Re-Noted: 6 Ways to Use a Diary

"Keeping a diary is a gift to your future self."

Jan 29, 2024

Keeping a diary is a gift to your future self. I’ve been writing in the same diary since January 2004. It’s a gorgeous, large, pink leather journal that my mother gave me for Christmas that year.

Reading it back is always enlightening, consoling, and inspiring. It records travels, friendships, heart-breaks, family gatherings, conversations, and lots of quotations from my favorite books. It’s fascinating to observe how my thoughts have evolved or, in some cases, haven’t—how I reacted to set backs or achievements in my 20s, compared to how I react to them today. Writing in (and re-reading) my diary helps me live deliberately. I’ll share more of my diary-habits in this week’s postscript.

If you find you need inspiration to invigorate—or kick-start—your diary-habit, check out the following six ways to fill a diary!

1. Nature Diaries

I found The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady at a tag-sale in the summer of 2020. At the time, it seemed like the perfect accompaniment to quarantine-days. Edith Holden (1871-1920) was a British naturalist. In 1907, she began a diary to record her observations.

For each month, Holden writes out the word’s etymology (January is “named from the Roman god Janus”) as well as a literary quote and mottoes for the month. She names all the flora and fauna she illustrates like the Blue Tits, Cole Tit, and Great Tit drawn in January:

Holden, *The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady*

Throughout the month, Holden documents her observations about nature.

2. Morning Pages

Many of you know Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages”— three pages written without editing or backtracking, first thing in the morning to clear one’s mind. Cameron describes them:

Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages– they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page…and then do three more pages tomorrow.1

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the practice, you can watch Cameron’s explanation here.

Incidentally, last year, I attended a talk by New Yorker staff writer, author, and Pulitzer Prize finalist

Elif Batuman

, and she swears by morning pages.

3. Single Line Entries

Some of you might remember my post on Jim Henson’s diary of single-line entries. But he wasn’t the only one to use this method.

Like Henson, Charles Darwin also kept a diary filled with one-line entries. From 1838-1888, Darwin recorded his life in a single diary. In general, he notes professional events on the left-hand pages, while he reserves the right-hand pages for personal notes. Here are entries from 1858:

Darwin’s Journal (Cambridge University, DAR 158)

In 1858, Darwin was working on The Origin of Species. His left-hand notes include: “Began Section V…” or “Finished Instinct Chapter.” On the right side, he notes travels and deaths:“Miriam Parker died in July.” I appreciate how this method takes the pressure off of writing extensive reflections every day.

4. Review Frame

Lynda Barry, the cartoonist, came up with this ingenious format for recording a day. Divide a page into 4 boxes. Going clockwise, note 7 things you did, 7 things you saw, a drawing, and 1 quote you heard. Here is Barry’s description from her book, Syllabus:

For inspiration, here is a page from Bronwen Tate’s notebook —she’s the author of the fabulous newsletter, Ok, But How? I interviewed her last year and she shared ten notebook strategies!

Bronwen Tate’s Review Frame Diary (Owen and Vesper are her adorable children. Caleb is her husband)

The frame review is endlessly variable. As Barry explains, you could use it to record notes on a book you’ve just read or to summarize a year in your life—in fact, I do this every December. If you’d like to learn more, you can watch a video of Barry describing the process:

5. Illustrated Diaries

Who says that diaries should only contain words? Many artists, like Frida Kahlo, recorded their lives with a mixture of words and images.

You can read more about Frida’s diary here:

Noted

Frida Kahlo's Illustrated Diary

Leave it to Frida Kahlo to completely re-invent the diary. She transformed blank pages into vivid depictions of love and pain, built with words and images. This diary covers the final 10 years of Frida’s life. She began it circa 1944 when she was 37 years old. It chronicles an especially difficult period in her life. She had finally accepted that because of her injuries, she would not be able to bear children; her father had died; and her relationship with Diego continued its stormy trajectory. The last 10 years of her life were also marred by numerous surgeries and an addiction to pain killers. But, as she writes in the diary…

3 years ago · 95 likes · 46 comments · Jillian Hess

I’ve just finished reading Alan Rickman’s posthumously published journals. They are lyrical, reflective, and (sometimes) quite brutal. But, the best parts are the photographs of actual diary pages. Look at how he transforms a simple Moleskin diary:

Rickman, *Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman*

6. One Page Diary

Many of you have already discovered the delights of Austin Kleon’s Substack. He’s a notebook-lover, with the artistic skills to create some truly fascinating notes. He’s got lots of different diaries, but I particularly love his “one page diary”:

@austinkleon One page diary exercise

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And, you can read more about this exercise on his Substack:

Austin Kleon

One page diary

Hey y’all, One of the big questions of my book Show Your Work! is: How can you take bits and pieces of your process and serve them up to your audience in a way that’s interesting and/or useful? Your process is always evolving, as are methods of sharing it, so it can be a challenge to get them to line up just right. Worse yet, the social media platforms …

3 years ago · 73 likes · 19 comments · Austin Kleon

This list is only the beginning. I’m sure many of you have your own methods for recording your days. Let us know how you think about (and organize) diaries in the comments section below!