Welcome to International Fake Journal Month 2013!

What is IFJM?
Please read the page "What Is IFJM" for details.
Learn the difference between Faux, Fake, and Fake Historical Journals.

2019 IFJM Celebration
IFJM has been suspended indefinitely. Please read the pinned post about this below.

Participants who Post Their Journals
A list of 2018 participants who are posting their fake journals this year will appear near the top of the right side bar of this blog around April 6. Lists of participants who posted their pages in 2010 through 2017 appear lower in the same column. Please pay them a visit and check out their fake journals.

View a Couple of Roz's Past Fake Journals
Roz's 2009 fake journal takes place in an alternate Twin Cites, where disease has killed the human and bird populations. (It ends up being an upbeat tale of friendship.) Watch a video flip through of Roz's 2009 fake journal here.

Read an explanation of Roz's insanely complex 2011 fake journal.

Tips on Keeping a Fake Journal
Click on "tips" in the category cloud.

Remember, "Life's so short, why live only one?"


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Do-Overs in Life? Procrastination? Can Your Fake Journal Help?

If you're still sitting on the fence deciding whether or not to keep a fake journal this April for IFJM let me throw another consideration into the mix.

I'm not a person who dwells on the past and regrets. My dog Emma taught me that approach was pretty silly. Even before her presence in my life I'd worked out a little plan that was quite fun—do-overs in my fake journals. An alternate Roz, in an alternate universe who experiences what this Roz (the one writing now) experienced, and an entirely different outcome results. Sort of like the "Sliding Doors" movie, except without all the sadness and loss.

I'm still not advocating an historical fake journal, one that takes you back in time. You'll need to fudge things so the action takes place in April, 2011 so you can journal about it. And I also wouldn't advocate churning up painful past memories that you dealt with long ago. Let them go (that's part of the joy of living in the present moment). But if something is bothering you now and you think you missed an opportunity, well, go ahead and rewrite it on a daily basis this April. See what unfolds. See what new ideas come up that you can use in your current life in positive ways. All journaling helps us see avenues for improvement in our lives, even fake journaling.

Also in some years I've had decisions to make that I put off, using the excuse of being immersed in daily life. On a few occasions I've written a fake journal about a character who actually deals with those decisions. My life wasn't that way, and didn't turn out the same way as the characters', but it always did help my thought processes begin to move towards a decision in my real life.

My mind just needed a push—and my hand moving across the page provided it.

Either way, when the fake journal is filled and closed I've always found a profound sense of gratitude for the life I do have (without the capability of do-overs), or for the ability to problem solve and move my mind forward.

I can't guarantee that the process will work for you that way, but it might be worth a shot.

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