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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Dear diary, why do I have you? | Dear diary, why do I have you? |
| (2 days later) | |
| By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine | By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine |
| A diary is a common literary deviceThe diaries we hear about - like Blair aide Alastair Campbell's newly released memoirs - are usually written by famous people who never intended they stay private. But what about the rest of us? | A diary is a common literary deviceThe diaries we hear about - like Blair aide Alastair Campbell's newly released memoirs - are usually written by famous people who never intended they stay private. But what about the rest of us? |
| "I sometimes wonder why I keep a diary at all," wrote Conservative MP Henry Channon, in 1936. | "I sometimes wonder why I keep a diary at all," wrote Conservative MP Henry Channon, in 1936. |
| "Is it to relieve my feelings? Console my old age? Or to dazzle my descendants?" | "Is it to relieve my feelings? Console my old age? Or to dazzle my descendants?" |
| People in the public eye keep diaries for different reasons from the rest of us, such as vanity, image management or cash. | People in the public eye keep diaries for different reasons from the rest of us, such as vanity, image management or cash. |
| Despite Alastair Campbell's financial rewards for assiduously recording his days, the former "spin-doctor" has argued his motive is to present an insight into the working of modern government, which sends a positive message about politics and New Labour. | |
| But for every Campbell, David Blunkett or Alan Clark, who jotted down their words in the knowledge that each could be pored over by millions, there are a hundred ordinary people privately documenting their own daily lives. Why? | But for every Campbell, David Blunkett or Alan Clark, who jotted down their words in the knowledge that each could be pored over by millions, there are a hundred ordinary people privately documenting their own daily lives. Why? |
| There are many reasons, says Irving Finkel, who has collected 900 personal diaries as part of his campaign to rescue "unwanted" ones and keep them for posterity. | There are many reasons, says Irving Finkel, who has collected 900 personal diaries as part of his campaign to rescue "unwanted" ones and keep them for posterity. |
| OSCAR WILDE I never travel without my diary - one should always have something sensational to read in the train. Gwendolen FairfaxThe Importance of Being Ernest class="" href="/1/hi/magazine/6290950.stm">Inside your diaries | |
| "For some it is like cleaning their teeth, where someone gets locked into a relationship with their diary and can't go to bed without writing it because it's a habit or prop. | "For some it is like cleaning their teeth, where someone gets locked into a relationship with their diary and can't go to bed without writing it because it's a habit or prop. |
| "In some cases, it's definitely purgative. Many people use it to assuage guilt and get something of their chest, like having an affair or saying they hate their sister." | "In some cases, it's definitely purgative. Many people use it to assuage guilt and get something of their chest, like having an affair or saying they hate their sister." |
| Very seldom do people have a clear, articulate idea why they do it, he says, but he believes that people who write very deep and complex and supportive diaries are unlikely to be in relationships with those qualities in abundance. | Very seldom do people have a clear, articulate idea why they do it, he says, but he believes that people who write very deep and complex and supportive diaries are unlikely to be in relationships with those qualities in abundance. |
| He wants to bury thousands of ordinary diaries in an empty Tube station, so that someone in 200 years has the "gold dust" of social history. | He wants to bury thousands of ordinary diaries in an empty Tube station, so that someone in 200 years has the "gold dust" of social history. |
| Truth or dare | |
| "I'm not interested in the diaries of famous people because they get noticed and commented on," he says, "but the ones people write in their private time, sometimes for their entire adult lives. | "I'm not interested in the diaries of famous people because they get noticed and commented on," he says, "but the ones people write in their private time, sometimes for their entire adult lives. |
| FAMOUS DIARISTS Samuel PepysJames BoswellAnne FrankTony BennAlan Clark (pictured)Adrian MoleBridget Jones "It never occurs to them someone will read them or value them and I think that old manuscript diaries, however patchy, have intrinsic value, especially over the passage of time." | FAMOUS DIARISTS Samuel PepysJames BoswellAnne FrankTony BennAlan Clark (pictured)Adrian MoleBridget Jones "It never occurs to them someone will read them or value them and I think that old manuscript diaries, however patchy, have intrinsic value, especially over the passage of time." |
| Diaries are the most candid and truthful form of literature, he says, yet they are completely under-appreciated. | Diaries are the most candid and truthful form of literature, he says, yet they are completely under-appreciated. |
| He has one which lasts 76 years, another from 200 years ago which implies that letters could arrive the same day they were posted, and another set in Richmond during the war which fails to mention the war at all. | He has one which lasts 76 years, another from 200 years ago which implies that letters could arrive the same day they were posted, and another set in Richmond during the war which fails to mention the war at all. |
| "I've never found a diary which is boring. I think they are absolutely captivating and some read over the years are like reading a novel." | "I've never found a diary which is boring. I think they are absolutely captivating and some read over the years are like reading a novel." |
| Christopher Handley has compiled a huge online resource of diaries which have been printed in English around the world, dating back to that of a Japanese Buddhist Monk in 838 AD. | Christopher Handley has compiled a huge online resource of diaries which have been printed in English around the world, dating back to that of a Japanese Buddhist Monk in 838 AD. |
| Some use diaries to salve their consciencesHe says: "People write when they are in crisis of some sort. Other writers lead the most boring lives and record it every day for reasons that I don't understand. It seems like an affirmation of their existence, as if by writing it down, it has actually happened." | Some use diaries to salve their consciencesHe says: "People write when they are in crisis of some sort. Other writers lead the most boring lives and record it every day for reasons that I don't understand. It seems like an affirmation of their existence, as if by writing it down, it has actually happened." |
| Diaries are usually thought to be a cathartic experience for writers who express their emotions and detail their responses to events. | Diaries are usually thought to be a cathartic experience for writers who express their emotions and detail their responses to events. |
| But Kate Hamilton-West, a chartered health psychologist who has researched how writing a diary can have a positive impact on health, warns it can also be detrimental. | But Kate Hamilton-West, a chartered health psychologist who has researched how writing a diary can have a positive impact on health, warns it can also be detrimental. |
| "If you focus on your emotions too heavily without finding new meaning in them, you can get locked into a cycle." | "If you focus on your emotions too heavily without finding new meaning in them, you can get locked into a cycle." |
| And then there are the online diaries - personal blogs. Here the motives are different, says psychology blogger Jeremy Dean, because they are intended to be public and therefore probably lack candour. | And then there are the online diaries - personal blogs. Here the motives are different, says psychology blogger Jeremy Dean, because they are intended to be public and therefore probably lack candour. |
| "Some bloggers may write whatever they are thinking but I would guess they're a minority. Most people will be thinking 'My mum could read this.'" | "Some bloggers may write whatever they are thinking but I would guess they're a minority. Most people will be thinking 'My mum could read this.'" |
Our appeal for diary entries has now been completed. | Our appeal for diary entries has now been completed. |