A personal journal is nothing more than a regular diary, where we jot down the things that cross our minds and what we feel.
Since I’ve benefited a lot from my journal over the years, I decided to write a post explaining how to make one and the benefits it can bring.
Diaries have always existed, with many notable figures having their own. This makes many people interested in writing one.
The problem is that many don’t know how to start or how to write it correctly. Others don’t know if it can bring benefits or not.
So, follow along in this article and you’ll have all the necessary information to create a personal journal correctly.
DISCLAIMER: This was a text I wrote years ago for my professional blog. I was going to delete it, but I thought the content was good and moved it to my personal blog. Keep in mind that this text has a little less literary value and is more focused on “content.”
What is a personal journal?
But after all, what is a personal journal? Without this question answered, it’s hard to understand how it can bring so many benefits to our daily lives.
A personal journal is a document, physical or digital, where a person puts more personal information, such as difficulties they are going through, ideas for future projects, recent achievements, and plans for the future. In general, it’s kept and only read by the author themselves.
Therefore, it’s clear that this is a very intimate document, to which nobody should have access – or only a very select group of extremely trustworthy people.
The personal journal can bring much more clarity about your daily life, as well as show your progress over the years.
So, I consider that everyone should have a journal and, with that, reap its long-term benefits.
How does the personal journal work?
The journal is something very personal and, as such, will vary from person to person. Therefore, it’s important that you experiment.
The journal doesn’t need to have a fixed format: you can put your thoughts down randomly, without much criteria. Others prefer to have an order of topics, or even just talk about a certain topic in their journal.
However, many people prefer to organize the journal into topics, or even have several journals: one for work, another for personal life, etc.
Also, everyone can update it as often as they prefer: some update it daily, others weekly, others when they remember to write, and so on…
How to make a personal journal?
As I mentioned, the personal journal is something that varies a lot, as each person writes in the way they prefer and in the format they prefer. But there are some basic things.
To write a journal, you just need to take your document and write what’s on your mind. It can be something good that happened to you, something you thought about, etc. There aren’t many rules, and you can still choose to do it in physical or digital format.
The best format varies according to each person, as some prefer to write by hand and others typing. In both cases, you need to make sure to keep the journal secret.
In the case of a digital file, you can add a password to the document. Another possibility is to place it in a secret folder, which other people who use your computer don’t have access to.
On the other hand, in the case of a physical journal, you can buy a journal with a lock or hide it in a place where people don’t have access.
There are no limits when it comes to a journal: you just need to use, organize, and keep it in a way that is most in line with your reality.
How did the personal journal come about?
The journal as we know it didn’t emerge recently: it is the result of many literary developments and has been around for many centuries.
The first journal, in the broad sense, is the book “Confessions,” by Saint Augustine (4th century), in which the author writes about himself and his difficulties and questions. Throughout the centuries, many people continued to write about themselves, but there wasn’t the specific genre of a journal. The journal genre gained strength in the 18th and 19th centuries, existing to this day.
Therefore, it’s clear that the journal is not a recent invention and that many famous people throughout history have used this type of tool.
Today, many people consider the journal as something for children or exclusively for women. However, everyone can benefit from this tool, regardless of gender, age, or culture.
What to write in a personal journal?
“So, what should I put in my journal?” Many people wonder about this since they have never had experience writing something.
You can write whatever you want in your journal: difficulties, achievements, professional projects, short and long-term goals, impressions of other people, excerpts from books, phrases you like, drawings, and much more. There are no rules for this: you can write whatever you want without limitations.
If we look throughout history, various people used their journals in different ways. So, there’s no limit regarding the type of content and the way of writing.
Obviously, the only limitation is regarding your privacy: if you have something very intimate, you need to make sure that nobody else will read the document.
What are the benefits of a personal journal?
There are several benefits to having a journal that will make you want to start yours right away.
The journal helps organize your day, gives you a chance to vent, helps plan your goals, makes you write better, and allows you to write ideas for projects that you will put into practice in the future. Furthermore, you can reread your journal in the future and see where you have improved and where you need to dedicate more effort.
In fact, many people use a journal as a planner, to organize their day. This helps a lot in keeping track of time and being more productive.
Others see in the journal a friend with whom they can confide in whatever they want, even if it’s something of a more intimate nature – after all, the journal won’t tell anyone.
Some people put their goals in a journal, so they always remember what’s important and what they need to do to achieve their objectives.
Furthermore, it’s worth noting that writing consistently in a journal can help you write better, improving your grammatical and expressive skills.
Finally, you can see how your life has progressed and what you need to take care of to continue improving by reading your old journal.
