If you are thinking of starting a journal you may find these posts interesting.
- Why should you keep a personal journal?
- 15 different types of journals to keep
- 7 different books to use for a journal or diary
- 23 ideas for the first page of your journal or notebook
- How to start a personal journal
- 11 ways to start your journal if you missed 1st January
- Extracts from my diary 25 years ago
Although most diaries are a personal record they can provide an interesting social record of a different time, such as comparing my school days when we used blackboards and the occasional overhead projector to my children’s with technology throughout the lessons. Particularly in this era of computers I sometimes wonder about the ability of future generations to review the records we leave, and even with the large number of blogs, are they really the same as a diary.
Later this year I will have written my diary for 25 years (on and off), starting when I was in high school. This is a real milestone, particularly when I consider my original aim was to write one for longer than my older sister (I wonder if she is still writing hers). I’ve never looked back through my diaries so I’ve researched what to do with my large number of notebooks, and here are my suggestions on what to do with old diaries and journals.
- Publish them – it is not just politicians who publish their diaries, for example Rochelle’s Diary and Diary of a Cornish Fisherman: Newquay 1962-1967
- Publish them real-time online, posting entries on the equivalent day several years later, similar to D-Day as it happens and Titanic Voyage on Twitter
- Review and index them so you can find posts and topics in the future
- Share passages with friends to remember the fun you had together
- Use the text in scrap pages, such as this page about my 2nd pregnancy scan with daughter
- Use entries to help date and explain old photographs
- Review the journals to discover more about yourself
- Use them to help write your memoirs
- Store them until you die and donate them to a museum or archive
- Edit the entries to keep just the key moments, such as key historical or personal events
- Write a list of your favourite quotes and use them to decorate notebooks, frames or cards
- Use the pages in crafts, cut them up or paint over them
- Tear pages out and give them as gifts, such as using one as background paper for a photograph of their birthday ten years ago
- Burn or destroy them
- Put the notebooks away and decide what to do with them in the future
Of course what you decide to do with your journals is a very personal choice and you probably want to take into account why you started writing and your views on sharing. Here are some other people’s thoughts
Reading old journals: Boy crazy and weight obsessed
Old Journals: Keep Them or Toss Them?
An Exclusive Look at Oprah’s Journals
Ask Unclutterer: What should I do with old journals?
My diaries are currently all over the places. The oldest (in the picture) are still in boxes from when they were put in our loft to make room for baby, and the more recent ones are somewhere in our study. I love the idea of having them all in one place somewhere accessible, but I don’t know why because I don’t read them. At the moment, I really don’t like the idea of destroying them but not sure about sharing them; I have shared small excerpts in the past and wonder how interesting they are to other people, and they are not that old so is it intrusive to other people?
Do you write a diary? What do you with your completed notebooks? Do you want to share them with people or make sure they can never read them?
I used to write diaries at secondary school. I did sometimes read them back, but when I moved out after uni, I chucked them all. It’s a bit sad as I’d like to read them back again (although they were really dull as I recall!).
I did find recently my leavers books from 5th year and 6th form recently when clearing out my mum’s house. I loved reading them all, and also shared some bits including what she’d written with a school friend I caught up with. So funny seeing what everyone had written.
I suspect mine are pretty dull as well. I think I had writing gaps during the most interesting times. I have leaving books somewhere as well, plus a bottle where my school friends and I wrote where we wanted to be in 10 years time; that was almost 20 years ago now because I lost touch with the other people. Maybe I should just open it…
Ooh yes, open it. Such good fun…but you have to listen to the equivalent music from that time while you do it!
What varied and wonderful ideas! I intend to make mine (all 33 years of them) into a book of essays and humorous advice. Big project – yikes!
Chrissie,
How interesting. Have you started your book? How are you planning to do it? Will you work chronologically or group similar themes. Good luck, I hope it is an enjoyable project.
Wow that is a lot of diaries, I think my diaries from my school days got thrown out when I moved out of my mums home, wish I had kept them now. Fab ideas of what to do with yours though
Yes, it is a lot of books. I realised I lost a lot of earlier writing when I parents cleared out their lost and recycled a lot of old school books with “what I did over the holidays”. I didn’t think about it until it was too late.
I never wrote a diary, but if I did, I think I would love to keep them… they might be fun to read years later
I love keeping my diaries, but I wonder if I haven’t wanted to read them by now will I ever want to. I really don’t think I could destroy them though.
lots of good ideas here, and they could apply to many things, not just diaries. i’m all for being creative 🙂
Thank you for commenting Laura. I love the idea of combining writing with photographs whether through scrap pages or using the text as background for picture gifts.
I love writing a diary and although I haven’t written one for a few years, I think I’d like to start again. I looked back through one recently and it was very emotive. X
Hello Emily, I think you should start again. I don’t know the longest gap I’ve taken, but there has certainly been months. I always write at night, to capture what happened during the day (or to empty my head), although I love the idea of writing in the morning to set up the day.
i’ve never written a diary however since blogging i now wish i had!
