The second problem which the serious diarist must consider is
whether his diary is intended to be private or public. The value of any diary is that it provides an accurate record of the experi- ences of an individual within a given sequence of time. If that record be in any particular faked, falsified or fabricated, then (however noble may be the sentiments expressed, however remark- able the prescience disclosed, however amusing the anecdotes re- lated), the diary becomes little more than a daily exercise in egoism. The diarist should aim not merely at accuracy of fact, but also at accuracy of impression ; he should seek to record, not only the actions of the day, but the impression made by these events upon a person of his own circumstances and temperament ; his diary should be as truthful regarding internal experiences as it is regarding external experiences. Once this sound principle is accepted, the intending diarist will be brought up against the problem of " private or public." If the diary is ever to see the light of day, then in truth even the most conscientious diarist will quail at the prospect of disclosing for posterity the ineptitude of his judgement or the meanness of his mind. If, on the other hand, he treats his diary as the secret repository of his own feebler moments, then it will become little more than the midden or septic-tank into which drain the impurities of his character. I do not myself believe that any great diary was ever conceived as a purely " private " diary. Pepys must have known well enough that someone, some day, would decipher his short-hand and dis- close his intimacies to the world. Neither Amid nor Novalis, neither Barbellion nor Gide, wrote for themselves alone. I doubt, indeed, whether anything of any value has ever been written in this world without it being addressed to some " audience " other than the writer himself. The problem of the diarist, therefore, IS, not so much whether his diary be " private " or " public," as to what type of audience which he should have in mind.
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