On Keeping a Notebook: Inspiration from Joan Didion

Joan Didion's essay, "On Keeping a Notebook," provides a timeless analysis as to why some of us are compelled to keep notebooks. Written in 1966 before the advent of household computers, smartphones, and AI, its still remains relevant today.

[@sherrycohen1824]

Just one minute into your video I thought, this woman would make a great teacher. Then I looked at your YT profile and I saw that you teach. I hope you share more of your insights on other writers.

[@TrinaOGorman]

Thank you. Yes, I teach college writing.

[@asdasdasdas1008]

I recently started to read Joan Didion's books and she has such a unique voice and brilliant insights. She's one of a kind in so many ways. I have found so much comfort in her writing ❤

[@TrinaOGorman]

She is wonderful.

[@rakisk8r]

Thank you so much for this video!! Perfect timing and so important for me right now. Thank you! ❤

[@bonniezieman3424]

A helpful synopsis. Much appreciated.

[@TrinaOGorman]

I’m glad it resonated with you.

[@scribe_samples2309]

This is one of my favorite essays ever; I revisit it often. It was good to hear again why to keep a notebook-I identify! Thanks for taking the time.

[@TrinaOGorman]

Thanks for taking the time to watch.

[@RachelLWolfe]

I love the passage you read from her book. I'll have to put that on my list of books to read!

[@TrinaOGorman]

She is such a good writer.

[@PorschaWrites]

I'm not sure if I've ever commented before but I adore your videos. As soon as I saw Joan Didion I knew this was going to be right up my alley. I'm a writer and a journal keeper, the practices inform each other but are distinctly different. Thank you for giving me more to consider in my practice.

[@TrinaOGorman]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

[@pamelabuzzard6121]

This was excellent. I've been scrolling youtube hoping to find a woman talking about keeping a notebook. there are so many videos from men about how it "cured their addiction to scrolling", but I felt like there would be and should be a different perspective out there. I didn't know it would be from 1979 though! I appreciate you sharing your takeaways.

[@TrinaOGorman]

I highly recommend reading all of her books and essays. I love Joan Didion. She was so smart.

[@stationery.shenanigans]

In a community where HOW you organize your notebook seems to be the main point of discussion, this is a refreshing video! I'm considering buying small notebooks to hand out to my students this fall, and require them to handwrite some journal entries (still thinking about how I will execute this). I also recently picked up her Zero Sum from the library !

[@TrinaOGorman]

My students love the time we spend free writing and then discussing what they’ve written.
Zero Sum is Joyce Carol Oates, not Joan Didion. I had to look it up because I didn’t recognize the title.

[@stationery.shenanigans]

​@@TrinaOGorman I just realized that, I have both Zero Sum and The Year of Magical Thinking on my bookshelf and I mix up the authors sometimes 😅

[@MG-rw2sk]

Hi Trina! This is the first video of yours that I came across and, let me tell you, I loved it. Your voice, the pace, not repeating yourself, being concise but precise, absolutely loved it. Also, I didn’t know of Joan Didion and you can be sure that I will be reading her. Subscribed!

[@TrinaOGorman]

Thank you for watching.

[@planningandpowerlifting]

Just added that book to my wishlist! Edited to correct punctuation.

[@TrinaOGorman]

Joan Didion is/was brilliant. Her writing style was so exquisite. I love her sentence structure, as well as her ways of looking at the world.

[@mariakoszalin]

great video

[@TrinaOGorman]

Thanks!