Author of Middle Grade novels about friendship, family, and figuring out where you fit in.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Dear Journal...

I'm a writer, so it would make sense if I kept a journal, right?

Except I don't.

I've tried and tried over many years. When I was a kid, I had a little purple and blue diary with a lock on it. I only wrote in it for a few weeks. As a teenager, I tried all different kinds of notebooks. Ones with cute animals on the cover, ones with inspirational quotes on them, big books with wide lines, small books with narrow lines... and each time, I just couldn't stick to it.

I'm even surprised I've blogged this long. Today it's been five years exactly since I started this blog as "Stories in the Ordinary," a blog that I hoped would help me to connect with other writers. And I've met so, so many lovely people here. (Most of my old posts have been removed, but I can explain that another time.) But before this one, I had at least five or six blogs that I attempted to start and eventually lost interest in.

Do you journal? If you do, do you have any advice for maintaining a journal?

I'm hoping to find just the right notebook, or maybe just the right time in my life to start journaling for real. In the meantime, I've been trying to blog more frequently again (or at least not take as many long, long breaks) so at least that's something, right?

12 comments:

Tiana Smith said...

I used to write in my journal every day. But now I'm lucky if I get to it once every two months or so. Congrats on five years of blogging!

Jemi Fraser said...

I used to journal in high school. Then one day I built a bonfire and watched them burn. Haven't tried since :)

Christine Rains said...

Congratulations on five years! I kept a journal for decades until I started blogging more. Now I just blog. My mind is such a busy place. It helps to get some stuff out of there! :)

Shelley Sly said...

Tiana - Thanks! Even writing in a journal once every two months or so sounds like a good habit.

Jemi - Wow, that's pretty intense!

Christine - Thank you! I bet journaling or blogging more often would help my busy mind.

Tobi Summers said...

I'm only good at remember to journal when I travel. Then the desire to log every detail of the trip outweighs my natural tendency to not write in it. I wish I was better about it though. I love looking at old entries.

Shelley Sly said...

Tobi - A travel journal sounds awesome! I'd like to try that.

Stephanie Faris said...

I had a journal in elementary school--seems my stepsister got into it and quoted parts of it to me, laughing at me. After that, I never trusted that if I kept a journal, it would be secret. So now I just blog so that everyone can read it!

Shelley Sly said...

Stephanie - Aww, rats! But hey, blogs that everyone can read are probably more fun.

Heather R. Holden said...

When I was younger, I used to write in a journal constantly. Now it's just a once-in-a-great-while thing. Even though I don't write in 'em much, I still keep two journals on hand. One is an outlet for my depression, and the other is to record pagan-related stuff.

And wow, congrats on the blogoversary! Five years is such a milestone. Good luck blogging more frequently! (This is something I hope to do, too, but I don't know how successful I'll be, heh.)

Shelley Sly said...

Heather - I admire you for being able to keep two journals! And thanks, I'm going to try my best to blog more, though I don't know how successful I'll be, either.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I'm an obsessive journaler but it's not so much about writing as it is about staying sane. My journal is my therapist.

Shelley Sly said...

Karen - That sounds like a good idea, using a journal as a form of therapy.

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