, maybe touching the writing up afterwards will works better than trying to write down the “perfect” lines in the beginning.
Thanks for your comment, Lois!
I also found it an interesting area to explore personally, could you see a greater application of this technique for society?
I was wondering if such free writing exercises could be beneficial for middle school students, perhaps as a way to encourage free thought and self expression, what do you think?
Great post again!
Those questions you pose at the end really got me thinking of my own journal practices. I definitely do write for myself and tend to draw ideas and create characters with simple facial features to help express an idea or experience. Admittedly, I have on occasion chuckled at my own entries thinking how clever they were, and how great it would be to share such a gem with someone closest to me. I never have though, thus the ideas are solely and unapologetically mine.
I’ve also thought about the idea of sharing these entries and what it must feel like for those who do. Wouldn’t it be terrifying to share such personal information just to be read through and digested by strangers? Or would not knowing your audience make it easier? Would you choose public or private?
I think my choice would be private- but I do remember having thoughts of exposing my journal at a younger age (around my pre to early teens). Upon reflection, I see this desire as a result of a time of great change. A common experience during the shift from childhood to teenage-hood is having trouble communicating with others, which can lead pre teens to seek connection by sharing their inner thoughts.
On this parenting website, an article by Vanessa Van Petten cautions parents about over sharing by teens on the internet. One line caught my eye in particular: “With the advent of many new online tools, teens are becoming more nostalgic and want to not only share all parts of their lives, but also document and save them for the future.” http://mommasaid.net/2011/07/25/online-journalin/#sthash.6SBkw40K.dpuf
I wonder why are teens are said to be more nostalgic. Do you think that technology can be playing a role in the pace of life? If everything is instant in the modernized society, is it more difficult to feel satisfied with the current moment and therefore seek a superficial (?) connection to life events?