The New Diary
by Tristine Rainer
List Price:
Our Price: $8.49
You Save: $8.46 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Tristine RainerForeword: Anaïs Nin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); Danish (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-07-01
ISBN: 0874771501
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Tarcher
Book Reviews of The New Diary
Book Review: Insightful, Practical, and Sensitive
Summary: 5 Stars
Journaling has enjoyed a sort of renaissance of late. The availability and popularity of pocket notebooks such as the Moleskine and the advent of the blog have brought this simple, valuable tool into 21st century with a vengeance. I have saved thousands in therapy bills from just keeping a journal, but I couldn't have done this on my own. As personal and spontaneous as a journal is, the ability to gain any productive benefit from the practice (i.e., not merely creating a written record of your existential angst or wallowing in your own sorrows) requires a mature, informed approach. For this, Tristine Rainer's classic "The New Diary" has been indispensable. It is a sensitive, practical, and insightful guide to approaching journaling in a whole new way.
The book itself has enjoyed some popularity since its publication in 1978, although it's not nearly as well-known as it ought to be. Over the years, I've read countless books on the subject and new ones keep appearing each year. This is simply the most comprehensive book out there. Rainer has thought of pretty much everything, and writes in a compassionate yet grounded voice that inspires one to write. Instead of merely bombarding the reader with a series of boring writing prompts, Rainer frees the diarist to begin writing immediately whatever he feels needs writing at this point in his life. Her simple advice for a productive initial writing session: "Write fast, write everything, include everything, write from your feelings, write from your body, accept whatever comes."
The next part of the book is devoted to specific diary devices. These include four basic devices: cathartic writing (writing for emotional release), free-intuitive writing (stream of consciousness writing, also called free-association), descriptive writing (describing the situations, people, places, circumstances of your life), and reflection (thinking about your life in a mature, open way). She describes these techniques from all angles and includes many helpful examples from her own journals and those of her students. The next chapter outines seven "special" devices. These are creative ways of circumventing the impulse to censor yourself and offer a sort of "back door" approach to insight. These include more specialized approaches such as dialogues (both with people and with aspects of your life), lists, portraits, the unsent letter, as well as some more unusual techniques such as maps of consciousness (essentially the drawing equivalent of free-intuitive writing), altered point of view (writing about yourself as "he" or "she" istead of "I", or taking the viewpoint of others) and guided imagery (essentially writing out a daydream).
These eleven techniques comprise the core of the diarists arsenal, and they are pretty much everything you could possibly need. Rainer herself admits slight surprise that no new diary devices had emerged since the books publication in the introduction to the revised edition.
In the remaining chapters, Rainer offers her own insight into specific problems such as anger, fear, loneliness, depression, apathy, and jealousy. I have found this an invaluable reference. Rainer has a nuanced and informed understanding of psychology and quotes excerpts from her students' journals as well as famous diaries (mostly Anais Nin, with whom she was friends). I have never read the book straight through from cover to cover. Instead, I read up through the chapters outlining the diary devices, and started my journal from there. I then used the rest of the book as a reference whenever I needed. Other invaluable chapters include "The Diary as a Time Machine" (revisiting your past and charting your future) and "Expanding Creativity."
One chapter that delves into a topic that no other book on the subject dares to touch in much detail is that on "Eroticism." Initially, I avoided this chapter because I never felt I had any need for it. In fact, the first five years I owen the book, I never touched it. However, out of curiosity, I happened to read it one night and was thrilled and surprised by what I read. It is full of refreshing, exciting perspectives on working with sex in the diary. One refreshingly astute observation Rainer makes is that modern society dehumanizes sexuality and estranges it from our larger personality. Many of us are carrying around a sexual vocabulary that (because it is either too clinical or too loaded) isn't ours and doesn't reflect how we really feel towards our bodies and what we find erotic. Rainer encourages the diarist to create his own vocabulary and thus facilitate a reconnection with one's erotic life that can be extremely informative. This chapter opened a whole new dimension to my journaling.
One last chapters merits mentioning: "Discovering Joy." Journals can often be rather maudlin, angry places if one is not careful. Many people throw old journals away because they are embarrassed at how one-dimensional they are: they may come across as a perpetually frustrated, depressed or miserable person. Scientists are now becoming more and more aware of the huge benefits and implications of expressing gratitude, engagement, forgiveness and awareness in life on stress, success, depression and even physical health. This chapter is one I return to often because it produces such satisfying writing. As Rainer herself says, your joy will tell you more about yourself than your unhappiness (which can often become the focus of journaling). Using the techniques in this chapter has helped me rediscover the joy inherent in my life.
