Alexis found a used copy of Conversations with Walker Percy — a compilation of interviews with the man. My favorite is the interview with himself (titled “Questions They Never Asked Me”). Here’s a sample:
Q: Do you keep a journal?
A: No.
Q: But don’t writers often keep journals?
A: So I understand. But I could never think what to put in a journal. I used to read writers’ journals and was both astonished and depressed by the copiousness of a single day’s entry: thoughts, observations, reflections, descriptions, snatches of plots, bits of poetry, sketches, aphorisms. The one time I kept a journal I made two short entries in three weeks.
Which reminds me of how I feel about the online journals or blogs that many people have. So I’m in good company.