How to Get Ideas for Your Diary

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 9, 2023 References Approved

Diaries are creative and personal. No two diaries are alike. They are a great way to express yourself, create art, and work through your feelings. As you get older, you'll be able to look back on your various diaries to remember past feelings and events in your life. Inspiration for writing and creating art in your diary is all around you.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Making Your Diary More Exciting

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Decorate your plain diary.^{[1]
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Research source} If your diary is a plain notebook, decorate it to make it new and fresh. This will make you more excited to write in your diary each day, and give you a clean slate to think of new ideas for your diary.
- Cover the diary. A great way to add new flair to a notebook is to entirely cover it with paper or fabric. Lay the notebook out flat on a table on top of the paper or fabric you want to use to cover it. Trace the outline of the notebook on your paper or fabric, and cut it to size. Glue it onto your notebook with craft glue. Use a foam brush to apply the glue to avoid lumps.
- You can even recycle an old pair of jeans to add a pocket to the cover of your notebook.
- Use stickers, and draw or paint on your diary to add more personalization.
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Create a bookmark for your diary.^{[2]
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Research source} Having a bookmark in your diary will help you quickly find the place you last stopped writing. It's also a daily encourager to write, as you can see how far you've gotten in your notebook.
- You can create a bookmark with almost anything: thin wood, cardboard, ribbon, or paper.
- For encouragement, you might write your favorite quote about creativity on your bookmark. For example, you might choose this Elizabeth Gilbert quote: “Creativity itself doesn't care at all about results—the only thing it craves is the process. Learn to love the process, and let whatever happens next happen, without fussing too much about it.”^{[3]
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3
Make your own diary insert. If you want to get even more creative and advanced, you can make a notebook diary insert. You can stick these blank books into your existing diary.
- This is a great option if you'd like to start adding some drawing or artwork to an existing lined diary but would prefer to use unlined paper.
- For an even simpler way to make your own notebook insert, you can cut paper to the size you want your notebook to be. Stack it up like a notebook.
- Then, use a three-hole punch to create holes through the paper.
- Loop three pieces of ribbon or string through the holes, and then tie them in knots or bows to create your notebook insert.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Writing in Your Diary

