If someone's diary was published, would you be interested to read it?

Start to write entries privately and see what you think. Remember to check what a sentence is as opposed to a sentence fragment. (And learn how to spell “definitely,” please).

It can be therapy for you under any circumstance. Finding an audience or a publisher is a lot harder. But writers always start out by writing.

Some diaries are timeless. Samuel Pepy’s diary is, what, 400 years old, and still avidly read. One of my favorite books. The Diary of Anne Franks will always be read, in my opinion. If you feel you have something to say, share it! You might make literary history.

To be honest, I find most memoirs to be tedious reading, with the exception of some famous people, like the above-mentioned Anne Frank. For example, I’ve read the autobiographies of Barack Obama, Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Marlon Brando, but I read the books because the authors were famous, not on the merit of the author’s skill.

If you aren’t famous, your story would have to be damn interesting to get me to read it.

Oooh, @drdoombot There is an edition of Pepy’s Diary called The Shorter Pepys. It’s a one volume book, easy to read, and the elisions were chosen very thoughtfully. Do yourself a favor! His firsthand account of the Fire of London is still relied upon by historians.

I am going to be honest here and say that we are living in an age in which people are fascinated by their own stoies (witness twitter, facebook, etc.).

That said, if you have something to write, go for it. Even if it is not of interest to others, it will be worth the journey for you to put it all down.

I find diaries from the past or from very different lives than mine fascinating for their glimpse into other worlds.

Maybe I should be a bit more specific when I ask this question- I believe that I’d like to focus the diary towards my entries about my experience with my drug-addict ex-husband, how I dealt with it and also, how I dealt with a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in the process. I think it may appeal to for lack of a better term the “addiction community” more specifically the survivors on the “al-anon side”. Knowing that someone understood what I was going through was a huge step forward for me. I’d like to do the same for someone else. In essence, pay it forward. Also, in regard to my MS, dealing with my diagnosis (at 21) was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to accept. My personal experiences with MS have led me to become a published writer and so many other things. Again, I’d like to help the newly diagnosed through the uncertainty of the beginning and your whole life changing overnight.

With that as background- what do you think?

@Raean I’m sorry that you have had to go through so very much. I think there is great value in writing your story. Good luck.

Thank you for your kind words. Everything happens for a reason. I walked away and while doing so learned so much about myself. I’m stronger because of what I went through. I certainly wouldn’t be the person I am today.

*The purpose of pursuing this, of course, is to help someone else get through the fog. I’m nervous about how “out there” my emotions and inner thoughts will be but I know that someone else out there is feeling the same way. I’d like to think that maybe it could help save a life.

I read Anne Franks’, so I guess so.

No

If there’s something to learn, yes. Anne Frank is an excellent example. If I want to have some fun, why not read Bridget Jones’s diary.