Alexandra Johnson

Now in paperback comes the acclaimed, one-of-a-kind practical guide to starting and keeping a journal and transforming it into a larger creative work: a family chronicle, a memoir, or a novel.

On Keeping a Journal

Leaving a Trace

Alexandra Johnson traces the diary's quirky and compelling history through centuries of writing for and about one's self. Where the earliest of pilgrims and explorers kept journals of their findings, scientists including Darwin used them to develop their theories. --Book Jacket.

From Pepys to Blogs

A Brief History of Diaries

Martin Oliver

This handy reference guide is full of tips and tricks that every teen needs to know, from how to unstick chewing gum to how to treat a burn.

Shortcuts and Solutions for the Problems of Everyday Life

How-To Handbook

Examines the diaries of famous writers, including Marjory Fleming, Sonya Tolstoy, Anais Nin, and May Sarton, and shows how these writers have used the diary

Diaries and the Creative Life

The Hidden Writer

The Girls' Handbook is the ultimate how-to handbook for girls who love to do stuff for themselves, encouraging them to learn and enjoy essential, practical skills. From fixing a puncture on a bike to boiling an egg or tidying their bedroom in 5 minutes - girls can learn how to do it themselves. Each skill can be mastered by following simple, step-by-step instructions, clearly illustrated at every stage.

Essential Skills a Girl Should Have

The Girls' Handbook

"Whom do I tell when I tell a blank page?" Virginia Woolf's question is one that generations of readers and writers searching to map a creative life have asked of their own diaries. No other document quite compares with the intimacies and yearnings, the confessions and desires, revealed in the pages of a diary. Presenting seven portraits of literary and creative lives, Alexandra Johnson illuminates the secret world of writers and their diaries, and shows how over generations these writers have used the diary to solve a common set of creative and life questions. In Sonya Tolstoy's diary, we witness the conflict between love and vocation; in Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf's friendship, the nettle of rivalry among writing equals is revealed; and in Alice James's diary, begun at age forty, the feelings of competition within a creative family are explored. The Hidden Writer shows how the diaries of Marjory Fleming, Sonya Tolstoy, Alice James, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, Anaïs Nin, and May Sarton negotiated the obstacle course of silence, ambition, envy, and fame. Destined to become a classic on writing and the diary as literary form, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the evolution of creative life.

An inspirational, practical and literate guide to starting and keeping a journal - and transforming it into something permanent like a memoir or a novel. Leaving A Trace is a practical guide to keeping a journal successfully and transforming it into future projects. Each chapter features both narrative and tailored exercises for beginning and committed diarists. Beginners will turn first to quick ways to overcome inhibitions, get started and stay on course. Seasoned chroniclers will start diaries with a new slant: they will learn how to trigger inspiration with creative brainstorming exercises; how to note patterns in diaries they already have and how to shape their material.

Alexandra Johnson

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