I did a comparison a few years ago between my diary and blog posts and it was interesting how I write differently for the different formats.
Wow that’s pretty impressive writing a diary for 25 years. I wrote them on and off in angst ridden teenage/early 20’s years but most of it was pretty uninteresting. There may still be some at my parent’s house but I’m pretty sure I chucked them out. You should keep them though – I’m sure your kids will enjoy looking back at them one day!
Mine is definitely on and off, although I’ve written every day for the last year and a bit. I wonder if my children would enjoy reading them or whether they are just so full of trivial me details that it would be better to edit them to remove the boring bits.
I’m going to buy three or four books from my fave journalists/authors and read them for my research of what is most publisher friendly. Then decide what feels natural for me also.
Chrissie, that sounds interesting, you are definitely thinking of publishing them then? I’m really not sure, how do you think people you know will react? I bought my mother in law a book about writing memoirs although though it was to help remember events and was not for publishing, however she said she liked the book – How to write your own life story by Lois Daniel.
I too used to write about all my teenage angst – I read them when I was in my twenties and burned the lot!
Ohh, how did it feel burning them at the time, how does it feel now? I can’t imagine burning mine but maybe that is because I’ve stored them for so long.
I love the idea of having your diaries published for your own personal use. Your children will probably find them fascinating. It is quite an achievement to have written something for 25 years. They must be very treasured and I hope you find a way of preserving them that feels right for you
I think that is my preferred choice. I’ve been thinking of using some journalling software so I can have all the content, but also easily select passages on specific topics, however there is the time factor – how to type in 25 years…?
I used to write a diary when I was at secondary school, but I would die of embarrassment if anyone read them as they’re all “I really fancy Steve, why is he going out with Sarah and not me?”, very teenage angst!
I wonder if mine will be like that, I started at 12 so I have all those teenage years. Maybe subconsciously I know what they are like and that is why I haven’t reread them 😉 They see so old now I don’t know how I’d feel about someone else reading them.
I think it will have to be a collection of thoughts and opinions on topics (that people might be able to relate to) using my experiences to base each one on. Rather than a litteral translation. I’ll also have to portray people in a fair way! The book is a good tool to have.
Ave to admit to chucking my old diary in the bin, but then it was from my teenage years and was SUPER cringey 😉
So many people have binned or burnt their old diaries I wonder if my reluctance is because I’ve been writing for so long and if I’d started a few years ago I wouldn’t even be thinking about it now. How do you feel about your old diary now?
Ancient thread, but I thought I’d chime in anyway.
I’ve kept journals on and off since I was 7 and though there’s a lot of angst and emotions during late high school and college, I don’t think I’d ever burn them because all together they create a fascinating record of what my thought process was like at the different ages and what was interesting or important… or even troubling.
I agree with you Lisa, especially as I got rid of my very early diaries. The earliest one I’ve kept is just before my 12th birthday, but I can remember two earlier ones and I wish I’d kept them.
I quite like the idea of boxing them up and giving them to my daughter and then maybe she could add hers to the collection and donate them to her daughter. The problem is I binned mine long ago!
How do you feel about binning your diaries now? Most of mine are currently in a box in our loft so it would be easy to lose them (I hope they made it when we moved house I didn’t check). I wonder if either of my children will write a diary?
Some good ideas. I tend to just throw my diaries in the bin at the end of the year but rthey are really only kept for appointments etc as I never got into the habit of writing personal stuff down.
I’m never sure what to do with those diaries. Some years’s I’m electronic and some years I’m paper and although there are no thoughts in them I still want to cling on to them because they show what I was up to. I’ve realised this is going a bit too far so I have started throwing them away as I find them, but I think the one from my first maternity leave is still around somewhere.
I loved your suggestions about what to do with old diaries! I’ve been writing in mine for 11 years now and have toyed with the idea of publishing them on a blogging site like WordPress.com. I like how you said to publish them in real-time. I haven’t read through all of them yet, but I have started typing them up in Word documents on my laptop. I sometimes read old entries to my friends when we have nothing to do, and a lot of the time we all get a good laugh from the older entries.when I was young, naive and lovestruck haha. I wish you the best with your dreams of writing and publishing a novel, and I thank you for writing and sharing this article it was both refreshing
I’m glad you enjoyed it Kris. I have tried typing up my diaries several times, but don’t get very far before losing interest. I don’t think I could ever read out my entries to people I know, I’m very impressed.
Thanks for sharing my post! 🙂
It is a pleasure Nina. It was one of the posts that encouraged me to start rereading my old diaries, from 25 years ago. Like you found, there is a lot of non interesting writing which shows the swing of emotions, but there are also some enlightening or amusing comments as well. I started sharing these short extracts on my blog, although I’m a little bit behind at the moment https://www.darktea.co.uk/blog/tag/words-of-wisdom
I purchased a cedar chest to sit in my bedroom in which to store my journals and family photos. I think that even if nothing is ever done with your journals during your lifetime, that they may be a comfort to those you leave behind upon your death. I see them as a soothing activity during mourning in which your loved ones may get to know you better and focus on positive happy memories while grieving your loss in their lives.
