A diary or a journal is something dear at least to the older generation. It was a kind of vade mecum for people who carried it wherever they went. There were pocket diaries for those who wished to carry them. People used to keep desk diaries on their tables in offices and homes.
There were also bigger diaries with year planners. However, most of such diaries are vanishing from our midst. Today people carry mobile phones and they do not seem to know any value of diaries. With the spiralling cost of paper, companies no longer print diaries for free distribution among their customers. This year I tried to buy a diary but most bookshops did not have it.
Diaries are meant to record important events of the day. They are also useful to organize future events methodically. The word ‘diary’ is derived from the Latin ‘dies’ meaning ‘for a day.’ As mentioned earlier, different kinds of diaries are kept for different purposes.
A businessman would keep a diary to record the orders he gives or receives. It will also help him to do his correspondence. Presidents, prime ministers, ministers and executives often keep diaries with a view to collecting material for their autobiographies or books on political events and social changes.
On the other hand, a scientist or an explorer would keep a diary to note down everyday happenings relating to their experiments and discoveries. Philosophers use their diaries to record their thoughts and impressions about life.
Most of us think that a diary should be a printed book with ruled pages for each day of the year. In fact, such a planned diary is relatively useless. As a rule a diary is more or less a private document. You cannot use a printed diary with equal spaces for each day because on certain days you may not have any important event worth recording.
On the other hand, there are days full of events. If the space in the diary is limited, you cannot record everything. Therefore if you wish to maintain a diary, do not buy one from a bookshop. You can use a ruled or blank notebook to record important events.
The first rule
Although most young people do not maintain diaries, it is good to know certain rules pertaining to diary keeping. The first rule is that you should throw away any diary that is ruled with equal spaces for every day. This is because every day of the week may not be important to you.
On some days, however, you need more space to record your thoughts and feelings. It is advisable to use a blank notebook as a diary. If you cannot find a suitable notebook, use blank sheets of paper and file them in a ring binder.
The second rule appears to be more important than the first. You are not expected to write something in your diary every day. On certain days there is hardly any significant event worth recording.
However, there are days full of activities. You get many things done and you feel quite happy. Do not hesitate to leave your happy thoughts and feelings in your diary. Use more space to record them. Similarly, there may be days full of frustrating events.
Your diary is the best place to give vent to your pent-up feelings. Record everything that drains your energy or disappointments. However, it is useless recording weather changes or how much you earned or spent on a particular day. King George V wrote in his diary, “It rained today, harder than yesterday: I hope it will not rain tomorrow.” The king probably did not know that diaries are not meant for such trivial events.
The diary is a private document. Keep your diary in a secret place. It is not meant to be read by your spouse, children, relatives or friends. If you cannot lock it up somewhere, write in cipher so that only you will know the meaning of what you write. Sir Samuel Pepys, a well-known diary writer, used to write in cipher.
On the other hand, never read somebody else’s diary. It is bad etiquette. The main purpose of a diary is to create a self-portrait based on your activities, hopes, fears and relationships.
Grammatical rules
When you make entries in your diary, do not worry about grammatical rules because it is not a literary piece. Nobody is going to comment on your writing. Therefore let the words flow on to the pages freely. It is a kind of free-writing exercise. However, be truthful in what you write. Otherwise you will be deceiving yourself!
Unlike ordinary people, statesmen, heads of states, great thinkers and explorers maintain their diaries for posterity. They know that their diaries will be read by future generations. Therefore they write everything clearly without using a cipher. If the entries are shrouded in mystery, the whole purpose is lost.
James Boswell (1740-1795) devoted much of his time to compiling detailed records of Dr Samuel Johnson’s activities and conversations. In 1927 an extensive collection of Boswell’s letters, notes and journals was discovered. They were later published in 18 volumes. They came to be known as ‘Boswell Diaries’.
A sensible person should train himself to notice events that most of us take for granted. They may be mannerisms, dress, speech, dwellings, books, gardens or characters. The recording of such information will be useful to future generations.
Like the Boswell Diaries, they are usually published posthumously. If you happen to read Boswell Diaries or those of Fanny Burney, You will note how they invite you into the very presence of Dr Samuel Johnson or King George III. Samuel Pepys and Boswell did not mutilate or destroy their personal diaries. If they had done so, it would have been an act of self-immolation. Therefore if you are writing a diary for posterity, never mutilate or destroy it.
Moral development
The advantages of maintaining a diary are many. Such a diary will help you to remember certain events accurately even after many years. An entry in a diary can revive the impression you had about people and events.
Sometimes, the diary will remind you of the pleasure you got out of reading a brilliant novel or short story. It is always useful and interesting to refresh your memory of the past by looking up the notes you have made in your diary. What is more, keeping a diary will also help you to know yourself better. A comparison of thoughts now and then would be useful for moral development.
One drawback in maintaining a diary is that you cannot get away from the thought that someone may read it in the future. Such a thought will always hinder you from expressing the truth. When you write with half an eye on some future reader, you are likely to omit discreditable information and questionable deeds. When you do so, you are guilty of mental dishonesty and conceit. However, such minuses are not going to outweigh the pluses of maintaining a diary. [email protected]