*this CR is in response to the prompt about a reference text*

I’m currently reading a novel that features letters, so I think I’m starting to make some conclusions about that portion of my essential question. However, I definitely have some work to do regarding the portion that relates to writing a story as a fictional journal. I’m already deep into this, but it’s not too late to make some changes and carry them throughout the piece. 

To help me understand a bit more about writing in this way, I researched some articles and “How-to” posts just for the most basic, non-analytical debrief of writing a fictional journal. This CR is going to consider an article called “How to Write a Diary Story,” written by Kara Page in Pen & the Pad. This is the kind of article that would have been good to read before I began writing my journal, but it was still interesting where I am now. One of the biggest points it makes is that you need to have a clear understanding of who your character is to be able to successfully journal as them. This is something I had sort of assumed initially, which is why I spent so much time conducting character exercises. 

Another key point this article brings up is the use of dialogue, but this is something I don’t totally agree with. The author states that “while  most diaries do not include written dialogue, a story does…” I think this statement is kind of problematic because all stories do not inherently contain dialogue—dialogue does not make a story. Also, just in general, I don’t like the idea that you should add something just for the sake of adding it, especially in a creative piece like mine. If it feels necessary, I will add it, but I think for now I’m going to continue with what I’ve been doing because I think it has been working. 

Luckily, while I was reading this article, I found another one about writing epistolary narratives, which will be the next article I read to shed some more light on my essential question!