Why have I been so quiet? It’s not that I haven’t been writing anything. Just not a recent blog post. Perhaps I didn’t think I had anything of (huge enough) interest to report?
Yet, even if I’d shared ‘I don’t feel I’ve anything of interest to report’, it would have been something. I’m supposed to be documenting my writing journey – and I haven’t been.
I asked myself why I wasn’t blogging: ‘What’s happening here, don’t you want to share your writing journey?’
‘Not always’, was the honest answer. Sometimes it feels too personal. I don’t always feel like putting my feelings, and naked vulnerability, out into internet-land. Conversely, there are also times when I want to share everything with the world!
Anyway, as you may have noticed, I’ve been going through a bit of a hermit-phase (as one friend so beautifully put it). But I haven’t stopped writing.
Where have I been writing? Mostly in my journal. Writing in my journal has been (pretty much) a daily practice since I was twelve.
Fast forward forty-eight years to the present day.
Apart from journaling, I have been busy transcribing thirteen
The question is, how much of my actual diary do I feature? All of it? Or just snippets? Do I add my current-day comments to what I find there? Or do I let the diary speak for itself? I’m still puzzling over those questions.
I know there are people out there who like reading (published!) diaries. I’m one of them. Diaries are so real and raw. So . . . human. And we are all human.
I like the kind of diaries that are free, honest and open, with a fair amount of soul-searching (and not too much complaining). Diaries that ponder the deeper meaning of life, not just record the daily trivia (although that too can be interesting, or amusing, at times). I hope my diaries are like that.
Some diaries are deathly boring. I hope my diaries are not like that.
I’m still figuring everything out and trying to answer the many book-related questions, buzzing around in my head. I’m confident I will figure it all out. In the meantime, I’m continuing to journal every day and to transcribe my oldest diaries.
I had an idea to feature my current diary alongside my earliest diary. After all, as I transcribe them, I’m also writing about the old diaries in my current journal, as things occur to me. I’m filling in some of the memories I didn’t write down – largely because, at age thirteen, I discovered my Dad had been reading my diary. Shock-horror. It took me a while to relax and write freely again.
If I publish the oldest, and the most current diary, alongside each other, it could be quite an interesting contrast. What I write in my journal now is very different
Another question: Is my diary only interesting to me, or will it be interesting to others?
There is only one way to find out. Share it.
“But it isn’t ready to share yet!” I hurriedly cry. Just in case anyone rushes to volunteer as a beta reader. Rest assured, when that time comes, I will put the call out to a few friends, including (gulp) those interested folks who have signed up to this blog. (No pressure to actually be a beta reader though!)
I must say, sharing my diaries is not at all frightening to me, all the while I’m not sharing them. Once I come to share them – through my book or this blog, it may be a completely different story. (Cue opening bars of Beethoven’s 5th ).
Okay, time to end now, I think I have updated where I’m currently ‘at’. I’m sorry I was blog-absent for so many weeks. I am considering doing a blog post update, once a month. Please let me know if you’d like to hear from me more often. Thanks for sticking with me so far, I really appreciate it.
Happy writing 🙂