Swam through Joan Didion's "South and West," scattered notes and essays (mostly about visiting the south) and came across this gem. For me basically confirms why she's the best:
joan didion
Journal vs. Diary vs. Notebook
Not necessarily for the better, but the form of a journal nudges your thinking into becoming more linear, in-depth, focused, and comprehensible for a reader with a quick eye and probable impatience. It encourages that word that most writers hate yet desperately need—discipline.
What’s the difference between personal narrative and memoir?
Personal narrative vs memoir This goes out to my writing students who scratch their head over my presumptuous ass throwing “personal narrative” and “memoir” around like they should automatically know the differences. In my understanding, personal narrative is using your life’s story to illume some larger issue: mental health, intersectional, feminism, racism, nature, border walls.…Read more What’s the difference between personal narrative and memoir?