Money earned, bills, meals eaten, work done, work undone, wishes, dreams and fantasies. These are all recorded in a diary. But why do diarists record all these small and large details? Simple. They want to understand their life better.
I was in a bookstore looking for a simple diary I could write my fleeting emotions on when suddenly, my fancy brought me into reading one of my favorite authors’ diary. “What if I get to touch Leo Tolstoy’s diary?” I wondered. Then and then, I’ve imagined it to be a beautiful adventure.
For a Tolstoy lover like me, what else can be more exciting than reading his visions in raw and inspirations at spark? And the details, the details! I believe Tolstoy must have written the things which others have overlooked. He must have written his day-to-day experiences in such eloquence! Oh how thrilling!
Certainly, I believe that Tolstoy, just like any other writers, used his diary as his laboratory to experiment his combinations of words. There, he must have tested his dialogues, anecdotes and lines that he eventually refined and used in writing his poetry, drama, novel and short story. There, he must have written his intimate thoughts with heartbreaking accuracy. There he must have expressed in his naked soul.
I was in a bookstore looking for a simple diary I could write my fleeting emotions on when suddenly, my fancy brought me into reading one of my favorite authors’ diary. “What if I get to touch Leo Tolstoy’s diary?” I wondered. Then and then, I’ve imagined it to be a beautiful adventure.
For a Tolstoy lover like me, what else can be more exciting than reading his visions in raw and inspirations at spark? And the details, the details! I believe Tolstoy must have written the things which others have overlooked. He must have written his day-to-day experiences in such eloquence! Oh how thrilling!
Certainly, I believe that Tolstoy, just like any other writers, used his diary as his laboratory to experiment his combinations of words. There, he must have tested his dialogues, anecdotes and lines that he eventually refined and used in writing his poetry, drama, novel and short story. There, he must have written his intimate thoughts with heartbreaking accuracy. There he must have expressed in his naked soul.
These delicious imaginations prompted me to research on writers’ entries on their diaries. I’ve checked the school’s library and I’ve also browsed on the Internet. Luckily, I found a myriad of’ treasures, a hundreds of quotes straight from the writers’ diaries.
Let me share some of the published gems I’ve found, some writers’ quotes that you may like:
- To write is an entertainment I put on to myself. *Jean Cocteau
- Like a young thief thinks he has a license to steal, a young writer thinks he has a license to write. *William Burroughs
- Success in writing, versus painting, means that your work becomes cheaper, purchasable by anybody. *Edward Hoagland
- I won’t give up the diary again. I must hold on here, it’s the only place I can. * Franz Kafka
- When a writer tells you that he’s never written anything for money, it means that the livelihood is already provided. *Tom Jenks
- It makes me laugh to read my diary. What a lot of contradictions… I always write in my diary when we quarrel. * Sophia Tolstoy
- Art is a microphone which the artist fixes on the secrets of his soul, and shows to people these secrets which are common to all. * Leo Tolstoy
- I am going to write because I cannot help it. *Charlotte Bronte
In a writer’s diary, we see truths, dramatic scenes and confessions that upon reading them, we will surely learn something that we can use.
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