Joan Didion On Keeping A Notebook Summary

Reading Responses #4 The reading, On Keeping a Notebook, by Joan Didion, is an exceptional excert discussing on why one would write in a notebook. Joan uses many different perspectives to look at the idea of a person writing, why they do it and what it means to them. She starts off by talking about a tiny note that she had written in her notebook one August morning. The note had no context and little information. She had wrote it so that she would remember what she wanted or had taken from that moment. She goes on to say that no matter what a person writes that its always from their view and how they perceived a situation. She iterates by saying that a person selfishly talks about themselves more and we should be considering ourselves as the least important person in a room. …show more content…
I also keep a notebook to always keep when I think of an idea or want to write something down. I'm constantly trying to find different perspectives to look at situations, but its always from my perspective. I can try to change my mindset on anything I am observing but will always be observing it through the same eyes. I find perticullary interesting that she takes it even further and looks at the intention of writing as a whole. How a writer or reader can view a certain situation, changes on what they get out or what it means to them. When she reads something in her notebook, she always asks the question, "How did it feel to me?" and I think this is an extremely important need in order to recall how you were feeling when written.Overall, a very fascinating way to look at what a journal can mean and the identity behind