Why Writers Should Keep A Personal Journal

Do you journal?  If not, perhaps you should.  Consider these reasons for writing in a personal journal:

1-Your audience is yourself.  This gives you a different kind of freedom than any other medium.

2-A Journal is a great Writer's Block Remedy.  Use Stream of Consciousness exercises to keep the pen moving--just write anything that enters your thoughts.

3-You can safely detail all the gory drama of rejection letters (and the lack of rejection letters that has the same meaning!).

4-Journals are portable (unless, of course, you journal on the computer...see end discussion!).

5-You can record incoherent phrases and incomplete sentences that won't mean anything to anyone but you.  Two or three word ideas for stories, refrains that pop into your head while you were showering, or names for characters can be jotted down any time you can steal a moment.

6-You can include pictures and diagrams.  Character sketches, pedigree charts, and signs on the street can be added as central entries or doodles in the margin.

As you can tell from #4 and #6, I am a fan of old-fashioned, pen and paper journaling.  I have two journals:  my personal journal and my writing notebook.  The notebook is a spiral bound notebook for ideas and portable writing.  The personal journal is an art sketchbook that I use for writing anything else.

Journals have been around for centuries.  Do you use a journal?  Is it paper or computer?  I'd love to know!