I haven't read your journal much, so I couldn't comment either way on that! (That is to say, your name looks familiar, but that's all I can summon.)
but... I think there is a fine line. Of course people should do what they want to do... I just think... there should be some humility involved, I guess. If a person wants to be known as "the best writer", via what is supposed to be a record of their life and thoughts... it seems kind of skewed to me, the motives seem questionable (whereas, wanting to be known as a fantastic writer via one's own fiction, poetry, etc, posted on one's own webpage or on themestream or something is different). I suppose it's the idea that people are writing and rewriting and getting into some... dishonesty (about spontaneity, or even about events themselves)... that bothers me... if it appears to me that they're doing it to get attention or to try to impress people. Specifically, if someone writes an entry, cool, that's how it came out. If someone writes an entry on paper, attacks it with a thesaurus, rewrites, etc, before finally posting it... that's not "real". It's an artificial process. & fiction & poetry & essays are fine if ppl want to post them, but there is a difference between the daily record and such. (& if you remember certain scandals about fake journals, you'll understand what i mean, i think.)
specifically with the "literal definition" bit, I was thinking of the apocryphal person who says "I don't keep a [*sniff*] diary, I keep a journal" - as if a diary is a simple matter of "I bought beans today" and a journal is something far, far more honorable and lofty and above all that. I think... they're the same thing. They're "what you make of it", not a definition in themselves. There is nothing "more special" about keeping something that you call a "journal" vs keeping something that you call a "diary".
(of course, not "you personally", i mean the "general you, one, etc"! :)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2001-05-04 07:51 pm (UTC)but... I think there is a fine line. Of course people should do what they want to do... I just think... there should be some humility involved, I guess. If a person wants to be known as "the best writer", via what is supposed to be a record of their life and thoughts... it seems kind of skewed to me, the motives seem questionable (whereas, wanting to be known as a fantastic writer via one's own fiction, poetry, etc, posted on one's own webpage or on themestream or something is different). I suppose it's the idea that people are writing and rewriting and getting into some... dishonesty (about spontaneity, or even about events themselves)... that bothers me... if it appears to me that they're doing it to get attention or to try to impress people. Specifically, if someone writes an entry, cool, that's how it came out. If someone writes an entry on paper, attacks it with a thesaurus, rewrites, etc, before finally posting it... that's not "real". It's an artificial process. & fiction & poetry & essays are fine if ppl want to post them, but there is a difference between the daily record and such. (& if you remember certain scandals about fake journals, you'll understand what i mean, i think.)
specifically with the "literal definition" bit, I was thinking of the apocryphal person who says "I don't keep a [*sniff*] diary, I keep a journal" - as if a diary is a simple matter of "I bought beans today" and a journal is something far, far more honorable and lofty and above all that. I think... they're the same thing. They're "what you make of it", not a definition in themselves. There is nothing "more special" about keeping something that you call a "journal" vs keeping something that you call a "diary".
(of course, not "you personally", i mean the "general you, one, etc"! :)