Writing a Journal - Surmounting Barriers in Life - Essay Example

submitted Journal Introduction A journal refers to a personal account of one’s experiences kept on regular, if not daily, basis. It is often mistaken for a diary. The two serve the same purpose, that of recording occurrences in our daily lives. The contrast is that journals have a characteristic detail, which a diary lacks. In the business domain, a journal refers to a record of all business transactions entered in a chronological order. There also are academic journals. These are scholarly in nature and are often written for purposes of publishing. They are a platform to tell and persuade others about what you think. Journals cover various subjects and fields. For instance, there are medical journals, spiritual journals lifestyle journals and sport journals. These are published periodically-weekly or monthly. There also are political journals. These present in depth analyses of political situations at a given point in time. They could be reviews about a presidential tenure, an election period and political rivalry among others. They are often written by political analysts or journalists. Writing these journals may require professional training. This is because as far as personal opinion is paramount, objectivity remains the bottom line. There is need to minimize bias. A personal journal, however, is distinct. It is a recount of one’s day to day experiences. This is one of the major fundamental roles of a journal. It requires no level of professionalism or formal training to write them. Roles of a Journal A journal serves as an archive for observations, insights, feelings, memories and impressions. It may also serve as a record for your plans and analysis, secrets and trail of jokes. It is the container for dreams and hopes, sometimes literally marked by tears; be it tears of joy or agony. It is where failures and successes intertwine to form a complex yet rich life. It helps you discover your unique inner world as it belongs to you. It is a guide, a track and a repository of memories (Dowrick, 4). Journals yield professionals. It is a place to develop ideas or reflect on intellectual work. This forms an avenue for writing academic journals. Journals are a thinking place without inhibition, a place to pour out your great love for words without judgment or having to worry about what people will think about you (Dowrick, 5-6). A journal is a key support for creative writing. Creativity is the key to feeling alive and meeting situations more freshly even when things are not going your way. It lets you read your own world as you write. It lets you see the world around you more richly and deeply. The strange can become the familiar, and the familiar can become the strange. It helps you value your history, judgments, values and opinions. The record of your life’s experiences can become a turning point for you. It gives you an opportunity to ditch bad habits; they make you more honest and make better choices about your life. Journals are a fountain of reference on how to go about difficult situations by borrowing your past experiences. Journals do serve as a vent for emotions. Deep pain and hurt could easily be drained away in a journal. A journal, therefore, is ‘someone’ you virtually talk to and fill relieved. Is there a style for writing journals? Writing journals do not require any style. It is an intuitive way of writing. This form of writing follows your instinct, the reason why it banks a lot on creativity as discussed earlier. Journals need not be professional or formal. They can even cover multiple topics in random order. Journals have a characteristic tone and voice defined by you. This depends on your mood and state of mind when writing. A sad mood or a happy mood manifests in your choice of words. Your diction gives tone and voice to your journal. As far as style is concerned, writing well is of least significance. You are at liberty to use typos, make spelling or grammatical eras. A personal journal is not subject to editing as would be the case in academic journals. This allows you to toss words and language as you please. Furthermore, you can write on anything. When an overwhelming situation renders you incapable of thought and judgment, ‘nothing’ passes for an entry in your journal. Take an example of, on the day the French stormed Bastille on 14th July 1789, Lois XVI wrote on his journal a single word: ‘Rien!’ which is French for ‘Nothing!’ (Dowrick, 19) It is notable that length as well is not a factor to consider in journals. The freedom that comes with writing journals does not imply that you should keep away from being artistic, it is personal choice. You can embed some art in your journal for the love of art, or for your own pleasure. Unlike academic journals, personal journals can be written in the first person pronoun. That is to say subjectivity is allowed. Academic journals uphold objectivity and do not allow for this, the third person pronoun is used. Writing a Journal is rewarding Journals are a leeway to priceless thoughts flowing into your mind. Entrenching in this form of writing allows for free flow of thought. This jogs your mind giving way to unlimited ideas and creativity. It requires no effort as one idea yields another. Journals can