Is Journal Writing Worth the Effort?

Before blogs, many people jotted down their daily musings in a notebook, finding the act of writing with a ballpoint pen to be relaxing.  People also kept journals to simply stay in the habit of writing.  I personally don't keep a journal, but for some people it keeps the muse flowing, and that's never a bad thing.  It is the idea behind Ray Bradbury's advice to keep the connection strong between your brain and fingers, regardless of what you're writing about.

It is also a good idea to keep a journal if you think you might be interested in writing your memoirs one day.  A journal can be an invaluable source of information on events, times, and your emotions through the years.  Many people approach me to write their memoirs but have no source materials to draw from, relying only on their memories.  Keeping a diary or journal ensures that you know exactly what transpired in your life, and it provides important motivations for what you are doing at any given moment.  You can also create powerful and vivid descriptions of scenes that might otherwise fade from memory.

But maybe we should write more often for the sheer sake of writing.  One need only read the beautiful, almost lyrical, letters written by young soldiers during World War II.  These eighteen-year-old men, with only high school educations, wrote some of the most poignant letters I have ever read.  There was a greater emphasis on language and the written word in previous generations, and it's sad that this emphasis is slowing being eroded by terse emails and tweets. 

Is journal writing worth the effort?  I'd say yes.

~ William Hammett

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