What to write in a diary
The page is blank because you are waiting for something worth writing. You do not need it. A diary prompt is only a way in. Answer one, then follow whatever comes next, and stop when you have said the true part.
Use one diary for all of this. Put the subject in the title, or add a tag such as #dream or #trip, so you can find it later. Five honest lines beat a page of trying to sound thoughtful.
An ordinary day
- What did I do between waking up and leaving the house?
- What did I eat, and who was there?
- Who did I talk to, and what was the conversation actually about?
- What was the weather, and did it change how the day felt?
- What small thing would I forget by next month?
- What was the best ten minutes of today?
- What was the worst ten minutes, and how long did it really last?
- If today had a title, what would it be?
A feeling
- How do I feel right now, in one word, and what does that word leave out?
- What am I avoiding, and what happens if I keep avoiding it?
- What made me angry today, and was it really about that?
- When did I feel calm, even for a minute?
- What am I worried about that I have not said out loud?
- What do I wish someone had noticed?
- What would I tell a friend who felt like this?
- What can I put down here so I can stop carrying it tonight?
A decision
- What am I deciding, in one sentence?
- What happens if I say yes? What happens if I say no?
- Who is affected, and have I told them?
- What am I pretending not to know?
- What would I advise myself a year from now?
- What is the smallest next step, not the whole plan?
A memory
- What is a room I remember clearly, and what was in it?
- What did a normal day look like when I was ten?
- Who was my favorite person at a particular age, and why?
- What is a meal I can still taste?
- What is a trip I keep meaning to write down before the details go?
- What did I used to want that I do not want now?
- What is a conversation I still replay?
- What would I hate to forget about this year?
Other people
Write about people, and be careful with their names if the diary might ever be read by someone else. A first name, or no name, is enough for you to know who you meant.
- Who did I think about today, and why?
- What did someone say that I am still turning over?
- Where am I being unfair?
- What do I appreciate about someone and have not told them?
- What do I need from someone that I have not asked for?
- Who do I miss, and what would I tell them about this week?
Looking ahead, and lists
- What am I looking forward to in the next seven days?
- What would make next week a little better than this one?
- What is one thing I can finish, not start?
- What do I want to remember about this month when it is over?
- Songs I keep playing.
- Places I want to go back to.
- Things I own and actually use.
- Questions I would ask someone who is gone.
Lists count. They often turn into a real entry halfway through. If a prompt does not fit today, skip it. The point is to write, not to complete a set.
For a shape to hang this on, see how to start a diary and the diary entry examples.