You just got back from work or school. Same routine. You probably talked about work yesterday or last week. You're not in the mood to go into it again.

Tonight maybe you're going to spend some time with someone who has made it clear they don't want to be mentioned in your journal. That's okay. You're not in the mood to talk about that anyway. Or maybe you're just going to watch a little TV or surf the 'Net a bit before you turn in for the day.

The thing is, you're in the now. And now is the time you set aside every day to write in your online journal or diary. You have maybe an hour or two, if that. You want to put something up there, but you just don't know what.

So you're looking around, and the events of the day and your thoughts about whatever are spinning around in your head. Nothing really substantial. Nothing you really care about enough to document in your webspace for posterity. It's not that you can't write. You can. You just don't have anything to write about and you're just kinda.. oh I don't know...

Blah. It's just blah today. Nothing major. Maybe you shouldn't post anything at all. The fact you've posted an entry every day for the past several weeks and you've been on a roll... Well maybe you deserve a break.

You do, but you can still put something on the 'Net. And the answer is staring right back at you.

Bringing the Reader In

I've often had people visit me after reading my journal online. They come to my home that they've heard me mention off hand now and then, the clutter on the tables. The books and videotapes haphazardly stored on shelves here and there. They've known I use a computer, but they've never been able to actually picture what I look like when I'm sitting there typing away telling people about my life and my day. They try. They just can't.

And it's no big deal but apparently in the back of their mind they had always thought it would be nice, y'know? Just kinda nice to have a mental image of my workspace. Where my computer is in relation to the rest of the house. What the desk where the computer rests looks like. What silly knickknacks I have on the monitor or hanging nearby. Stuff like that.

It's silly I know but it's the most obvious that we often overlook.

If you find yourself sitting there and you have nothing really to talk about. Spend that day's journal entry describing what you see around you. What kind of computer do you have? Do you have it on a table or did you buy a desk especially for it? Where'd the desk come from? A garage sale? Maybe a friend gave it to you. I bet the desk itself has a story you could tell.

Do you keep pens at the desk? Are they in a drawer or on the desk itself in a pen holder? I keep my pens and pencils in a Bob Dobbs' mug I bought from the SubGenius Church. Yes, that also sets my mind to thinking of a couple possible things to write about, but I won't bore you with them here.

Do you have the TV going nearby? Do you watch it or is it just there for the background noise? Do people share the room with you while you're online? Or do you prefer to be alone when you're composing your journal entries? What music is playing? Does music help you work on your journal or does it distract you?

What do you usually eat or drink by the computer? Anything? Nothing? Why is that? Do you smoke by your computer? Do you have a beer before you start on your journal entry? Any standard rituals you do? Do you make sure the laundry's done before you start?

And the clutter. Are there unanswered letters sitting on your desk? Bills that you'll need to work on? Books that you keep handy, within arm's reach of the computer? Disks of computer games or other programs you keep nearby?

I have a bottle of bubbles from Toys R Us sitting on top of my desk. No, I can't recall why they're there, but they've been there for months, with a little blue wand inside that you can blow through to make the bubbles. In fact I think I've had those bubbles since I went to a small concert by this band called Little Jack Melody. They used to play this song that talked about bubbles in the lyrics, and whenever they play that song, avid followers of their music bring bottles of bubbles to blow during the concert.

And there's also a container of potassium vitamin pills, because I occasionally get back problems and potassium clears that up. In fact, pretty much every object on my desk has a story behind it, or at least would be a couple sentences worth of a diary entry.

And describing all this can give the reader of your journal a virtual sense of space. They can have an idea where you come every day to 'talk' to them. And that can make reading your journal feel more participatory. It can bring them into your world a little better. Help them feel more involved in your life and the telling of it.

And it can even be fun, just describing the space. And also, months or years from now if you move to a new house or just move your computer to a new room, you can look back at your description and compare it to how things are now.

So give that a try, and if it doesn't help you write a journal entry, just come back next week and we'll try something else.