What is the textual genre of a personal journal?
Did you know that a journal is a textual genre? Even though it’s much more free and informal, it is indeed considered its own textual genre.
The textual genre journal is a type of text with more personal information, being written more informally. In it, the writer puts their daily actions, difficulties, desires, and anything else they want. It’s aimed at the writer to write about their own life.
Although it can vary in style, a journal is a journal, meaning: something very intimate and personal, which should only be read by themselves or trusted people.
Examples of written journals
Several famous writers and notable people wrote journals. Among them, stand out:
Saint Augustine
“Confessions,” one of his most famous works, is considered the first autobiography ever written. The book functions as a diary of Saint Augustine’s life up to that point, telling about his mistakes in youth, his conversion, and even philosophical doubts he had at the time.
It’s considered one of the great works of the Middle Ages.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo’s diary recounts the merchant’s travels in Asia, showing to the Europe of his time about this vast and risky world that was not yet known to European inhabitants. It has great historical importance for the discovery of new lands.
Leonardo da Vinci
One of the greatest artists in history had a diary over the years, in which the polymath wrote various notes about engineering, medicine, architecture, and painting.
Beethoven
The famous classical music composer made use of several journals throughout his life. In them, you can see the difficulties the musician faced with his increasing deafness, as well as his sadness.
Kafka
The famous writer known for the works “Metamorphosis” and “The Trial” had a diary for most of his life. Thus, in the diary, he put his deepest thoughts about life and what happened in his daily life. It’s considered great reading.
Van Gogh
Although he never actually wrote a diary, he exchanged several letters and had autobiographical writings in his life. All of this was compiled and became a book that helped recognize the author after his death. Nowadays, he is considered one of the greatest painters of all time.
Charles Darwin
The great scientist and father of modern biology wrote in his journals about his scientific discoveries and the development of his theory of evolution. Furthermore, later he would use these drafts to write “On the Origin of Species” and other successful works in the scientific community.
Anne Frank
Indeed, Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who lived during the time of World War II, put her thoughts into a diary that became one of the most well-known books of our time. In the diary, she tells about the difficulties and the hope she maintained.
Henry David Thoreau
Finally, considered one of the great names in American literature, Thoreau wrote in a journal for most of his life. Furthermore, it was from these journals that he drew many of his book ideas, which resulted in classics like “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience,” among others.
Example of a page from a personal journal
To facilitate understanding of a personal journal, see a page from Franz Kafka’s diary, a famous writer from the 19th and 20th centuries:
“12/18/10
It’s indisputable that the reason I delay in opening a letter (even those predictably unimportant, like the one I have in front of me) is nothing more than weakness and cowardice, which hesitate to open a letter in the same way they would hesitate to open the door of a room where someone might be waiting for me impatiently – if it weren’t for that, then meticulousness might offer a much better explanation for this delay.
It’s just that, assuming I am indeed meticulous, I’ll prolong everything related to the letter as much as possible, that is, I’ll open it slowly, read it several times leisurely, reflect for a long time, draft many drafts before writing the final response and, finally, still hesitate to send it.
All this is in my power, only the sudden receipt of the letter cannot be avoided. Also this, however, I postpone by means of an artificial resource, I delay opening it, it lies on the table in front of me, continuously offering itself to me, and I, continuously receiving it, don’t pick it up.
______
Midnight, one and a half. That I am simply lost until I free myself from work in the office, that is clear to me above all things; it’s just a matter of keeping my head up for as long as possible to not drown.
How difficult this will be, what forces it will require of me, is already evident by the fact that today I did not fulfill my new division of time, that I did not sit at the desk from eight to eleven at night, that at the moment I don’t even consider it such a great misfortune and that I only scribbled these few lines hastily in order to then be able to go to bed.”
—
The famous writer felt anxious about opening a letter and felt bad for not having time to write because of his work in the office.
Thus, it’s clear that the daily difficulties we experience today also happened to the successful writer, who dealt with them daily.
Does the personal journal need to be physical?
Many wonder if they need to have a physical journal and write by hand, as they see in movies and series.
Your journal can be physical or digital, there are no rules for this. Each person has their favorite way of writing, and what defines a journal is not the place where it is written, but the fact that it is a personal and informal writing about various subjects of daily life.
Therefore, everyone can choose the most convenient way to write according to their ease or difficulty.
It’s worth noting once again that it’s important to find ways to keep your journal hidden so that nobody reads it without permission, regardless of whether it is physical or not.
For this reason, add a password to your digital file or put a lock on the physical material.