tips on keeping a journal

I have kept a journal on and off since I was 13. I also like reading other people’s journals. Here are my tips as both a writer and reader:

1. Keep it in a notebook – with acid-free paper. Not a loose-leaf notebook or on a computer. I have tried all three ways and a notebook is by far the best. It is the easiest to read, to write in and to carry with you. True, it is easier to edit your writing on a computer, but in a journal the aim is to get stuff down on paper, not perfect it. Besides, on a computer the Internet is a huge distraction.
2. Keep it with you as much as you can – or at least at a place you will visit every day. That will allow you to write in it more (and read it more).
3. Try to write every day – or as much as you can. The more often the better. I look at a journal like a time machine, one where you can turn the knob back to any day. The more days the better, but any days are better than no days at all. Therefore:
4. Make it part of your daily routine. To help make it a habit, set aside a half hour each day for at least three weeks.
5. Write the date and location for each entry. And put the date at the top of each page to make it easier to find a given day.
6. Number each page. This will make it easier to refer to something you wrote on another page and to keep an index (see #12).
   
7. Rant! Get things off your chest. Journals are known for their patience.
8. Do not worry about length. But get something down. Anything is better than nothing. Likewise, do not worry about droning on and on and “wasting paper” either. Whatever you feel the need to write down will probably be worth way more to you in the future than the cost in paper and pens.
9. Do not worry about grammar and spelling. It is way more important to get stuff down on paper than to put it into perfect English. As long as it is understandable when you reread it.
10. Use legible handwriting. It does not have to be pretty, but it has to be readable.
11. Use a pen. It is permanent. If you need to cross something out, do it. You are not writing an invitation to the Queen. I prefer ballpoint pens with a fine point. The writing is more readable.
12. Keep an index. This will make it easier to find things. If you want to be able to find something later, add it to the index. If you are searching for something and then find it, add that too. Do not worry about keeping it in alphabetical order – it will probably not be that long.
13. Read other people’s journals – like the journal of Virginia Woolf or Charlotte Forten Grimké.
14. Read your own journal – the best part of all.

– Abagond, 2020.

See also:

• My journal from when I was 13
• The Secret Diaries of Anne Lister
• Zadie Smith on writing
• Living a year without the Internet
• codex

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