How to write and keep a diary

Here are two different line-a-day options that are also perpetual for five years. It's easy to build a habit of writing daily this way and fun to look at year's past.

Here is a version made by me from card stock, recycled cardboard and index cards. (Snap Guide is available under arts and crafts section entitled "perpetual journal.")

This is the inside of the Q&A a Day. There is a question to prompt entries. I don't always answer these and often include other details.

This is the Happiness Project line a day inside. It has quotes that may inspire an entry.

This is what the index card style can look like. You decide how many lines to use per year.

Choose a pen and keep it nearby the journal. Pick something you would want to write with each day. I vary my pens by mood. Sometimes ball point black or blue, sometimes felt tip or roller ball.

Make it a habit. Keep your journal on/in your bedside table, at a desk or on a counter you access daily: anywhere you sit a moment or could take a moment to write a line or two.

What I love about the line a day format is that you get to see what was happening over a set of years.

What to write? Enter headlines, what you had for dinner, the weather, if it was a work day: anything at all. It doesn't always have to be profound.