This new revised edition preserves most of the material from the first edition, with a few stray updates here and there - in particular references to computers and the advent of the internet. That there is very little truly new material speaks to the timelessness of the book itself. While many other books on journaling have appeared since, I've found this consistently the most complete and accommodating to all kinds of people, temperaments and life situations.
Summary of The New Diary
The New Diary is about a completely modern concept of journal writing. It has little to do with the rigid daily calendar diary you may have kept as a child or the factual travelogue you wrote to recall the Grand Canyon. Instead, it is a tool for tapping the full power of your inner resources.
The New Diary is as much for those who already keep a journal as it is for those who have never kept one. It does not tell you the "right" way to keep a diary; rather, it offers numerous possibilities for using the diary to achieve your own purposes. It is a place for you to clarify goals, visualize the future, and focus your engergies; a means of freeing your intuition and imagination; a workbook for exploring your dreams, your past, and your present life.
It is for everyone seeking concrete methods for dealing with personal problems. It is for women and men interested in achieving self-reliance and inner liberation, for artists and writers seeking new techniques for overcoming blocks to creativity.
The New Diary is as much for those who already keep a journal as it is for those who have never kept one. It does not tell you the "right" way to keep a diary; rather, it offers numerous possibilities for using the diary to achieve your own purposes. It is a place for you to clarify goals, visualize the future, and focus your engergies; a means of freeing your intuition and imagination; a workbook for exploring your dreams, your past, and your present life.
It is for everyone seeking concrete methods for dealing with personal problems. It is for women and men interested in achieving self-reliance and inner liberation, for artists and writers seeking new techniques for overcoming blocks to creativity.
Creativity Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Creativity Books
A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creativeby Roger von Oech
Business Plus; Published: 1998-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.87
Price in other shops:
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Dayby Michael J. Gelb
Dell; Published: 2000-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
Source Imagery: Releasing the Power of Your Creativityby Sandra G. Shuman
Doubleday; Published: 1989-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativityby Ellen J. Langer
Ballantine Books; Published: 2006-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.67
Price in other shops:
Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journalby Alexandra Johnson
Back Bay Books; Published: 2002-01-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.35
Price in other shops:
Understanding Writer's Block: A Therapist's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatmentby Martin Kantor M.D.
Praeger; Published: 1995-12-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $99.00
Price in other shops:
Changing the World: A Framework for the Study of Creativityby David Henry Feldman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Howard Gardner
Praeger Paperback; Published: 1994-04-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Mental Leaps: Analogy in Creative Thoughtby Keith J. Holyoak, Paul Thagard
The MIT Press; Published: 1994-12-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $104.64
Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Noveltyby James H. Austin
Columbia Univ Pr; Published: 1978-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $98.42
Genius and Eminence: The Social Psychology of Creativity and Exceptional Achievement (International series in experimental social psychology)Pergamon Pr; Published: 1983-06; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Encountering God Through Attentive Writingby Helen Cepero
IVP Books; Published: 2008-05-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Picturesby Cathy Johnson
North Light Books; Published: 2011-06-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
Raw Art Journalingby Quinn McDonald
North Light Books; Published: 2011-07-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops:
Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Questby Christina Baldwin
Bantam; Published: 1990-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
At a Journal Workshop: Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Evoke Creative Abilityby Ira Progoff
Tarcher; Published: 1992-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.76
Price in other shops:
A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diariesby Thomas Mallon
Hungry Mind Press; Published: 1995-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.52
Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Withinby Janet Conner
Conari Press; Published: 2009-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.81
Price in other shops:
Your Life as Storyby Tristine Rainer
Tarcher; Published: 1998-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.62
Price in other shops:
Journal to the Self: Twenty-Two Paths to Personal Growth - Open the Door to Self-Understanding by Writing, Reading, and Creating a Journal of Your Lifeby Kathleen Adams
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1990-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Journalution: Journaling to Awaken Your Inner Voice, Heal Your Life and Manifest Your Dreamsby Sandy Grason
New World Library; Published: 2005-05-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.10
Price in other shops: