This books is best for it's bibliography, but I liked they way Schiwy delves into *all* the aspects of journal writing and her selections from other journals are spot on. It got me to write in my journal again and that's saying something! ( )

In dit boek worden veel gepubliceerde dagboeken geciteerd, er worden ideeën aangereikt om creatiever te schrijven, om dieper te gaan en om jezelf steeds beter te leren kennen (een must voor goed schrijverschap). Om duidelijk te maken hoe het dagboek je van dienst kan zijn in het schrijfproces, citeert Schiwy af en toe uit het dagboek dat ze zelf bijhield tijdens het schrijven van dit boek. Bij elk hoofdstuk staan schrijfveren om dat in praktijk te brengen, en hoewel de methode hier rapid writing wordt genoemd, komt het op hetzelfde neer.
Aanrader!

It was with some trepidation that I bought this book. Was it silly to buy a book on journalling? Was it just going to be a bunch of new age mumbo jumbo? Well, I'm happy to say that the new age stuff was kept to a minimum and my gag reflex was never activated.

Was it a waste of money? Well, no. On one hand, the secret to writing a journal is just to write. That's it. No one needs a book to tell them that. However, this book tackled every angle of resistance. It was chock full of advice on overcoming the self-critic, exercises to inspire, how to journal as therapy and life coaching, using the journal to feed the artist muse, etc. and so on. Very helpful! She also debunks rules we journal writers put on ourselves. As she says, "there is no correct way to write a journal." This is very liberating and enriching.

Further, Schiwy has a strong feminist tilt that is wonderful. She is really driven to help women find their voices.

The downside of the book is that Schiwy is extremely long-winded. I'm sure we all know people who are very nice, perhaps even interesting, but who just talk too much. You have things to do, but they won't get off your front porch or let you off the phone. Or, you enjoy their company, but would like to get a word in edgewise. I suspect the author is one of those people. She went on and on about every point, and inserted every example she came across in her research. I often found myself getting cross and muttering "yes, I get it already! You've already told me several times." I would have liked this book better if it were tighter, and only 200 pages instead of over 300.

Recommended for: women who want to maximize their journal writing experience.

Why I Read This Now: I've been looking at this book on Amazon for a few months. I recently saw that Schiwy is teaching a series of journalling classes at the University of British Columbia this fall. I so very much wanted to attend, but it wasn't possible. So I bought the book instead. ( )