May 4, 2026
Have you ever kept a diary? Are you still keeping one?
How often do you add an entry?
Many years ago—I’m guessing it was around 6th or 7th grade—I kept a diary. I still have one of those little books buried in a box. It’s been years since I looked through it, As I remember, it was boring. My life wasn’t interesting back then. The highlight of my week was a Girl Scout meeting.
My daily adventures back then consisted of taking the bus to school, spending my day in the standard lessons of reading, writing, science, and arithmetic. The only thing that may have been different was that my teachers were mostly Roman Catholic nuns. Unlike the stores, they were wonderful and caring. After school came the time to do my chores and homework, play outside when the weather allowed, watch a little TV, and read. I read a lot.
So, there wasn’t much to document in my diary. My life was boring. I had no long-term plans for my life. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn’t spend time analyzing my classmates or my relationships with them. I wasn’t part of the in-crowd, but was too smart and with enough friends to not be counted as part of the out-crowd. None of that was documented in my diary because it didn’t affect my life.
The worlds I invented in my head weren’t documented either. Back then, I didn’t write stories. (Although I created them in my head, I didn’t recognize that as a form of writing.) Or poetry. Or anything that didn’t have something to do with my education. I didn’t even note the name of each book I read. One book a night was my standard.
My attempts at keeping a diary didn’t last long. It never took hold, and I never tried again, not even as an adult. But in a way, my books reflect my life and the changes that have happened.
I know that some of the authors on this hop do keep journals. It’ll be interesting to read their answers to this prompt. You can do that too, by following the links below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
Goal update: I’m sitting at 51,700+ words. With any luck, I’ll break 52,000 tonight. I’m nearing the conclusion of the mystery, although maybe not the story.
May 4, 2026
Have you ever kept a diary? Are you still keeping one? How often do you add an entry?