I tried to PM this to el Presidente but had no luck, so, hopefully someone (maybe the man, the myth himself) will see this and respond/have an answer. 

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Original Message:

Hello, Mr. Schafer. I hope this email finds you having a wonderful day.
I’d first just like to say that your work is incredible and has been a huge
influence on me as a person and amateur writer. I’m sure you hear this a
million times a day, but, in all sincerity, thank you for what you’ve
created and given to the gaming community.

Now, I’m very curious about your journals from previous projects. I’m sure
there is personal stuff in there, and heck, I doubt I’d be able to make
sense of half the gibberish on those pages - but I’d pay a pretty penny to
see the creative process of one of the most creative/stimulating writers of
this generation. Are there any plans to publish said journals (maybe with
CIA-like redactions of stuff you deem too personal?)? Perhaps some day down
the road? Of course, I can assure you, I’m not the only one who’d be
interested in paying for this fascinating behind the scenes doodad. Please
do let me know what you think.

If you don’t mind I’d like to copy/paste this and your answer to the forum
in case anyone else has been thinking about contacting you.
Thanks! Talk soon,

this is what i was kind of hoping the documentary would be like. tim schafer would just sit there and crack open his journals and say “HERE ARE ALL MY IDEAS OK! HERE IS A TERRIBLE AWFUL JOKE THAT WILL NEVER MAKE IT INTO THE FINAL GAME!”

but i suppose even tim schafer is not confident enough to expose himself like that. even though we all would really like to see him exposing himself. like that.

Speaking as a writer, I doubt Tim would ever open up his journals to us. I’ll use one of my own examples to explain why.

As part of the creative process, I will write down many ideas in my journals, often times things that don’t get used in the project I’m working on. That doesn’t mean they’ll never be used down the road. When I have writer’s block on a completely different project, I like to revisit these journals to inspire myself. Sometimes I find a little element, or a forgotten idea that I want to expand on.

Some of these journals are decades old. If I opened up my journals to everyone, yes they probably can inspire someone else. Would I really want someone else to flesh out an entire story on a little idea I had years ago that I might have gotten to eventually? No.

Please read this quote from the U.S. Copyright Office:

How do I protect my idea?
Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html

By opening up my journals, someone can base a whole project on one of my ideas and not pay me a dime under copyright law. I don’t want that. It happened to me 9 years ago in a writer’s group. Someone else fleshed out an entire book on one of my ideas before I wrote out the story and published it. It taught me a valuable lesson on keeping ideas to myself until the entire story is fleshed out and under copyright.

Interesting!  I hadn’t even considered someone fleshing out his abandoned ideas - while a valid point, I don’t think it is something that would prevent me from entertaining/enlightening interested fans (then again, I haven’t had 1/8th the success Tim has).  Also, I think only people like Schafer (and the kick ass team he has established at Double Fine) can truly execute a Tim Schafer game. 
Even if another game company got a hold of his journal, they might be able to make a game but it would lack the quirkiness and idiosyncrasies of Tim’s games.  Like your favorite band has its own unique sound or a great chef has his own unique flavor palette so do great game makers have their own distinct game ambiance/atmosphere.

Those of us who work at the studio have never even seen inside those—Tim is (understandably) pretty protective of that stuff. It would be cool to get a peek but I can’t see it happening!