Are We the Modern Day "Village Scribes" and Story Tellers?

I write in a personal journal, pretty much every morning. 

I have been doing this, since I was a kid... back then, starting to "record things" in exercise books as a pre-teen, because I had this feeling that the daily facts I was writing down would be "interesting" to come back later, and to have as a record of what had happened in various past parts of my life. 

There's also a part of me that is drawn towards "what really happened," as opposed to "what people thought happened."

That's a pet peeve of mine... this "revision of facts" people often engage in, as a result of which something truly horrible (usually) gets upgraded to "not that bad" when the rose-colored lenses of passing time are applied.

This morning, I got to thinking about how-- in centuries gone by-- I would probably have been the "village scribe" who kept a record of comings and goings and events in my village. 

I might even have been the official "town story teller" who handed down information about the village's history. Not so sure about the latter, though, as I am not really that much of a story teller, in the entertainment sense of the word. I just enjoy writing down "what actually happened," and "what I observed," moreso than creating new stories, fiction style.

In my life, this is reflected by the fact that I call myself a writer, but actually have very little interest in "writing a novel," but plenty of interest in writing about practical self-help and "real life."

I prefer to leave fiction to those with an actual talent for it.

What brought this on is that we will soon start working in the garden, because spring now seems to be fully here, and I felt it would be a good idea to "keep a record" of our efforts, and of what is blooming and growing where, and what is doing well, and what is not. 

My parents kept an extensive and beautiful garden when I was a child, and my mother always "kept a record," from year to year... of what was planted where, and which vegetables gave us a lot, and which didn't, and so forth.

The irony of all this is that History was traditionally my weakest subject in school... and yet, my favorite type of writing is-- in essence-- "recording history."

Also made me wonder whether we-- as a group of bloggers-- are really the modern day equivalent of the "village scribes" from days gone by.

What about YOU? What is your favorite type of writing? Do you like to write about things that actually happened? Or do you prefer personal stories? Do you dream of writing fiction (like novels) or poetry or some other form of creative expression? Do you see yourself as more of a "story teller" or a "reporter/recorder?" Aside from writing online, do you keep a personal journal, or other form of journal? Leave a comment-- start the conversation!

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