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Many years ago I found a great book in the library, The New Diary, written by Tristine Rainer. Why is this  book so great? Well, it is all about deep and very effective writing exercises that can change both your life and your writing for ever. It´s written for all of us who writes diaries, but can also easily be used by all writers to effectively develop our writing skill, our expression, and most of all our lust for writing.

The book is full of great suggestions for any writer. According to Rainer there are four natural ways of expressing yourself; catharsis, description, free-intuitive writing and reflexion. Then there are seven special techniques; the list, the portrait, mind-mapping, controlled pictures, to see with someone elses eyes, the letter your never send, and the dialogue. All these techniques are very well described in the book, with many exampled of them. What you also will find in The New Diary is chapters about transforming personal problems, finding happiness, how to work with your dreams, erotic, how to get over a writer´s cramp, how the diary can be a time traveling machine in your life and stories, discover the magic of the diary, how to read (and write) your own story, about the diary as therapy and how to develop your own creativity.

The book has given me many years of joyful writing. It helped me to see things from other points of view which is great when writing stories. I have found a deep well within myself where I can go to get piece, ideas for my writing, develop dialogues or just to have fun. I have been using The New Diary as a Holy Bible for my creative writing, my diary and in my life.

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