Dear journal: Why telling your story matters

Keeping a journal is common among creative writers, but for people who don't have ambitions in that direction, journals are still valuable.

Mary Rechenberg, president of Heartland Writers in Jackson, says it's important to keep your goals in mind.

"For me, keeping a journal is about preserving my history, what's happening in my life, but it's also about reflecting on the day's events, giving me perspective," she says. "I love to write, and it's very much a part of who I am, so keeping my journal is necessary for me, and fun."

Rechenberg has been writing and gathering publication credits for many years.

"Once my first grandchild was born, I wanted to keep a baby book of sorts for her so she could look back on what was happening," she says. "But I want my journal to be more than just a bare list of facts. I want her to have more of the picture."

Janet Cannon of the Southeast Missouri Writers' Guild in Cape Girardeau uses journaling a bit differently.

"I have a journal for story ideas, natural health recipes, a classroom activity planner and one for Christian devotionals," she says. "Online I keep several lists of websites and pictures to inspire me for my various creative endeavors."

Her personal thoughts and reactions aren't something she is as interested in keeping track of, so instead, she keeps what she doesn't want to forget.

It's important to remember that keeping a journal doesn't mean specific rules have to be followed. A journal can record personal or family history, it can be a gathering place for material that may one day become a book, or it can be much more casual.

Rechenberg, who was involved with the now-defunct Write Your Own History group that met at the Cape River Heritage Museum until 2013, says it's most important that the person writing the journal doesn't get hung up on what a journal has to look like.

"I keep my journals in plain notebooks," she says. "They're easier to stack, and they fit better in boxes."

Together with Bonnie Stepenoff, Rechenberg worked on an anthology put out once annually by the group from 2010 to 2013, when Stepenoff moved to St. Louis to be near family.

"Our journals were the starting point for stories the group would share together, and from that, our anthology grew," Rechenberg says.

"Writing a journal really helps me understand better what is happening in my life," she adds. "Moving through my day, I don't always realize how good it is, but when I sit down at night to think about what happened and how I felt about it, there's a lot that emerges."

For those interested in recording family history or genealogical information, incorporating local history with family lore can be helpful.

"We really have a lot of great resources here," Rechenberg says. "Between the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center in Jackson, various libraries and historical societies, the museum in Cape, there is a lot out there."

Many small towns in the area have either an entire book or a section of a book already written about them, which can be extremely useful in placing personal history into a context.

"It can be important to know that, for instance, if you know your great-grandmother moved into this area in a certain time period, there were other events going on around here that could have influenced that," Rechenberg says.

Overall, she says, the experience of keeping a journal should be about the intention.

"Remember that your story doesn't have to be important. It's yours, and that's what matters," she says.