Its a good idea. I used to keep my diaries in my sister’s old school tuck box but I got too many. They are currently in a number of boxes left over from our house move. I like the idea that someone will read them once I’ve gone, but don’t know if my family will be interested.
I also have been keeping a diary on and off since I was 14 or so. I am now 58! I came to this site trying to decide what to do with the old ones. I am not sure I would want my children or even grandchildren to read them. First of all my handwriting is awful so it is difficult at times to even decipher. And secondly, I seem to write when things are difficult, or even downright disastrous. (For example, the books I wrote during my divorce.) To read them one would thing my life was unbearable, when in fact my life has been pretty good. I just tend to need an outlet when things are not going so well. I have re-read some parts of them and at times I am amused; the things i at 14/15 years old found life shaking sure are a contrast for those I felt when I was 40! Other times I am transported right back to the period of time. The ones I wrote while I was going through my divorce are very raw and I can really remember all those feelings even though it was 19 years ago.. Bottom line, I still don’t know what I am going to do with them but I sure enjoyed reading this and reading all the comments.
Hello Joan,
I know exactly what you mean about your children reading your diaries, but then in some ways I would like them too as my childhood was so different to what they are experiencing that I think it would provide an insight to them that they may apprecite more than through ancedotes. Part of me loves the idea of publishing my diaries (edited of course) because the record of so many years is rare and I think will be valuable to historians. There must be a way of preserving them for future benefit …
I kept I Diary/journal this past year for my new granddaughter of her first year of life. I plan to put it in my safety deposit box for her to get when I’m gone. I’m just wondering if I can leave it like it is or if I should wrap it in plastic or what actually would preserve it the best. Any ideas?
Hello Monica, that is a lovely idea. I know my mother in law writes a diary and I’m sure there are lots of lovely memories about my children in there. The best ways I know to preserve a diary are to use dark ink and keep the book away from the light so hopefully keeping it in a safety deposit box will be enough in terms of the writing. Although you may want to consider wrapping it in something to protect the edges of the book if it moves around in the box.
Don’t enter any details about your whereabouts or who you are. Go on a trip and leave it on a public transport. Whoever finds it will read it but will never know who you are or where to find you. You’ll forever be a puzzle that can’t be solved.
I keep a diary, however, I use a viisualization diary. That means I don’t just write, I color, draw, stickers, cut from magazines then paste, whatever is on my mind that day or memory. For example on one of the first pages for 2018 I have 2 Owls I drew a tree, since they were a sticker I put them on a branch. It represent my daughter and I since we love owls. She helped me work on it. She has her own diary I encourage her to write a paragraph every night or draw. She is on the spectrum and ADHD it helps before bed. We use visualization a lot so we believe In Diaries. Sometimes we share sometimes we don’t.
I’m 14 and I’ve been keeping a journal since I was 11. I was thinking of stopping on 21 November 2023, (2023 is the year I graduate high school and 21 November is the day I started my first journal) But, now that I have seen this, I’m considering continuing journaling even after I graduated high school. I don’t know though, honestly..
Well done on keeping a journal for so long. I was not very consistent when I was 11, although you can’t necessarily tell that as I used to go back and write the day up later! My advice is to not decide when you’re going to stop. At some point you’re likely to take a break and at that point decide if you miss writing and if so go back to it and if not stop. There have been long periods of time when I haven’t written, and then I’ve started again when I wanted to.
Here it is 7/24/19. Old post to be sure but at 83 I’m wondering what to do with 50 years of journaling. I kept a diary before I was married but for some reason burned them. Now I have 15 filled notebooks and a bunch of soft cover ones. The shredder truck is coming to the park in the middle of August. I was all gung ho about having my journals shredded but now that the time has come I feel like it’s my life and who would I be without them. It feels like cutting off one arm. I know that isn’t true. I told my husband if I die before him to shred them. I’m pretty sure he isn’t interested in reading the. Years ago my astrologer friend said if I got rid of them I’d be freeing up some old energy and feel better. The thing is, if I do get rid of them I’ll never be able to get them back. I wish I could decide and feel good about it.
I also blog and was thinking about blogging the journals but it feels like too much effort.
It is so hard. In the past I’ve been against binning them because of the historical records in them. But as I get older I’m starting to question that, although I’m not ready to throw mine away yet. I started sharing snippets out of mine 25 years after the event, but I stopped as I didn’t enjoy reading about my school days. I wonder if your astrologer friend is correct that getting rid of them would free up energy or whether reading them and owning events in my past would make me stronger.
Have you decided what to do with yours?