When did you begin your diary and why?
I was 12 and my father suggested it.
Did you know back then that you would be doing this for a long time?
No
Why do you keep on writing? Do you think you will ever stop?
I don’t write anymore because the way my life has gone there has been a lot of trauma, so many of my thoughts and observations are cyclical. I don’t have anything new to say. I wrote for about three decades.
Has anyone else in your family kept a diary?
No, except my mother for a brief time when she was going through her divorce from my father.
What is your current occupation? Past occupations?
Editor and production manager of nonfiction books. I have also worked at florists, as an archivist, and as a portrait artist.
What do you write about and has that changed over the years?
I wrote about my observations of people and situations. I drew a lot in my journals too. Toward the end of my journal writing career I started jotting down only dates and events. That is when I knew I didn’t have time or interest anymore.
Who do you write about?
People I know.
Do you record nature? Colors, sound, tastes, tactile sensations? I put leaves, dried flowers, and such in my journals and also drew nature pictures but did not record sounds, tastes, tactile sensations.
Do you record intimate details of relationships or sexual experiences? Relationships
Do you write about coincidences/synchronicities, “miracles,” mysteries, dreams? No
Does your diary have a theme, i.e. your religious or spiritual growth, your development as a dancer or musician? No theme
Was it to record a military experience, parenting, or some other important time in your life? Just to record my thoughts on various philosophical and relationship issues.
Do you use your diary creatively to record ideas for future writing or sketches for art projects? I did.
Do you include more than writing, such as photos, sketches, clippings, etc.? Yes
Describe what form your journal is in: bound book (large or small), notebook, on the computer. Spiral notebooks.
Is your journal handwritten or typed? Pencil or pen? Handwritten, with some copied off emails and otherwise done in both pencil and pen.
What do you enjoy writing about the most? Analyzing my world as well as coming up with new ideas about things.
Have you ever neglected to write about important historical events that happened? Yes, all the time.
Do you always tell the truth? Yes.
Are you embarrassed about anything you wrote about? Have you torn out pages? No and no.
What is the tone of your writing – social, psychological, philosophical, historical? Psychological and philosophical.
Has this changed over the years? No.
Is your style flowery, poetic, elliptical, cut and dried, verbose, descriptive? Cut and dried.
Are you obsessive about writing every day or about recording certain details? No
Have you had breaks in your writing and, if so, for how long?
Yes, I have stopped now and only write occasionally in a composition book.
What time/place do you like to write? Does that change?
Not applicable
What is the most surprising thing you learned about yourself?
That I am smarter than I think I am
Has keeping a journal changed you? How?
Made me wary of other people’s seeing what I am thinking. I have had my journals discovered and read by two other people without my permission. That made me conscious of some things I didn’t want to write.
Do you like to re-read your journal?
Sometimes
Do you have favorite entries?
The artistic ones and the deeply philosophical ones
Was there anything you did not record but wish you had?
Perhaps more current events to put some cultural perspective on the time I was living in
Who would you allow to read it?
My best friend
Who should not read it?
My children
Would you make it public some day? Would you want it burned when you die, or preserved in an archive, or kept in your family?
Either burned when I die or given to a neutral, unknown third party who doesn’t know me, like an archive.
Do you enjoy reading published diaries of other people?
Not really
Do you collect diaries?
No
Any further comments:
No.
Tags: diaries, does diary writing change your life, introspection, journals, long-time diarists questionnaire, On keeping a journal
National Diary Archive 
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