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Advice on writing the diaries of an explorer

mbartelsm

Troubadour
I'm working on a illustration project for college, the project is basically writing and illustrating a journal from a fictional adventurer who is exploring a world I've created. While my primary focus are the illustrations, it would be a shame to neglect the writing part.

I'm particularly worried about character creation. My character is a young man, part of the first generation to have been born on this new world (earth jumped dimensions and it changed abruptly in the span of 20 years into a fantasy world). The thing is I know how to visually create a character but I don't know how to do the same with writing, specially from a 1st person POV.

What tips or advice can you share that would help me start this journey?
 

Jabrosky

Banned
Why not try reading an actual explorer's journal? There's got to plenty of journals and autobiographies out there written by various types of adventurers about their exploits. Reading one would give you a model to work from.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Why not try reading an actual explorer's journal? There's got to plenty of journals and autobiographies out there written by various types of adventurers about their exploits. Reading one would give you a model to work from.
That's where I'd start too.
They often can be very dry if they are recorded at the time or quickly afterwards [ Scott's Diary is very dry but so powerful to read ].
If they were written for publication after the event they can become closer to travelogues and far more interesting to read [but possibly not as reliable or accurate].
I'd also want to work out if your MC is an Explorer or someone exploring a strange new place...
The former is more likely to make remakes about distance and direction and weather etc. [the mechanics]..
The latter might be overwhelmed by strange and newness [and highlight what is strange...].
It sounds like an interesting project.
Good luck!
 

mbartelsm

Troubadour
The idea is for the diary to be recorded at the end of the day or quickly after important moments (thanks for the link, just what I needed). The MC is a young man venturing into an unknown world, hoping to unlock some of it's mysteries in order to help his people when (if) he returns.
 
Diaries are written with the purpose of the expedition in mind, not the purposes of entertainment. Also material might be left out. For instance, Meriwether Lewis's diary has nothing on the Lewis and Clark expedition reaching the Pacific perhaps because they were too busy for diary entries. In addition, diaries are likely full of odd shorthand which will jog the writer's memory but be incomprehensible to the casual reader. Consider David Sedaris's Reddit AMA on his diary:


[–]explodingbarrels

I have always wondered: When you write in the notebook that you carry with you, do you know in advance how'll you'll make it funny? Or is it just a jotted note to remember the basics?

Basically what in asking is: if someday, heaven forbid, you're knocked unconscious and I'm the first one to find you, how much work will it be to turn your notebook into a successful career?

[–]RealDavidSedaris

It would be tough.

Like I'm trying to look here at some of the notes that I've got, and it's hard for me to even read them...
flips pages of small notebook

Let's see what have i got here: "Illegal metal sharks... white skin classy...driver's name is free Time... rats eat coconuts...beautiful place city, not beautiful..."

These were notes I wrote in the Mekong delta a few weeks ago. A Vietnamese woman was giving me a little tour, and this is what I jotted down in my notebook.

"White skin classy" for example - I was asking about all the women whom I saw on motor scooters wearing opera gloves, and masks that covered everything but their eyes. And the driver told me they were trying to keep their skin white, because it's just classier. Tan skin means you're a farmer. So that's something I remembered from our conversation, so when I transcribe my notebook into my diary, I added all of that.

But if someone just found my notebook, they probably wouldn't be able to make any sense out of it. Or they might think I was a racist, who writes "White skin classy."


Overall, write the diary for its primary reader, the author himself later, the best example of which are the skin notes taken by the main character in "Momento." Of course, in shaping the gaps and shorthand, you can create suspense for the reader as to what's really going on.
 
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It strikes me that as an explorer, he wouldn't be alone. This puts up more opportunity for tension, conflict and exploding barrels. :D
 
You may need to read some other story in first person on the journey. You said you know how to describe it, but don't know how to write. The answer is simply to write things in an easy manner and try to write what the reader wants to read.
 
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