MORE ON . . . The Diary for the AUTHOR

Author Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924)

A German-language writer of novels and short stories,

and regarded by critics as one of the most influential

Authors of the 20th century.

BLOG SESSION

August 13th, 2017

MORE ON . . .

The Diary for the AUTHOR

Good Afternoon Blog Readers, Followers, Writers, Authors, Diary Writers & Visitors ~ We are back for another exciting Blog Session.  In today's Session we will discuss MORE ON . . .

The Diary for the AUTHOR

If you were here for our last Session, then you know that we left off discussing the Excerpt from Virginia Woolf's Book, "A Writer's Diary".  To close out our last Blog Session, you were asked to make a note in your Journal about how you are going to go about writing in your personal Diary after you had read the Excerpt from Virginia Woolf's book.  The Excerpt was provided to give you a little insight about an Author's thoughts about writing in their Diary. . .

If you would, please pull out your Journal for today's notes...

Journal Notes

In your Journal, you should have your notes about how you are going to go about writing in your personal Diary after having read the Excerpt from Virginia Woolf's book.  After getting a short glimpse of Virginia Woolf's thoughts from her diary writing, you now have a better idea about what you'd like to write about in your Diary.  And, hopefully, you were inspired to write in your own style and in your own personal way.

The main question that you should have taken away from the writing of Virginia Woolf is this . . .

"What sort of diary should I like mine to be?"

In your Journal today, please write your answer to the above question.

There are many Authors who have kept Diaries over the years.  One such Author is Franz Kafka (who is pictured at the top of this Blog).  You'll find pictured below one of his many Books. . .

THE TRIAL

By Author Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka

Author (1883–1924)

Author Franz Kafka explored the human struggle for understanding and security in his novels such as Amerika, The Trial and The Castle.

Franz Kafka was a German-language novelist and short story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature.  His work, which fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists faced by bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible social-bureaucratic powers, and has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity.  His best known works include "Die Verwandlung", Der Process, and Das Schloss. The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those in his writing.

Synopsis

Born on July 3, 1883, in Prague, capital of what is now the Czech Republic, writer Franz Kafka grew up in an upper middle-class Jewish family.  After studying law at the University of Prague, he worked in insurance and wrote in the evenings.  In 1923, he moved to Berlin to focus on writing, but died of tuberculosis shortly after.  His friend Max Brod published most of his work posthumously, such as Amerika and The Castle.

NOTES FROM AN AUTHOR

 ABOUT WRITING IN YOUR DIARY . . .

To gain further insight into diary writing, please take a look at the following writing of Author Franz Kafka . . .

Franz Kafka ~ “One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer and which in a general way are naturally believed, surmised, and admitted by you, but which you’ll unconsciously deny when it comes to the point of gaining hope or peace from such an admission. In the diary you find proof that in situations which today would seem unbearable, you lived, looked around and wrote down observations, that this right hand moved then as it does today, when we may be wiser because we are able to look back upon our former condition, and for that very reason have got to admit the courage of our earlier striving in which we persisted even in sheer ignorance.” ~ From Diaries, 1910-1923.

A great deal can be gained from keeping a Diary, and there are many Authors who can testify to that fact.  Another such Author that you may want to hear from is David Sedaris...

David Sedaris 

About Keeping a Diary

“I’ve been keeping a diary for thirty-three years and write in it every morning.  Most of it’s just whining, but every so often there’ll be something I can use later: a joke, a description, a quote.  It’s an invaluable aid when it comes to winning arguments.  ‘That’s not what you said on February 3, 1996,” I’ll say to someone.” ~ As told to The New Yorker in 2009.

ABOUT David Sedaris:

David Raymond Sedaris (born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, Author, and radio contributor.  He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "SantaLand Diaries".  He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994.

His next five essay collections, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004), and When You Are Engulfed in Flames (2008), became New York Times Best Sellers.  In 2010, he released a collection of stories, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk:  A Modest Bestiary.  Sedaris released a collection of essays, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, in 2013, and in 2017 published a collection of his 1977–2002 diaries, Theft By Finding.  Also in 2013, the film adaptation of an essay from "Naked" was released as a feature length movie entitled C.O.G.

Much of Sedaris' humor is ostensibly autobiographical and self-deprecating, and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, and his life in France, London, and the English South Downs.

squirrel seeks chipmunk

by David Sedaris

Diaries are wonderful tools for the Author, and for anyone who is willing to honestly explore their emotions and feelings on a daily basis.  To write in your Diary is to take the first step on your journey to getting to know thyself.

However you choose to write in your Diary is of course up to you.  You may spend more time writing about the situations or issues that you are facing; or alternatively, you may focus more on the positive events and activities that are happening in your life.  You may want to spend more time exploring your anger issues or any grief that you may be dealing with.   There are some Diary Writers who spend more time writing about how they are feeling on a daily basis and noting the changes in their emotions.

Another aspect of Diary Writing is the spiritual end.  For those Readers who are spiritually minded, a Diary is an excellent way to keep track of your spiritual progress.  Using your Diary as a personal devotional can be very beneficial to your soul.

For the Author ~ Diary Writing is very therapeutic.  It gives you the opportunity to write without focusing on deadlines or editing.  Although editing may be something that you will automatically do just because you are an Author or an aspiring author, for the most part it is not pressing.

For the Author, Diary Writing is also a way to explore story lines and themes.  You may have incidents happen to you in your daily life that are perfect for the type of Novel that you seek to write.  You can gain good material for writing projects through Diary Writing.

You may like to purchase a decorated Diary to inspire you to write in it daily.  A one year diary may turn out to be too few pages for the year if you have much to write about.  In that case, you may need a more expansive Diary with far more pages to keep up with your daily exploits, or two or three Diaries to keep up with your exciting life!

For many Diary Writers who are serious about writing on a continual basis, the Five-Year Diary may work well for you...

The Five-Year Diary

If you take the time to really look around for the perfect personal Diary for yourself, you will find many different versions and styles.  If for instance, you are interested in the Five-Year Diary, there is a version that may be perfectly suited for you...

FIVE-YEAR

MEMORY JOURNAL

[Thought-Provoking Prompts

to Create Your Own

Life Chronicle]

The above pictured Five-Year Diary is more of a Memory Journal that has prompts that will help you to seriously chronicle your life.  This is good if you enjoy using prompts to help you to write daily.

Take the time to really look into the various Diaries that are right for you.  You may decide to have more than one Diary at any given time for various reasons.  You may have on Diary to assist you with your writing life, and one diary for your career, and another diary for your family.

Ultimately, seek the Diary that fits you, and write in your Diary in the way that benefits your well-being.  Whatever makes you happy when you write ~ let the ink flow . . .

Let the ink flow . . .

Your thoughts are always welcome here on the Blog, and you may share any thoughts, questions or comments here at the bottom of this Blog in the "Comments Section".

Until our next Blog Session, enjoy each day of your life, and consciously make an effort to make a note of it in your Diary.

The Diary Writer

OUR NEXT BLOG SESSION:

The Diary for the POET

Until we meet again here dear Diary Writers . . .

Peace, Love & Light,

By René Allen

© Copyright - René Allen - 2014 - 2017 - All Rights Reserved