Summary Of Journal Writing By Joan Didion

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In her essay on journal writing, Joan Didion mulls over the idea of a journal and what it means. Ultimately it is a personal document, meant as a record only for the individual writing it, unintelligible to outsiders. She repeatedly hits on the point that it is not only a highly personal venture, with notes that would only be discernable to herself, but also a self-centered one. Being self-centered is not seen as a desirable personality trait and as such people tend to try and avoid talking about themselves too much, but a journal is one of the few places that it is completely acceptable to be self-absorbed. In fact, Didion believes that it is virtually impossible to not be self-centered in one’s own journal, “It is a difficult point to admit.