The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “keeping a diary”

Celebrated Writers on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary
Celebrated Writers on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary

Reflections on the value of recording our inner lives from Woolf, Thoreau, Sontag, Emerson, Nin, Plath, and more.

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Virginia Woolf on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary
Virginia Woolf on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary

“The habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments.”

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How Steinbeck Used the Diary as a Tool of Discipline, a Hedge Against Self-Doubt, and a Pacemaker for the Heartbeat of Creative Work
How Steinbeck Used the Diary as a Tool of Discipline, a Hedge Against Self-Doubt, and a Pacemaker for the Heartbeat of Creative Work

“Just set one day’s work in front of the last day’s work. That’s the way it comes out. And that’s the only way it does.”

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Joan Didion on Keeping a Notebook
Joan Didion on Keeping a Notebook

“We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.”

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Virginia Woolf on the Courage to Create Rather Than Cater and the Remedy for Self-Doubt
Virginia Woolf on the Courage to Create Rather Than Cater and the Remedy for Self-Doubt

“One must face the despicable vanity which is at the root of all this niggling and haggling.”

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Anaïs Nin on Writing, the Future of the Novel, and How Keeping a Diary Enhances Creativity: Wisdom from a Rare 1947 Chapbook
Anaïs Nin on Writing, the Future of the Novel, and How Keeping a Diary Enhances Creativity: Wisdom from a Rare 1947 Chapbook

“It is in the moments of emotional crisis that human beings reveal themselves most accurately.”

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Lynda Barry’s Illustrated Field Guide to Keeping a Visual Diary and Cultivating a Capacity for Creative Observation
Lynda Barry’s Illustrated Field Guide to Keeping a Visual Diary and Cultivating a Capacity for Creative Observation

How to master the infinitely rewarding art of “being present and seeing what’s there.”

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The Thoughtbook of F. Scott Fitzgerald: An Endearing Record of His First Loves from His Secret Boyhood Diary
The Thoughtbook of F. Scott Fitzgerald: An Endearing Record of His First Loves from His Secret Boyhood Diary

A lesson on self-awareness without self-consciousness.

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An Introvert’s Field Guide to Friendship: Thoreau on the Challenges and Rewards of Candid Connection
An Introvert’s Field Guide to Friendship: Thoreau on the Challenges and Rewards of Candid Connection

“We only need to be as true to others as we are to ourselves that there may be ground enough for friendship.”

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Beloved Writers on the Mightiest Antidote to Depression
Beloved Writers on the Mightiest Antidote to Depression

On the consolations of monarchs and of stars.

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