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Find a new purpose for your diary. Your diary doesn't have to have a specific purpose, and you can decide daily what you want to write or draw in it. However, if you find yourself not writing as often as you'd like, it can help to have specific diaries. It can be overwhelming simply trying to sit down and write about your life each day.
- For example, you might want to keep a travel diary logging all the trips that you go on, and write down what you do on those trips.^{[4]
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- Also, if you have a hobby, like cooking or dancing, you might want to keep a diary related to achievements and things you've learned in your hobby.
- If you like to write poetry or stories, you might want a diary in which you write a poem every day.
- You could keep a diary in which you simply logged everything you did each day.
- Thankfulness diaries help you keep track of all the things you're thankful for.
- You can also keep a diary of all the bad things in your life, just to rid yourself of those thoughts.
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Create a writing routine.^{[5]
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Research source}You'll be more likely to stick with writing in your diary, if you do it every day or on a regular basis. The best way to find new inspiration is to simply sit down and write on a schedule. Pick a time that you enjoy sitting down to write. Don't plan to write in your diary every morning if you hate getting up in the mornings.
- Write something. Even if you don't feel like writing in your diary one day, just write down a few sentences. Allow yourself to be brief if you don't have a lot to say. It's better to write something than to write nothing at all.
- Unless you want to hide it in a special place, keep your diary somewhere that you'll see it every day. That way, you'll be reminded to write.
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Use writing prompts. If you're stuck for inspiration on what to write, try some of these writing prompts.^{[6]
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Research source}Choose ones that interest you, and write about them. Some prompts include:
- “If I had three wishes I would...”
- "If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?”
- "Describe your ideal adventure."
- "If I were an animal, I would be a..."
- "My most prized possession is..."
- "What are your pet peeves?"
- "If you could have one superpower, what would it be?"
- "What person from history would you most like to meet and why?"
- "If you could time travel, would you?"
- "What are your biggest fears?"
- "What's your favorite holiday?"
- "If you could create the perfect day, what would the weather be like?"
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Write lists. Lists can be a great addition to your diary, and you'll appreciate looking back at them and seeing how they've changed with time.
- Write your favorites. List your current favorite books, songs, smells, clothes, places, foods, or colors.
- Create a list of your favorite recent memories.
- List out your friends, and write what you like about each of them.
- Make a bucket list of things you'd like to achieve, see, or do in the next year or in your lifetime.
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Write about your life. Your diary is mainly a way for you to record your everyday life, and all the fun parts of it, as well as the problems. A few general topics you can write about in your diary are:
- Things you do each day
- Problems you faced in a day
- Your crush
- Fights with your family or friends
- Things you were thankful for that day
- Things you're looking forward to
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Imitate great writing.^{[7]
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Research source} If you want to start doing more creative writing but don't know where to begin, try imitating a poem. Read the poem, and write one with a similar rhyme pattern or subject matter.
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Write out your favorite quotes or song lyrics.^{[8]
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Research source} Even if you don't have anything to write about your day, copying out some nice quotes or lyrics can be relaxing. You can look back on them for future inspiration.
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Practice free writing in your diary.^{[9]
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Research source}This can be a great way to cultivate your creativity. Sometimes it can be scary to try to stare at a blank page in your diary, and try to think of things to write. Free writing can help you to just get started.
- To free write, set a time limit for how long you will write, as brief or as long as you want.
- Start your timer, and begin to write. Don't stop writing for the entire time you have set. Write anything that comes to your mind, even if it is just, “I don't know what to write.”
- Once your timer goes off, stop writing and go back to read what you've written. You might find a phrase that inspires you.
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Write about your friends and family. Your friends and family are something that you will probably want to write about.
- Write about an amazing and unforgettable experience you had together. When you write about your friends and family, you are showing that you actually love and appreciate them, and you want to remember and cherish them for the rest of your life.
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Write about a scary or embarrassing experience. When you write about this, make sure to tell exactly when, how, and why it happened, what the experience was, how you felt, who caused it, who was involved, and how many people were involved. This will give a clear, vivid description of the experience. If there is an article of something that has to do with you or your close friends or family members, then you can write about that. You can basically write anything you want.
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Write about the diary itself. You can write the date you started writing in your diary. If you just started writing in your diary today, then write down the current day. You could also write about how you acquired the diary.
- Was it a gift? Something you really wanted?

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Creating Artwork in Your Diary

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Add small mementos to your diary. A diary doesn't have to be just for writing. You can also keep small reminders of things you do each day.
- Keep things like ticket stubs to movies and concerts, notes from friends, and photographs.
- Use cute washi tape or glue to secure these to pages in your diary. You can collage them all together, or add words in around them to remind yourself why you kept a certain ticket.
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Make sketches. In addition to writing in your diary, you might also want to add little sketches. Sketch the places you love to visit or hang out. Create portraits of your friends, draw your pets, or draw your favorite flowers.
- If you're new to sketching, start with a pencil, in case you want to change parts of your sketch as you go^{[10]
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- Add color to your pencil sketch with pastels, paints, markers, pens, or colored pencils.
- Don't worry too much about whether or not your sketch looks good. Your diary is for you to look at and enjoy, and the creative process should be fun.If you have a polaroid, pictures from it are great to put in your diary.
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Use stickers in your diary. Stickers can be a creative way to record things in your diary. For example, you can use stickers to keep track of your emotions each day.
- If you are feeling particularly happy one day, add a smiley face sticker next to that date.
- On days that you especially want to remember, add a sticker so you can easily go back to read those entries.

Community Q&A

Question

Can you provide me some topics for possible diary entries?

Community Answer

Who you like, your favorite foods, 100 things to do before you die.
Question

How do I explain to my mother not to get rid of a specific book without letting her know it's my diary?

Community Answer

Try not to leave your diary lying around where your mother could find it and mistake for an old book. Keep your diary someplace safe where only you can find it. If it's a notebook, you could label it "History" or something like that so it looks like it's something you need for school.
Question

Can I write jokes in my diary?

Community Answer

Of course. It is your diary.