Memories are made of this

DIARIES have always proved a fascination. From the Diary of Anne Frank, through Bridget Jones and Adrian Mole, they form the basis of cult books and movies.

And now, with the massive success of The Diaries of the Wimpy Kid, children are getting in on the act too.

But in these days of blogs, and texts do people still keep diaries? I asked my followers on Facebook and Twitter, and a good number said that they do. Most of them, though, were writers. And that’s no coincidence.

Keeping a diary is an excellent tool for a writer. Denyse Woods, author and director of the West Cork Literary Festival, feels so strongly about it, she’s included a workshop on memoir writing in this year’s festival.

“It’s the first step to becoming a writer,” she says. “It gets you into the habit of writing every day, and helps you to refine your style and exercise your unique voice.

“Most fiction, it is said, is autobiographical; so having a diary to refer to can be invaluable. Write it well. Develop your style. Give it the respect it deserves.”

Of course, it’s not all about the writing; it’s storing memories too. And not just your own. Denyse owns her late mother’s diaries, written during the war years in Dublin. They talked of beaus and dances, pictures and cycling, and of young men, coming from and going back to war.

“And in my mother’s diary from America, from her few words and appointments, you can almost smell Boston in the ’50s. And on May 22nd, 1958, she wrote ‘Denyse Patricia born.’ That’s why I cherish it.”

At 11, Martina Reilly’s first ever diary entry read: “This year I’m going to enter the Eurovision Song Contest and win!” These days Martina doesn’t keep a diary. Journalism and fiction writing gradually took over, but her new novel, What If, is about one diary and three women. It was inspired by her thoughts on Alzheimer’s.

“My grandmother lived with us when I was a child,” says Martina. “She had Alzheimer’s, and I’ve got friends now whose mothers are going through it. I thought, if I had it, how would I cope? And I thought, if someone read me my diaries, perhaps memories would come through. And maybe any mistakes could be forgiven, when the diary was shared with others.”

Niamh Boyce, whose first novel comes out later this year, is passionate about her diaries. She got her first, a five-year diary, for her Holy Communion.

“I remember the feel of it,” she says. “I loved the lock and key, and wished I had something interesting to say. I opened it recently, and mainly, I wrote about what I ate!

“As a teenager, I vented things in my diary. I’d give out about friends, and work out what clothes I was going to wear. Sometimes I wrote in code, because I worried about someone else reading it. And when I was trying to figure out what to do, I’d write reams and reams every night. I couldn’t sleep if I hadn’t written it.

“As a young mother, my diary was vital. It was therapy. I’d be holding the baby with one hand, and writing that I wished he’d stop crying with the other. I love reading back their early days. One detail will spark off other memories. I write in nice solid notebooks. I like the motion of writing; I love the act of it.”

It’s not just women who write diaries. Stand-up comedian and mentalist Cornelius O’Sullivan has written one since he was 16, and attending St Colman’s College.

“It was an inspired by an amazing English teacher and it started with badly written poems. Once I started, I fell in love with the diary writing,” he says.

In his 20s, writing proved therapeutic. “I had a bout of depression, and I could see myself falling into it through my diary,” he says. “Then writing helped me to get out of it. My diaries aren’t about work. I write them so that I can be transported back.

“I like that, and that my handwriting has changed dramatically. I like seeing the change from sad to happy. I like the feel of the pages and the weight of the pen. I do drawings in it too. I take pride in it.

“I don’t write in my diary every day. Some months I write maybe four or five entries; and I may not make an entry for a few months. Mostly, I write when I’m in pain. I derive some kind of cleansing from it. When I’m happy, I’m too busy living.”

There is another reason that Cornelius keeps a diary: “It will help when it’s time to write my autobiography.”

* Author and actress Carol Drinkwater will give a workshop in memoir writing at the West Cork Literary Festival, Jul 8-12. Details at www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie