How to Keep a Diary: 51+ Proven Ways

A diary is that friend which accompanies you on all your journeys and is extremely good at keeping secrets.

Your diary is a world that you create for yourself and a world that you like to visit at the end of the day, irrespective of whether it was a great day or a relatively dull one. Here’s how to get started. 

Here are Tips for keeping a diary. 

Pick a diary you’ll want to write on. The first step is to buy a diary that you would want to open and write on every single day. You must like the aesthetics of your diary. This will help you stay motivated to keep writing each and every day. 

Choose a pen that you are comfortable writing with. Well, everyone likes to have a pen that they like to write with. We suggest that you choose a pen that best suits your writing style and will give you a good experience every time you write. A good diary and a pen are a match made in heaven. 

Start writing your thoughts down. Make it a habit to write all your thoughts down and visit them in the future when you might need to check up on your thoughts. Also, they provide a great medium for taking some advice from your younger self. 

Fix a time. Fix a time in your daily schedule dedicated just to writing your diary. Make it a routine and schedule your daily life in such a way that you keep a slot dedicated to writing in your diary. It will not take more than a few minutes. 

Start with describing yourself. The easiest way to get started is to start the first page by describing yourself. You can treat it as the most precious vault of your thoughts and emotions and hence it would be best if you start by saying who you are and what you truly love to do. 

Write your memorable incidents. A good place to start would be to write a memorable incident that is forever etched in your head in your diary. Soon, all your bitter, sweet memories would start coming back and you’d enjoy writing your diary. 

Write random thoughts. Your diary does not need to be dedicated to just one dynamic of life. You should be able to pen down anything and everything that comes to your mind. It is a world that you create for yourself and you have all the liberty and freedom in the world to write the most random of things in it. 

Start with just a few lines. Just start with some baby steps by writing a few lines. Maybe just a couple of lines a day like how the weather was, or what ice cream did you have and you would be hooked on to writing everything pretty soon. 

A quote you love. If you do not wish to write anything too personal, make it a place to store all your favorite quotes. Quotes from people that inspire you, quotes that you think are witty and brilliant so that they don’t slip from your mind. 

Your favorite lines. Your favorite lines from a movie, a poem, or maybe even a play that you recently watched, all must have space in your diary. Any line that touches you or even amuses should have a place in your diary. 

A poem you have written. It is your canvas and you are allowed to do all the experiments that you have always wanted to do. Start by penning down the words in the form of a poem that has always resided in your head. 

Things to keep in your head. You could use your diary as a reminder of all the things that you do not wish to forget. Maybe an important date, an upcoming event, or something super important to you, remind yourself in the future by writing it down. 

A self-study. Use your diary as a tool for self-study. The best way to evaluate you and your thoughts is to pen them down and read them later when you are in an entirely different mood. Start writing to know where you stand. 

Decorate the diary. Decorate the diary in a way that whoever takes a look at it should be able to make out that it belongs to you. All your favorite stickers, your most loved font, or any other symbol that you want on your diary are welcome. 

Have a diary friend. Have a friend that enjoys writing a personal diary as much as you do. The best part about having a friend that likes to write as much as you do will help you share ideas and also help you overcome some deep anxieties. Try it!

Buy multiple diaries. A lot of people maintain different diaries for different purposes. One could be to schedule your daily routine and the other could hold some of your deepest secrets. If you feel you are one of them, you can definitely buy two to three diaries dedicated for different purposes. 

A bucket list. Make a diary where you explain your bucket list. Of course, as much as everyone hates to admit it, but a bucket list is endless as our wants and desires are endless. You would be just adding more things that you want to experience, every day. 

Your favorite movies. Turn your diary into your very own wish list plus a movie review data book. For a cinephile, as big as you, you would want to express your thoughts after watching a movie and when you have no one to talk to, you’ll have your diary. 

Write about people you admire. Write in it about the people who have inspired and influenced you the most. It could be anyone from a freedom fighter, politician to a pop star. Add more people to the list and write about the people who still have a huge impact on you. 

A slam book. Make a slam book out of your diary consisting of all your memories from your school, college and with short and sweet messages from your teachers and friends. Something to remind you of the simpler times when things get complicated. 

Read other people’s diaries. Reading other people’s diaries, of course with their consent, and the way that they express themselves through pen and paper is bound to inspire you to do something creative with the time that you have. 

Get a bookmark. Get an exciting bookmark that will bring you back to the last written page of your diary and make you want to continue the journey that you left the previous day. Every bookmark is special and if you truly delve deep in the world of reading and writing, you ought to give yourself your most favorite bookmark. This is like one of those little things in life that truly matter.  

Keep it somewhere private. Hide your diary in a place where nobody can find it and it is safe and secure at all times. Most people do not write diaries because they are scared that someone might read them but when it is safe, you would have no worries. 

Get a diary cover. Your diary is like your best friend and since it has all your deepest secrets, you would want to protect and cover it with a diary cover. Think of it as a beautiful dress that you would want your best friend to wear. 

Write abstract thoughts. More often than not, most people just feel mellow and sometimes you would want to just throw some things off your chest and have a breath of fresh air. Write down thoughts that have zero logic behind them but you can relate with them. All of us have such thoughts but we choose to let them go, you should not. 

