5 Reasons to Write a Diary and Not a Blog
When I talk to my friends about the importance of keeping a diary and not a blog, I notice an ironic smile in some, as if this practice were a habit of romantic young girls who, every night, closed in their room, open a pink notebook and write: “My dear diary…”.
No, it’s not about that.
The diary is as noble a literary genre as the novel or the short story. It is true that we record feelings, disappointments in love, but mainly reflections, daily facts, comments about life, about our interaction with people, readings — the way, in short, how our self relates to reality.
Here I’ll highlight 5 equally important reasons for you to keep a diary — not a blog:
1. Reflection of your problems
The diary is, above all, a way of reflecting on your problems, on the limits that life imposes on you. It is, therefore, an exercise in self-knowledge; there you make a picture of your psychological life.
2. Boost your confidence
Keeping a journal will boost your self-confidence. You are free in front of the blank page. You can judge the men of your time and yourself without shame, without any kind of censorship — which is still mental hygiene.
3. Be creative
As there is no predetermined way to write diaries, they can be thrown on paper, without any order, thoughts, desires, worries. Everything fits there. See the famous Zibaldone by Giacomo Leopardi.
4. Exercise your writing skill
It is one of the best ways to improve writing techniques. Writing, you know, you only learn by reading and writing. The diary, therefore, allows you to exercise the precision of language, style.
5. Improve your writing
The writer can — and should — also reflect on the act of writing. About their anxieties and difficulties in the struggle to express themselves. About the times he is defeated by language — or manages to tame it to say what he really wants to say. Franz Kafka’s diary is an overwhelming example.
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