Journal Writing

For all of you who say: "I want to keep a journal" but just can't keep up on it:  I have some things that will help!  Read The Dominguez and Escalante Journal.  After reading that think about the things that they write about and how what they wrote changed history... the boring mundanes of life, yet that's what makes history.  "Day to day history is boring," (David R. Lewis).  What we write about doesn't have to be the significant things in life but things as simple as my great, great grandpa, Peter Matson, wrote in his journal: 1885 March Wed 25: "We arrived safely in Salt Lake City and nothing unpleasant happened, with the exception of Brother Jensen's lunch sack which he had set on the ground at the station without giving thought that the brewer had pigs."  Or this: 1885 June Sun 21: "We had a meeting in the city."  It's interesting how he talks about things casually and by what he writes we can know what kind of a person he was.  He was a mission president in Denmark at the time when polygamy was taught widely by the church.

Another book that will get you in the journalistic mood is A Mormon Mother by Annie Clark Tanner.  Reading this book after D&E Journal made me really see the importance of a journal.  She writes the book for her posterity, yet a good historian can see beyond what she writes... the things she doesn't write about.  It is a really great book.

Why do I say all of this?  I'm in Utah History (HIST 3850) and loving the class... lots of reading etc but awesome class!  Truthfully I think The Dominguez and Escalante Journal and A Mormon Mother will get you in the journal writing mood like they did for me.  All most people want after their life here on earth is to be remembered and a journal is a good way to do that!