Sometimes my journal reads "4100 words written, Thief's Heartache. Subject to revision" In fact, this was my only entry from yesterday. It's not a very helpful entry, but I had been just writing and not thinking about what I'd written. Therefore, what I wrote on that particular day will have to be heavily revised before anyone ever gets to read it. Very heavily revised. It's not my best work, but it has the potential to be very good. Somewhere.
But my most useful entries usually include reflections and observations about what I wrote. What's working, what's not, and what might work in the future. If I'm writing a novel, I might keep track of the plot. Even if I have a fully formed plot in my mind before I begin writing, it usually changes before the end of the second chapter. So it's a good idea if I keep track of important changes. Like names. I change the names of minor characters quite frequently. And if I don't write them down, I can forget and keep using a name I've long since discarded.
So a journal keeps me motivated to finish a certain project and helps me keep track of changes I might make to an overall plot. But it also helps me keep track of other things that relate to my writing. Did I read a book or article that can serve as inspiration, now or in the future? Maybe I watched a TV show or movie that could serve the same purpose. Or maybe I found a particular spot in the local park that inspired me to write 5000 words in one shot. These are all things worth keeping track of. My memory might be good, but with over 20 story lines and hundreds of characters running around in my head, I forget things. A journal makes me write it all down, and I can always go back later if I have to.
This isn't to say that I reread every writing journal I've ever kept. Hardly. But it's all there, organized on a bookshelf, waiting for me to need it.
