The Journal

Although the book I wrote is close to being published, I believe it would be worth while for me to reflect on my experiences for those thinking of writing a book.

Remembering to jot down daily activities that take place while working on a project is difficult. This is especially true for a person like me who is work oriented. I tend to jump into a project and work on it until its time for bed. I don't leave time for reflecting or cleaning up. Now I have the time so I'll retrace my steps for those that still dream of one day publishing a book.

My story started almost four years ago when I was given my grandfather's World War I journal. I was given a box containing several of my grandparent's documents and journal was among them. When I retrieved it from its tomb and held it in my hands, I was spill bound. For a time I just stared at the nine by six inch ledger I held in my hands.

I remember thinking to myself, "I'm holding a historical document written almost one-hundred ago. Then it struck me that it wasn't just a piece of history, it was history written in my grandfather's own hand.

Tenderly I opened the book and gently turned the first page of entries. The first thing I noticed was that the entries were written in pencil in my grandfather's cursive hand. Beneath the yellowing pages appeared to be blue 1/4 inch square grid lines, similar to those found on graph paper. Like a good soldier he kept his writing confined within the horizontal lines, which forced his handwriting to be small and difficult to read.

Written on the top of the first page was, "My Diary, from notes and well remembered incidences". Below this heading was his first entry dated, "August 4th 1914".

I started to read the entry but I found it very difficult to identify some of the words. The combination of letter size and cursive handwriting made next to impossible to decipher some of the words. After a few pages I decided to try to scan the contents of the journal so that the image could be enlarged, making it easier to read. Scanning would also offer me the added benefit sharing the digital images with other family members.

Since the book was almost one-hundred years old, I was concerned about damaging the journal's binding. Extra care was taken to protect its integrity during the scanning process.

With the digital pages in place, I once again tried to read the entries using the enlarged images. It remained  difficult to identify some of the words. I decided if I was going to spend the time to decode the passages, I would transcribe the journal.

The transcription process took weeks to accomplish but it didn't seem like a long time because the entries were so compelling that each night I found it difficult stop. My grandfather's writing was so descriptive that I couldn't wait to read what was going to happen next.

Completing the transcription, I went through and edited my work and in the process I realized how much I had learned about World War I. Pondering this revelation caused me to wonder if others would have the background necessary to understand the correlation between the journal entries and the battle they describe. So I decided to write a family history book.

Researching each battle I would write a short introduction describing the battle followed by the journal entries. While writing the battle descriptions I returned to the box of documents to gather additional information. I found a letter that my grandfather wrote around 1945, it was titled, "I Had a Dream the Other Night." I didn't know that this letter would consume the next three years and alter the direction of my life.