This book had a big impact on my and my journaling ways back in my late teens and early twenties. ( )

The New Diary by Trisline Rainer was published in 1978 so it's a bit dated in places but ok, I admit it, it was the same price as a cup of coffee including postage also many of the reviews of other modern books on journal writing referred to this book.

This book states that is will explore the usage of what she calls “the new diary” to assist in self-guidance and expanded creativity using the work of Carl Jung, Marion Milner, Ira Progoff and Anaïs Nin (with whom she had a friendship with for seven years). I think she accomplished this goal first she discussed the four main ways of using the diary, catharsis, description, free intuitive writing and reflection. She then goes on to discuss more specific techniques for when the basic four are not getting to the crux of the problem, and here we go down a rabbit hole into psychobabble,

Much of the writing is about communicating with the subconscious and other aspects of Jungian psychology, which may turn readers off. Many of the writing devices I can never see myself using, such as having dialogues, or written conversations with an emotion but other may find that useful.

What makes this author uniquely qualified to write on this topic is primarily as she has kept a diary for many years, and uses many of her own diary entries as examples. Also her friendship with Anaïs Nin may well have given her insights into the woman who wrote the famous diaries.

My least favorite part of the book was the chapter on dreams, I guess I am not a the new diary 2great believer in the Jungian theories into the importance of our nighttime wanderings so it left me cold.

In the end I did grow weary of the repetition and I skimmed the last three chapters.

Overall enjoyed reading this book and can see I may well make use of several of the more specific techniques at some point in my life. I found the author easy to relate to but I do wish she used the work of Anaïs Nin less but I think the author was very inspired by her life and work and the friendship may have been the reason why she started journaling and hence eventually write this book.

Check out my new book blog Engrossed in a Good Book . ( )

This book had a big impact on my and my journaling ways back in my late teens and early twenties. ( )

Really useful survey of why/how people keep journals, with plenty of food for thought to try at home... ( )

Inspiring...that is the first word that comes to mind when I think about 'The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and Expanded Creativity.' I have to admit that I've kept journals all my life...but only sporadically...this book has really helped me to understand ALL that a journal can be and how wonderfully helpful, illuminating, and creative it may become if used in a "new" way..."new" in this instance means getting away from the "calendar" or methodical recording that goes on in most journals...which is how most of us were originally taught to keep our diaries/journals.
I think that this is a FANTASTIC book for beginners (and well beyond) -- especially those who journal only sporadically or repeatedly "give up" and throw out journals, feeling like we've failed at it...The New Diary will give you a NEW perspective!! With this book, you'll learn HOW to journal effectively -- what it really means, changing your perceptions of how it "should" be done...allowing you to use it more effectively in discovering yourself!!

I must say that when I ordered this book, I had NO idea that it was originally published in 1978...if I had known that I would NOT have ordered it...but, as it turns out, this was a VERY fortuitous oversight on my part!! The New Diary defiantly holds up 20+ years later!!! There is a rather timeless quality about the information found here and and even greater timeless quality to the way in which it is presented!! The "seven special techniques" are very helpful (and used time and again -- in their own special ways -- in various other books on Journaling)...these are techniques that seem perfectly logical and "mundane..." but they are in fact easily overlooked as journaling techniques by those of us bound to outdated styles of journal keeping -- using The New Diary as a reference once you've read it through will help you keep your journaling "fresh" --allowing you to get the most benefit from it!!

I also like what you DON'T get in The New Diary!! What you don't get here is a forced, stylized, and/or a pre-packaged journal that forces you to do it one way and one way only...this book allows you to get what YOU need out of the experience, rather than being told what you need and how someone else thinks you should do it!! All you get here (and it's MORE than adequate) is good, solid information which provides you with an equally solid foundation upon which you can develop your journaling skills!!

I really love how the author stresses the integration of ALL aspects of your life into your journaling -- using self-reflection and observation as a means to enrich journal writing!!

Finally...the examples given here of various journals -- allowing us to "see" exactly how a technique can be used...this was EXTREMELY helpful both while I was reading the book, as well as when I went back to it as a reference!!

I give The New Diary an A+ for content and usability...I think it will continue to be one of THE best resources on journaling for another 20 years!!

I Give it a B+ for price...it has a LIST price of 14.95...I got it from Amazon for 10.47...I much preferred paying the latter...if I'd spotted this at my local book store, I probably would have passed it up for something a little less expensive -- this was prior to reading it...now that I've read it and used it....I'd pay the 14.95 in a heart beat!! ( )