How to How to Write an Online Diary

Move traditional journaling online.

While more and more people adopt typing over longhand writing, experienced computer users may want to bring traditional activities such as diary writing to the web. Whether you want to keep a diary privately or publicly, there are website options that specifically cater to the online diary writer. And instead of worrying about someone finding the journal under your pillow or mattress, your thoughts can be stored online, accessed only by those who have the address or password. According to "Psychology Today," writing in a diary for just a few minutes a day can have a major impact on physical and mental well-being.

Instructions

1. Decide how private you want your journal to be. Consider what sorts of details you'd like to keep in the journal and if you want the diary to act as more of a blog (intended to be read by others) or as a personal diary that is kept private. Begin writing your diary entries as soon as you can, dating them and providing thoughts and details. Sign into the diary or blog of your choice and write daily, even if the entries are short. Keep lists of ideas, personal stories, rants and raves or mention things you feel grateful for or resentful against, for instance.

2. Store your diary as a blog. If you want to keep a blog diary that has many of the components of a blog---side bar features such as links, photos and other interactive widgets---join Wordpress.com, a blogging platform that allows users to make posts private or public. Users can design their blog as they see fit, yet have the option to make certain (or all) posts password-protected.

3. Keep a private diary without the blog features on My-Diary.org for a simple, intuitive journaling experience. This website allows writers to set a reminder for writing, keep their journal private, title the journal and choose between four colors. There are no additional features, and the interface is extremely simple.

4. Write on DearDiary.net for another option. This site is great for writers who want to keep a highly customizable private journal. Dear Diary allows users to create an anonymous journal, read others' journals, view the hits they get on their own journal and customize the background, text and layout. The journal can be set to private or public or to let only certain friends see it.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to set your blogs or diaries to private if you don't want them to be read by the public.

References

• Wordpress.com
• My Diary
• Psychology Today: Right Here, Write Now
• Dear Diary

Resources

• 124 Diary: Diary Tips