While there are blogs that i read because the ideas are interesting even though i don't know the author, there are very few journals that i read that i don't know the author. The content is often not relevant to me in those cases. I mean, when my friends rant about their jobs, i want to read about it, but not necessarily when the whole world does. There's a relationship difference. - zephora, misbehaving.net
I was roaming around blogdex when I discovered this great discussion on men blogging more than women. It does an interesting job defining the difference between a journal and a weblog, mainly through the comments.
I almost agree with the above block quotation -- it's hard to read a journal-type weblog without some sort of introduction to the person. It's easier to read someone's weblog of links because it takes less of a relationship, and less backstory. Of course, where do you draw the line between journal and memoir? If it's a good memoir, is it still a journal? I say no. I think of memoir as more of a stand-alone story that could pass for fiction if you wanted it to. A journal can't seem to shake the trappings of non-fiction. A journal doesn't transcend the individual and speak to the universal like a memoir does.
But maybe I'm biased, as I'm not big on journaling. I have years worth of paper journals to prove that...I wrote in them every day, often expressing how tired I was, and how I would just prefer to go to bed instead of write in my journal. I like creative writing, but I'm not as comfortable "making stuff up" for a short story as I am writing a memoir. I must belong to the "write what you know" school of creativity.
Therefore, I think that weblogs can be divided up into three classifications: news commentary, journal, and memoir. News commentary is of course current event links with discussion, and "private" journals are dear-diary type reflections focused on the individual. The memoir weblog is more public, and even though it rests on an individual, it assumes little to no prior relationship, and therefore speaks to the universal.
Posted by Julie Young at January 19, 2004 01:20 AMPrecisely: Some writers are more audience-conscious than others. Usually the good ones. I could argue with your point about "the universal" but I won't, because you took lit crit and already know that such a concept is a ruse...albeit a useful one when writing. Great post. More like this! More!
Posted by: Mike Arnzen at January 19, 2004 10:52 AMHear, hear. As you continue to develop as a writer, you'll encounter more and more opportunities to define yourself and your relationship to your writing. Please do continue exploring along this line!
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at January 19, 2004 12:40 PM