Nobody wants to be boring.
It's easy, outwardly, to say that you'd prefer a quiet, discrete life to a dramatic one, but I believe that there's a part of all of us that wishes for drama and adventure (both the ups and the downs). After all, that's what makes your story worth being told. If you have a healthy relationship with your family, live safely in the same town your entire life, get decent grades and get a steady career, etc. well... that's just great, but it's certainly not the making of a bestseller.
Why bother documenting all that, when there's no conflict? Even if your intention is to keep your journal only for yourself, perhaps eventually your children and grandchildren, what's the point in documenting all these events if nothing exciting or abnormal ever happens to you? How memorable are we, as individuals, anyways? Some names last through the centuries, but those are the people who conquered and created and mystified. The ones who stole the heart of nations or tried to destroy them. They aren't the everyday, they are the extraordinary.
When I think about who may think of me in 200 years... maybe my great-great-grandchildren? If they're so inquisitive as to spare a fleeting thought for me, that is. I know my own curiosities toward my ancestors are minimal. But why should I be so concerned with who remembers me beyond my lifetime? I'm not curing polio I'm just living my life... and I'm really not in the mood for waxing philosophical, so I'll just get down to the point.
Nobody wants to admit to living a dull life, and it's turning the literary world mad. Remember when James Frey's bestselling memoir A Million Little Pieces was debunked for half of it never even happening? It's not the only fabricated and embellished work of "nonfiction" that has popped up within the last decade. It seems that the more people will do anything to spice up their life (even if it means lying, which to me just seems pointless because he could have published such a book as fiction and had just as much critical and popular success, I'm sure).
People lie to make themselves seem more interesting. People plagiarize to appear to be better writers than they are. It's not a nice reality, but it's the one we live with.
I like how you used the journal entries to ask questions that apply to more people than just yourself. That was something I could not get over when writing my journal entries; too often I found myself droning on about insignificant issues that were wholly self-centered.
ReplyDeleteIt's fitting that you are writing about problems that most writers and students face. I think your posts offer insight to most writers and students, however you do not come off as pretentious or stuffy. You are percieved as someone who has been there and someone who is still confronting these issues.
This aspect of the voice you established in this journal does show a consciousness, on your part, of the reader. That being said, I think that consciousness complements your voice, and makes your journal more engaging for the reader.
I love how you asked a question that all of us think about once in a while. You are right, we all do not want to be boring, then we consider ourselves stuck, leading to depression.
ReplyDeleteThe way you used your voice is very good here. It doesn't look make people sad to think that there life is dull, but it does give me an optimistic feeling of wanting to achieve more. I think you appeal to the reader through light feeling of your words, as if you are just an observer and not the judge.
I really like how you asked questions in this particular entry. I actually answered each question while i was continuing to read . I have really had a hard time trying to make my post interesting because only so much happens in a day. I think that by asking questions in your post it keeps the reader wanting to keep reading as well as self reflect at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI like your tone of voice.You seem to be very aware of an audience, and I think that since you are focused on your audience you made this post pertain to not just yourself but to everyone reading the post as well, and for me personally it made the post enjoyable to read.