Write down the best part of your day. Make it a habit to write about that one special thing or that one incident that made your day better and after you exhaust all the pages, you will have a huge collection of feel-good memories in your hand. 

Things you will like to forget. You could even start with the things that you would like to forget from your past. All the bad incidents, bad experiences, and everything else that you want to be erased from your head. Write them down and forget about them or even dispose of them. 

All the people you care about. A great place to start would be to start writing about the people that you dearly and truly care about. From your grandparents to that kid from school, everyone you hold close to your heart deserves a mention. 

Write about food. Who does not like food? Even when you are not eating or sitting at the table, someplace in your mind is always thinking about it, so why not go ahead and write about all the dishes that you enjoy the most. 

A diary of your favorite characters. Wouldn’t it be a dream come true if all your favorite characters came under the same roof and shared a screen? Well, even if that never happens, you can create a roof of your own and bring them all in. 

What makes you happy? Go a step ahead and write about all the small and big things that bring a smile to your face. It could be anything from an ice-cream cone to the first few drops of rain, ask yourself what are things that make you happy?

Makeup stories. Bring out the real writer in you through your diary. Write down all the crazy and stupid stories that play out in your head which you know will never be true but you just enjoy thinking about them. The best part is there is no critique here. 

One or two liners. Sometimes just a line can have more impact on you than entire books. Turn your diaries into a collection of all those beautiful, funny, and most unique one or two-liners that you think are the work of a genius. 

Your life updates. Make it a point to always keep updating your diary about the things that are going on in your life. Your weight, your health, your work, and all the other updates just like we did when we were in school. 

Small observations. Do you remember that kid which helped the blind man cross the road? Do you recall when the bird flew away with your snack? Or can you think of that time when you noticed the kids playing in the rain? Don’t allow such beautiful observations to get lost in your head, preserve them in your diary. 

A collection of anecdotes from your life. Even if you have had the most normal and boring life in your opinion, even if you have had experiences that are worth talking about and such anecdotes should be the starting point of your diary writing journey. 

Write about love. Love, the most beautiful word in the world. Love, the meaning of which is still mysterious and different to everyone. Write about your experiences with love and your diary will promise to keep all your secrets safe. 

Write just before you sleep. Writing just before bedtime helps you in different ways. It helps you relax, it gets a lot of burdening thoughts away from your head, it helps you sleep better, and a lot more. Fix your diary writing time around that hour. 

Go back to the old diaries. If you used to be a diary writer and are looking for a way to get back to that habit, the first place to start would be to go back to your old friends. Read those old diaries and re-experience the joy of writing again. 

Take a few pages out. Take a few pages out of your diary to remove all those incidents, all those memories that you cannot stand being a part of your life. You could throw them, burn them and start writing on a fresh page. 

Doodle. Doodling in your diary was considered to be a bad habit, but that was only in your school days. Start writing your diary now and doodle all you want to make those writings come alive and make it more enjoyable. 

Read your thoughts. Whenever you feel like you are in a dark space and want to get out of it, go back to your diary. Go back to all those happy thoughts to remind you of the good times and make you want to relive and recreate those memories. 

As a way of expressing. Use your diary as a way of expressing yourself. A lot of us are not confident with words and talking around people. There is a lot that many people feel but cannot express to the outside world fearing judgment and criticism. Here, you are free to do whatever you like. It will help you connect with yourself better. 

Your favorite places. Write down about all the places in the world that you have been to and also the ones that you look forward to visiting one day. Write down about all the things from language, to hotspots to food that gets you excited. 

Create your happy place. Turn your diary into your happy place in which you set the rules, make the laws, and are the ruler of the world. Make your diary that place that makes you happy and relieved the moment you turn to a black page. 

Your checkpoint. Treat your diary like a checkpoint in your life. Just like video games have checkpoints to check and save your progress, similarly, write down everything that has been happening recently and check how far you have come. 

Remove all the filters. Do not think about any boundaries or any creative restrictions when it comes to your diary. You can write about the most controversial or offensive things in the world and nobody would know, that’s the biggest advantage. 

To deal with writer’s block. Writing a diary can help you deal with writer’s block to a great extent. When you are in the habit of writing every day, it boosts your stamina and keeps your thoughts flowing all the time. 

Treat it as a stress buster. Treat writing your diary as therapy, as a method to relax, and use it whenever you are too stressed out. It has been proven that writing does work as a great stress buster and you should start immediately. 

Watch Bridget Jones’s diary. If there was a movie that made writing diaries popular and mainstream, it was the classic sitcom, Bridget Jones’ diary. You have to watch this movie for some motivation to start writing and for an overall fun experience. 

Treat it as a friend. Treat your diary as a friend who quietly listens to you at the end of the day without judging or pitying you. To be honest, it is the friend that everyone needs in the world and this one will never fail you. 

Give it a name. The first step to truly creating a bond with your diary is to give it a name. Name it something fancy, or after some character that you always imagined as a best friend.

Write about your future. Write down all the things that you imagine yourself to be doing a few years down the line. The position that you will be in, your marital status, and your aspirations at that point will give you some clarity in life. 

Start writing, just begin. No matter how much you try, no matter how many methods you adopt, you will feel the joy of writing a diary only when you start writing. So, without wasting any more time, for the love of God, just start already. 

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