Analyzing and Connecting Observations

Techniques to enhance your journaling

Choosing the Right Journaling Tools

How Journaling Enhances Memoir Writing: Insights and Techniques

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"I was recovering from all the deep wounds of Bill Pinckard’s absence, of Gore Vidal’s unattainableness, of the disintegration of my love for Gonzalo. Hugo was away in Cuba, and I was going out with Bernard Pfriem, a vital, charming man who desired me but whom I did not desire.

Hazel McKinley is a burlesque queen in private life who strips herself bare at her parties, literally, and then the next day informs her friends of the previous night’s doings over the telephone. Hazel is blond, very fat, weighing at least two hundred pounds, a painter of childish watercolors proclaiming her age to be all of thirteen, an insatiable nymphomaniac who is always starved for men because they rarely stay more than one night. She telephoned me: “Oh, Anaïs, bring me some men. I’m having a little party, and I haven’t any men I could be interested in! Please, Anaïs.”

I, thinking that she would attack Bernard and keep him, agreed to come.

When I arrived at the hotel, I was ushered into an elevator with a tremendously tall young man. As I saw his handsome face, I said to myself: Caution. Danger.

His name was Rupert Pole.

In Hazel’s room, he and I stood talking for a moment. Rupert spoke first, having heard I was Spanish. Ordinary remarks. He intimated his belief in pacifism and mystical studies.

Later we found ourselves on the couch. I was on my guard. But somehow or other we talked about printing (he excused himself for the condition of his hands), and that created a bond. I told him I had printed my books; he told me he was printing Christmas cards to earn a living. I told him I was a writer; he told me he was an actor out of work.

He is twenty-eight. His mother is remarried, to the son of Frank Lloyd Wright. His father is a writer. As we talked, we plunged deep, deep eyes into each other. Then people intervened.

I was ready to leave early because Bernard was frightened by Hazel’s advances and wanted to make love to me. Rupert came up and said, “I would like to see you again.”

That night while Bernard made love to me, it was Rupert’s face that hung before my eyes.

Later, Rupert called me. Hugo was away in Cuba. I invited him for dinner. I lit all the candles I had placed on the Spanish feast table. He took charge of the dinner. I sat far from him on the couch. We did not talk very long. His eyes were wet and glistening, and he was hungry for caresses. The radio was playing the love scene of Tristan and Isolde. We stood up. My mood was, above all, amazement — to see this beautiful, incredible face over mine, and to find in this slender, dreamy, remote young man a burst of electric passion."

"I was recovering from all the deep wounds of Bill Pinckard’s absence, of Gore Vidal’s unattainableness, of the disintegration of my love for Gonzalo. Hugo was away in Cuba, and I was going out with Bernard Pfriem, a vital, charming man who desired me but whom I did not desire.

Hazel McKinley is a burlesque queen in private life who strips herself bare at her parties, literally, and then the next day informs her friends of the previous night’s doings over the telephone. Hazel is blond, very fat, weighing at least two hundred pounds, a painter of childish watercolors proclaiming her age to be all of thirteen, an insatiable nymphomaniac who is always starved for men because they rarely stay more than one night. She telephoned me: “Oh, Anaïs, bring me some men. I’m having a little party, and I haven’t any men I could be interested in! Please, Anaïs.”

I, thinking that she would attack Bernard and keep him, agreed to come.

When I arrived at the hotel, I was ushered into an elevator with a tremendously tall young man. As I saw his handsome face, I said to myself: Caution. Danger.

His name was Rupert Pole.

In Hazel’s room, he and I stood talking for a moment. Rupert spoke first, having heard I was Spanish. Ordinary remarks. He intimated his belief in pacifism and mystical studies.

Later we found ourselves on the couch. I was on my guard. But somehow or other we talked about printing (he excused himself for the condition of his hands), and that created a bond. I told him I had printed my books; he told me he was printing Christmas cards to earn a living. I told him I was a writer; he told me he was an actor out of work.

He is twenty-eight. His mother is remarried, to the son of Frank Lloyd Wright. His father is a writer. As we talked, we plunged deep, deep eyes into each other. Then people intervened.

I was ready to leave early because Bernard was frightened by Hazel’s advances and wanted to make love to me. Rupert came up and said, “I would like to see you again.”