become a favorite pass time, a good habit you may end up incapable of doing without. It becomes something to look forward to at the end of each day. Furthermore, it serves as a memoir for every detail in one’s life. It is important to derive pleasure in the whole process. Personal journals are effortless yet priceless. It therefore becomes a pleasurable fun activity. What to write in a journal You could tart with the big words that resonate for almost all of us. These include God, place, parents, hope, friends, loved ones, peace of mind, justice, loneliness, confidence, purpose, death, values…(Dowrick, 25). You could shift from one thought to another without necessarily judging. This results in a piece rich in diverse thought. As part of the journal, you could intrude with your comments. Comment with anything that comes to mind. For instance you could be writing about a party that went down well last night. This exciting happening you are taking down could be interrupted by the thought of you being grounded. That paves way for an attention shift from the events of the party to the fact that you are grounded. Whenever you have finished writing let your thoughts ‘rest’ (Dowrick, 26). There comes a relief once you have finished putting down your thoughts on paper. Letting out your emotions, thoughts and feelings brings forth a piece of mind. Distinction between Academic Journals and Personal Journals Personal journals give you the freedom to write about what you like and that which only interests you without judgment. Academic journals are more theme-based. This therefore limits you to write only on a specific area at a given time. It involves research on the particular topic you are writing on. Academic journals are subject to reviews. This involves several people having to go through your work to give constructive criticisms about it. It is important to identify objective people as critics for your work. A variety of people with divergent opinions would give you constructive criticisms. They could also suggest better styles of writing, identify grammatical or thematic errors. Many people do not give other second or third persons their work to read and make comments. This could be for lack of confidence in their work. Either way, they have previously received negative criticisms that pulled them down. Others do not do this for fear of their work being rejected. The important thing is not to react too emotionally or analytically to critiques. Personal journals do not require reviews as they do not have to be submitted for publishing or for course work. You could re-read a personal journal only to relive occurrences in your life. Personal journals do not require editing as would be the case in academic journals. Academic journals are time-consuming. After completion, you could put your work side, even for months, and then review it with a fresh mind and new approach. When you give others your journal to review, they also take a lot of time, several months before giving you feedback. Personal journals contrarily have spontaneity and no time restriction. Academic journals require you to draw a plan, write one section at one time then constant revising and redrafting. Sometimes it may require you to team up with other people to sample divergent views and ideas. Academic journals target a particular audience, audience who share interest in the topics you present. Personal journals, however, do not necessarily require a second recipient. These form of journals contribute to knowledge, they help students achieve recognition for their effort especially when they are published. They build an institution’s status and certainly help one progress in their career. How to start Journals are spontaneous as earlier discussed. Any situation can inspire to write about literally anything. It could be the latest news headline, a new friend you made, your new boss, your pet, your kids, virtually anything worth writing about. It is that random and easy. You can play a free association with any of your senses dominating: touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight. Once you give your mind permission this free association, making unbidden connections, it naturally becomes part of your creative writing. It provides depth and texture and all kinds of surprises to your journal writing life (Dowrick, 25). For academic journals, this calls for research which is relatively extensive. You can sample other people’s opinions on your topic of interest. Incorporating external views in your journal boosts objectivity and enriches your journal with ideas. Conclusion Sometimes it is hard to see how far you have come until you are startled by something you wrote five years ago, or maybe, five months ago (Dowrick, 4). Journal writing gives you an opportunity to establish goals in one’s life, an opportunity to monitor them. They are a check for what works and what does not. Journals remain a timeless piece of art that only a few value its importance. They are a resource that helps surmount barriers in life. They are an opener to broader thinking and scope of knowledge as far as writing is concerned. Journals are invaluable. Work cited Stephanie Dowrick. Creative Journal Writing: The Art and Heart of Reflection. USA. Penguin Group, 2009. Print. Read More