Organizing Your Journal
Diana M. Raab -- December 20, 2005
The thought of organizing your journal may seem like a daunting task or something which might diminish the joy and spontaneity of the journaling process, but it's worth it. There's a good reason why writers, in particular, should keep a fairly organized journal to access the information when we need it.
Whenever I crack open a new journal I organize it even before beginning to write. Without a system, all those pages of insights would be lost, unless I devoted hours flipping through stacks of journals stored in boxes in my writing studio closet.
Many writers, including Philip Lopate, the well-known essayist and editor of, The Art of the Personal Essay, realize the value of what's written in his journals, "I started self-consciously retooling the journal for later use," he says. "I was like a squirrel hiding away nuts for an older me who would raid the stash. The fact that I often forgot what I had written there made the occasional tasty morsel, all the more pleasing a 'find' years later."
Other writers like Kim Stafford, the son of the poet William Stafford likes the idea of sitting down every few months and just leafing through his journals and notebooks every few moments to glean the best stories, sayings and thoughts. He then files them with works in progress according to their particular magnetic attractions. He says that when he's given an assignment by an editor, he flips through his journals for ideas on what to write. This can be a fun project and surely full of surprises, although, other writers, like myself prefer a more system, so it's easier to access these ideas in the future.
What I recommend in my journaling classes is for each writer to devise their own personal indexing system for their journals. The first thing I do is date all my journal entries. Then, I set up four main sections which I decided on after many years of journaling and assessing my journals' content.
The first section of my journal includes musings, whether written on park benches, in coffee shops, or while sitting on the airplane--my favorite place to write. The second section is devoted to comments and thoughts about current writing projects or possible future ones. The third section is reserved for famous quotations or thoughts which I've come across while reading. These comments often inspire my own writing, and I will sometimes refer to them if I'm stuck. The last five pages of my journal are devoted to a running list of books to be read. This growing list is compiled from Book Review Supplement of The New York Times Sunday Book Review.
The journal can become an invaluable tool for the writer to be used for many years to come. Don't disregard the treasure of your words beyond the sheer pleasure of having written them in the first place. Go ahead and explore ways for your journal to support and embrace the entire scope of your writing and make your job easier by organizing your journal in the best possible way you can.