In 1984, the citizens had to use Newspeak, or else they were committing a "thought crime." Basically, everything was opposite then it was described as. For example, the Ministry of Plenty is where they rationed goods, and the Ministry of Love is where they actually tortured people. Also, they would add suffixes such as "-ful" and "-wise" to their words. In 1984, it was said that their language got smaller every year. This enabled everything from the past to be erased.
In the beginning of the book, Winston struggled to remember if his life was always like the way it was in 1984, where everything was extremely strict. Winston knew he had to write down his thoughts or else they could possibly banish.
Doublespeak is often used in our language today. For example, "not doing so well" instead of sick/ill, "unique" instead of weird, etc. Personally, I would prefer to hear things like this rather than hearing something that could potentially upset me.
If you had the opportunity to write in a journal in Winston's position, would you? How would you feel if you struggled to remember things from your past?
If I was winston I would take the opportunity to write in a journal because I know I would need some sort of outlet to express my true feelings and thoughts even if its taking a big risk.
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