Customer Reviews

Complete Idiot's Guide to Journaling

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Journal writing is an area I've been interested in for quite awhile, and I've read several books on the subject. I was disappointed by this book. It spends a lot of time categorizing different kinds of journals, such as the log journal, the unsent letter journal, and the cathartic journal, but I couldn't fit my journal writing into any of the categories and thought that a better approach might be to combine several of the approaches into your journal, an idea which is only mentioned briefly near the end of the book. Such rigid categorization goes against my idea of what a journal should be - in addition to the many categories of journals, there is a section on setting up a journal schedule where you map out the days of the week and times of day you will write in each of your journals, if you have more than one - and while this approach may work for others, I think that fitting my journal writing into categories and schedules would inhibit my creativity and make me like the process of journal writing less.

I also didn't like this book's strict adherence to the idea that you should force yourself to write every day for a certain amount of time to get yourself into the habit. I'm not saying this isn't a good thing to do - I think that in many cases it would be - but I don't think journal writing should be something you force yourself to do. If you start out with that mentality, it's less likely that you'll have fun with writing in your journal. The book says that deciding to keep a journal is making a commitment, and that if you don't think you can stick to a regular writing schedule then maybe you shouldn't make that sort of commitment. I disagree with this. I think that getting yourself to write in your journal every day is a good way to give yourself the habit of writing in your journal, as is having a regular writing time, but the most important thing is to enjoy it, whether you write every day or only every couple of months.

In the section on the family journal, which is a journal that all the members of the family get together to write in, one of the suggestions the book gives for keeping teenagers participating in the family journal is to take away privileges if they refuse to participate. I think that journal writing should be something to enjoy, and punishing teenagers for not participating in it makes it nearly certain that they won't view it this way. Journal writing should not be seen as a chore, and if this mindset is imposed on teenagers then it's much less likely that they'll want to keep a journal after they're grown up.

All in all, I think that this book focuses too much on journal writing as a responsibility and a method of goal-setting and self-improvement, and not enough on self-expression, creativity, and enjoying journal writing.

I usually bypass the ...for Dummies and Idiot's Guides but after reading this Idiot's Guide I might be looking at others more closely. This book is well-written and thorough, a very good compendium and probably the first journaling book to read before considering purchasing others. It details the many types of journals as well as the many reasons a person might want to keep one in the first place as well how as what to journal in and how to keep the writing private. It goes into specifics for each type of journal ('the unsent letter', for example, toward healing and resolution) and generally serves to enlighten one about journaling.

As a Mormon, I've been trying to keep a creative and meaningful journal for years. I had so much I wanted to say, and say it well, but until I read this book, I had no idea how to do that. Now, with the information and ideas that this journaling book has given me, I'm keeping the kind of journal I've always dreamed of. I'm not only writing more creatively, but find myself leaning toward the more spiritual aspects of journal writing and growing. Give yourself the gift of this Idiot's Guide and quit feeling like an idiot.

I've kept diaries, notebooks, and journals for 30 years, and for fun and new ideas I like to read books about writing and journaling. This was the most boring book on journaling I have read yet. It makes journaling sound like a chore or school assignment.

This book did not make me want to put it down and do my own writing, which is one of the things I look for in books on writing. It made me want to lie down on the couch and sleep. The author includes NO actual diary entries, either her own or other people's, and she goes on repetitively about the benefits of keeping a journal, as if trying to resell the idea, chapter after chapter. She also overstates both the need to schedule one's writing and the pleasures of writing for new journalers. I don't write every day unless I feel like it; never have. And I don't set aside one special pen for writing -- how limited! Although she gives lists of types of journals one can keep, they are obvious and lifeless, with almost no discussion of visual (non-word) ways of journaling. Sad to say, I got only about 1/3 of the way through this book before giving up, skimming each chapter, and just reading the box at the end of each chapter, "The Least You Need to Know."

There is so much more potential energy and enjoyment in journaling than this book conveys. Fortunately, many other books do cover this ground vibrantly; find one of them instead.

But most importantly, just get yourself a nice blank book, a comfortable pen, and START. Write when you feel like it, when you have time, and when you feel a burning issue or a lack of clarity. Read other people's published journals and get inspired. And don't destroy your journals (especially if you're young); find a good hiding place, treat them lovingly, and they will reward you with insight into your own patterns and a treasury of memories to which you can return again and again.

Neubauer explains how to get started journaling, how to make writing a habit, and how to accomplish specific writing goals. She explores all types of journals, from a simple dairy entry to more complex types that record family events or search for a deeper spirituality. Each chapter takes the reader deeper into the uses of journals. While the title suggests usefulness to idiots, Neubauer's target audience includes eveyone, from those who think they can't to those who are already doing it. A dedicated journal writer herself, she exemplifies the writer who learns to write by writing, and you can, too.

Luckily, I bought this one used, so I didn't give any money to the clearly money-hungry person who wrote it. It seems like a bunch of a freelance writer's articles about journaling put together into one big book. If you are expecting ideas and inspiration to help you figure out what to write in your journal, or to think of new things to write about, don't buy this book. I gave it two stars instead of one because it does have a some things - just none that were of interest to me. If you think of writing in a journal as a chore that you have to do every day (as mentioned by a previous reviewer), or are interested in learning what journal to buy, the different types of journals, what pen you should use, the history of journaling, the benefits of journaling ... then you might find this book helpful. But, in my opinion, it's just a bit of research and a lot of fluff writing that any professional writer could put together and call a book.

I bought this book to give me some ideas about how I could expand on the theme/historic journal I am keeping.

It didn't.

The author instead goes on at great length to enumerate different types of journals and presents the advantages of keeping a journal... over and over and over again.

It took me about a half an hour of reading to decide that the author was repeating the same information in different ways chapter by chapter.

The actual core content of the book could be summarized in something about the size of one of those small pocket booklets one can see at the supermarket checkout.

A product (That's really what it is) like this only reminds me of something that F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, and I paraphrase here:

Why are you wasting valuable time listening to someone else when you could be writing?

I've been keeping a journal and getting books on journals for a number of years. I was surprised that this book had a lot of new information and ideas. I found the dream journal chapter very good but the whole book is an excellent beginners guide.

I was disappointed with the lack of useful instruction in this book. There is evidence that the author had difficulty padding the material out to book-length (an entire chapter is devoted to weighing the merits of writing in a spiral notebook versus typing into a computer). When the book finally gets around to discussing the various types of journals to keep, it doesn't go into very much more detail than can be simply enough inferred by the chapter title.

If you're looking for examples, they can all be found -- for free mind you -- in the sample pages ...

As an aside, I am suspicious that these Idiot books may be written quickly to cash-in on whatever is "hot" at the moment. The Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire for instance -- makes frequent mention of the movie "Gladiator". When I was reading this book, all I could think about was the sad possibility that someone at the publishing company thought it might be beneficial to cash-in on "Bridget Jones's Diary".

I agree with some of the reviews written below...it was 250 pages long. It was like reading a textbook. Some of the suggestions were too basic..the book was plain awful. Search amazon for better book on journaling. This one was a waste of money.