I did write a physical journal for a couple of years (and tried to start last year again briefly), but it just takes so much time compared to digital. The year I wrote all digital I spent half the time but more than double the detail and word count (like the difference was ~45,000 words a year versus ~123,000 words a year). For the physical one I would spend up to 90 minutes a day sometimes (I can write 2-3k for a single day sometimes) and have terrible hand cramps afterwards.
And also as a safety measure I ended up transcribing the physical version to digital anyway.
Most of it is notes in regards to studying and coming up with my game designs, but there are also personal life events and last year, some pandemic commentary I included in part just to document parts of this crazy period of time I lived through.
2020 was actually a bad year for writing though, and I only wrote about 47,000 words total last year (and 2021 even worse, I've still only written a couple of entries for this year). Pandemic screwed up my morning 'Go to Starbucks and write in the diary while drinking coffee' habit.
But one thing I'm planning to do for the digital years is to (eventually) print out a copy via Lulu or something, so there's still a physical copy somewhere. Also my digital version is in Markdown plain-text on my Dropbox, so it's in the cloud and on every computer I've got.
Also eventually I'll probably burn that plus some video/board game files onto a gold archive disc, so it will have a decent chance at still being readable 100+ years in the future, assuming there are still means of reading optical discs.
Yes, having a phisical version is worth it. Reading your writings in a nicely bound Lulu book should elate you, you might even get a new perspective on your ideas. I am a painter and have lots of little format paintings but never had a show nor seen them on a wall and am not intending anytime soon, Id rather spend that time and energy on actual painting. However, I really want to print my works in Lulu books, on volumes by year or some thematic thing. Choosing and picking is keeping me from actually doing it so am looking to pay someone to do it for me.
People in the past just spent more time doing fewer things. Today we feel rushed in everything we do so we can get on to the next thing.
Also, a well considered 45,000 words might be better for the long term than 123,000 words that are stream of consciousness. A lot less to read later, if nothing else.
I wouldn't say the 45k words were any more well considered. I just managed to finish less days and was always playing catchup.
It also wasn't quite a stream of consciousness. I did have specific things I talked about, usually written as a quick bulleted list in a notes app to remind me ahead of time because I was always days or weeks behind anyway.
It's just that I was trying to explain full game ideas and the thought processes that led me to the different ideas I was trying with game prototypes, what worked and what didn't, and also served as a rough game manual when I wanted to revisit the game idea later (which I've done several times).
Also I tend to be pretty verbose, which is evident by my Hacker News and Reddit comments.
And also as a safety measure I ended up transcribing the physical version to digital anyway.
Most of it is notes in regards to studying and coming up with my game designs, but there are also personal life events and last year, some pandemic commentary I included in part just to document parts of this crazy period of time I lived through.
2020 was actually a bad year for writing though, and I only wrote about 47,000 words total last year (and 2021 even worse, I've still only written a couple of entries for this year). Pandemic screwed up my morning 'Go to Starbucks and write in the diary while drinking coffee' habit.
But one thing I'm planning to do for the digital years is to (eventually) print out a copy via Lulu or something, so there's still a physical copy somewhere. Also my digital version is in Markdown plain-text on my Dropbox, so it's in the cloud and on every computer I've got.
Also eventually I'll probably burn that plus some video/board game files onto a gold archive disc, so it will have a decent chance at still being readable 100+ years in the future, assuming there are still means of reading optical discs.