That night while Bernard made love to me, it was Rupert’s face that hung before my eyes.

Later, Rupert called me. Hugo was away in Cuba. I invited him for dinner. I lit all the candles I had placed on the Spanish feast table. He took charge of the dinner. I sat far from him on the couch. We did not talk very long. His eyes were wet and glistening, and he was hungry for caresses. The radio was playing the love scene of Tristan and Isolde. We stood up. My mood was, above all, amazement — to see this beautiful, incredible face over mine, and to find in this slender, dreamy, remote young man a burst of electric passion."

The following piece is inspired by one of the classes in The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy’s curriculum, Journal-Keeping for Memoirists. To learn more about the Academy and all it includes, please keep reading until the end.

Are you a passionate memoir writer or personal essayist seeking to elevate your writing? Journaling can be a powerful tool to enhance your memoir-writing practice. Whether you're a seasoned journal-keeper or just starting out with a notebook and pen, you'll find valuable insights here to enrich your creative nonfiction writing.

Before we dive into the specifics of journaling for memoirists, let's take a second to discuss the practical parts of journaling that can enrich your writing experience. Choosing the right materials is one small but important key to creating your enjoyable and fulfilling journaling journey. If you’re not already a stationery geek, consider factors such as the type and size of your notebook, paper quality, and binding style (ring binders and spiral notebooks can be tough for lefties). Explore options such as lined, wide ruled, narrow ruled, dot grid, or regular grid paper to find the one that suits your needs and aesthetics. And don't forget to find a pen or pencil that feels comfortable in your hand and complements your writing style.

For a creative touch, consider incorporating photos using a portable photo printer; I like using the HP Sprocket 200. (For more about journaling as a restorative practice, check out my book, Rawness of Remembering: Restorative Journaling Through Difficult Times.)

The Anaïs Nin Method

Anaïs Nin’s diaries are novelistic, creating vivid characters and capturing scenes of everyday life that rival some of the best fiction out there. Try this method to bring your memoir to life by depicting everyday details as if writing fiction. 

Exercise: Set aside 10 minutes to reflect on a noteworthy event or encounter from your day. Employing all your senses to capture the scene, write about it using the Anaïs Nin Method, treating the real-life scene as one from a novel. Draw on the vibrancy of fiction and the authenticity of nonfiction.

Here’s an excerpt from Nin’s diary entries, written in March 1947:

The Timeline Method

Creating a comprehensive timeline that incorporates personal milestones and significant world events provides a factual and chronological framework for your memoir. This method offers valuable insights by placing your experiences in a broader context.

Exercise: Choose a significant period or theme in your life that you'd like to explore in your personal nonfiction writing. Draw a timeline, marking important personal events and notable world events.  Reflect on the connections and what interests you about those moments.

Some background on the Timeline Method:

I first discovered this way to journal when I purchased a Jibun Techo Planner, made by Kokuyo, a Japanese stationery maker. The Jibun Techo is a planner set that includes three main notebooks: one for months and weeks, one for making notes, and one called "Life." The Life notebook allows you to jot down the Gregorian year, your age during that year, and significant events that happened to you and in the world. It even divides the year into months. This level of detail provides a comprehensive life timeline, offering valuable insights—I learned, for example, that I started my periods a year later than I actually had because Friday the 13th didn’t fall on a school day in the year prior. If you want to try the Jibun Techo Planner, you can find it on JetPens. Alternatively, you can create your own timeline in a notebook if you prefer not to purchase the Life notebook.

A life timeline allows you to examine events and ask yourself what might interest you enough to write more expansively about. If your memoir focuses on a specific period of time or theme in your life, knowing the events that occurred during that time can be invaluable. Could you look at the context in which these events occurred and how they shaped your experience? You might be surprised by the connections and insights that arise.

The Scatter Method

This technique focuses on capturing brief notes and observations about events and scenes from your life, rather than composing full sentences. Inspired by the journals of Susan Sontag and Sylvia Plath, the scatter method involves recording concise details and snippets of thoughts, which serve as a rich source of material for later writing. This is particularly useful for collecting sensory details to draw from when crafting your memoir. Start with the scatter method by making notes about your surroundings, emotions, and physical sensations.

Exercise: Spend 10 minutes jotting down scattered details from a scene or moment you find valuable. Focus on engaging your senses and capturing the essence of the experience.