diaries vs journals

[mothpanic]

I think this question has been asked a million times now, and the answer tends to be ‘it depends,’ but why not ask again. what defines both a diary and a journal? what sets them apart? if you keep some sort of personal writing… thing, do you consider it a diary or a journal?

does it make a difference whether it’s kept online or in physical form? whether it’s public or private?

my personal understanding of the difference between the two is that a diary is more of a log of day-to-day occurrences, while a journal is more creative and tends to discuss more abstract things, like life aspirations and whatnot. in practice, these things overlap greatly, so much so that there’s not much point in separating the two. but that’s one person’s opinion, subject to change at any moment.

[Rosaria Delacroix]

As you pointed out- it varies. I've been keeping some form of diary or journal on and off since I was 13- and will be wrapping up my first journal for 2025, containing daily entries since New Years, either later tonight or tomorrow. I generally consider mine a diary, these days. I keep my entries analog, as I find that to work better for me, though I do post the opening line of my entries on my personal website for my own amusement, to keep myself accountable, and to have a reason to update my site in batches every few days or so.

I consider mine a diary, as I log daily entries. I treat my diary entries as a conversation- and will note down anything interesting or pressing from the day that's been weighing on my mind. I freewrite, aiming for at least a single sided A5 page daily, though entries can range from 1-10 pages, with it most commonly being around 2-3. My handwriting is such that one side of a page yields about 250 words.

Journals, to me at least, are something that you might theme around a particular event- such as bible journalling, pregnancy journalling, medical symptoms journalling, weather journalling: where most of the entries have a concrete goal and structure outside of what diaries are to me: a collection of everyday entries, about whatever's gone on in that day for you. Journals I consider more of something you do every week or longer, perhaps a monthly reflection: diaries are more like planners, in that they're normally used daily.

Journals feel a bit more impersonal, especially those that are assigned during therapy sessions, or those that make use of structured, rigid lists of prompts. Diaries are more of a catchall for my life- I scribble down my thoughts, which meander everywhere from social events to caffeine intake to raving and venting to writing letters I'll never send. Most of mine are quite mundane, and very emotional: I find it most useful as an emotional processing tool, and something that brings me a lot of mental clarity by putting the mess of thoughts into a more coherent form on the page.

None of this is a concrete rule, or anything, it's just what I consider to be a personal distinction. Arbitrarily, many people will assume only women write diaries, or that diary writing is more of a feminine pursuit- the term journalling has gained more of a masculine audience due to its use in Stoicism practices apparently, and isn't as strongly associated with sentimental feelings and such- though many men, of course, have kept detailed journals and commonplace books throughout history, it's just a devaluation of something that more women take up overtime, as we see in many fields and professions. I call myself a diarist, as it's clearer than the muddling of 'journalist' and 'journaller' just sounds/looks clunky to me.

[Semper]

I see a diary as an ultimately personal log of someone's life and feelings while a journal can have some of that and other things. I looked up the definitions and wikipedia tells me that a diary is meant to have daily entries, while a journal doesn't require that rate of upkeep.

I think also that a journal can be kept as a log that is then meant to be published (think of a travelogue, a cooking journal, a gardening journal, a foraging journal, or a record of an important historical event like a war), or have parts of it used in a published work. I tend to write story ideas in my journal and those eventually end up in stuff I plan to share publicly. My journal also has some personal stuff in it mixed in with notes about things I learned like words, cool facts, quotes, etc. A journal is a bit more curated.

Arguably since my journal is filled with more personal stuff I could call it a diary, but I do not write in it every day and it has stuff that isn't about my personal life. The lines can get fuzzy and it is up to the person keeping the journal/diary to decide what to call it, but I think there is a distinction between the two.

I also think that the point of a diary is that it is completely private to the person writing it. If you are sharing your diary publicly on the regular online I think that's just a personal blog. Especially if you leave space for people to talk to you about what you had written. I say this knowing that there is always a chance that a diary can end up published after its author has passed, be it in parts or as a whole, but the initial intent behind keeping it is that it is private.

I don't think the medium it is kept in makes a difference though. I think a diary can be kept as a digital file or in a book. A diary can even be saved online like in a google docs file if that's what someone has to work with, but once it is shared publicly by its author I don't think it counts as that anymore.