There are benefits and drawbacks to each method. I like feedback, so I write online for the world to see. But it also means that I don’t get to write about some things that may offend my friends. Then I usually do a private entry. It can be difficult reconciling yourself to secrecy, when the point of an online journal is to put yourself out there.

I have probably 8 book journals from when I was younger. I actually take the time and print off each “digital” diary, and create a book cover that suits my mood of that era in my life. Its a great idea for the creatively inclined, and then you still have all the benefit of having a hardcopy, without the crampy hand! :)

Great thread!

I like both, but for different reasons, as described above…

I rather like the paper ones. I had a great one all threw hgh school but lost it in the 2000 miles ov moving I have done in the last three years. But I would rather see some art. If you wished to download it all in the computer after that would be great too. But origanally I like the paper ones. They could someday be a realy printed book to help others out with real everyday life!

there’s something about the release of puting your pen to paper. for me it’s just a great way to wind down and clear my head before going to sleep. for me, typing away just isn’t as appealing or comforting as getting under a blanket and scribbling away. i guess it’s a bit of an old romantic notion – the real paper journal.

I’ve done all of these actually. I have a blog, online journal, and a paper journal (in addition to a daily notebook). I think the online optional is good for friends and meeting people actually, though I have never shared it with my offline friends. Both online and on the computer is much easier to keep up to date and write in great lenghts.

For years, I could not regularly update my paper journal, and then I started an online journal which enabled me to keep up the habit. Now, I write in my paper journal every day and more than the online one. I love finishing a journal, and getting new ones. I’m paper obsessed.

Good luck!

I like using a paper journal when I’d like to take my time to write (I think it about it more when I’m handwriting something).

I can type pretty quickly, so I think my online journal has a significantly more verbal vomit than the paper one.

Plus, you can doodle in the paper one.

I’m a bit traditional in this area. I’ve always kept a paper journal for many reasons. It’s not as open as an online journal, where anyone could see it, particuarly those who might make things awkward. Not to mention the fact that, after 8 years of keeping paper journals, people always know what to get me for birthdays and Christmas!

I have a journal on my computer, an online blog AND a traditional journal in a battered spiral-bound notebook. The computer journal is about work, the blog is for talking about my fiction and my views on wider life and the traditional journal is for my thoughts, emotions, personal life…the private things.

But as everyon here has said, it’s difficult for us to prescribe anything for you. You have to choose your own path, what feels best for you.

I have both a paper type and an online type. More personal stuff for the paper one, more general thingy for the online one for my pals. The thing is, what type of journal you plan to have. :) if you want one for all yr personal stuff then i really think you should go for the paper type. you wouldn’t want everyone reading about your secrets huh? but if its just for sharing your life and stuff an online one should be good. i recommend livejournal. :)

hope this helps!

Arctos makes several good points. Writing digitally allows:
• speed (if you can type fast)
• searchability
• ability to encrypt / safeguard parts or the whole

Another benefit of digital journaling is permanence of record. You can easily burn an entire LIFETIME’S worth of text-only journals on a CD-R, possibly a mini CD-R. If you mail them out to friends in far-away places, they’re physically safe from any catastrophe. Each word will be the same as the moment you wrote it. You can encrypt sections if you’d rather not share all the parts.

Also, there is the ability to further increase your rate of journaling by adding certain keywords or abbreviations into MS word. For instance, ‘w’ for ‘with’ or ‘iow’ for ‘in other words,’ or ‘bc’ for ‘because’ or any other phrases you frequently use. Scripting programs exist to expand this feature to ALL keyboard input, not just your word editor.

Personally, my journaling has gone through several stages. First, I started out with a folder full of random paper scraps. Loose leaf. Unlined printer paper. Backs of advertisements. Cut-up envelopes with words written around the plastic windows on both sides. Fragments of paper bags. Basically any paper medium that would hold text. These were each dated and thrown into the folder, to make kind of a bank. I’ve still got that box of confetti-writing, but have stopped adding entries in that way. Most of my writing is digital, and more convenient to

Walt Whitman would have his office filled with many papers, which he would stir around on the floor with his cane when looking for ideas. This is easy to do when you’ve got paper scraps, but I’m not aware of any digital equivalent.

It does depend on your purposes for journaling, but I believe a paper journal is more effective for self-development and personal therapy. A handwritten paper journal is also more effective for capturing your emotions and feelings in ways that are more wholistic than an online typed journal. I’ve heard some evidence that there is more power to handwriting in some ways because of the nature of typing. That said, there are really good reasons for an online journal. It’s easier to search and find things, it’s easier to share with others. I’ve done both, and I’ve actually found the handwritten ones to be easier for me to review. And the handwriting itself does capture a lot. It’s why they call a handwritten will a “holographic” one.

I love paper journals. I keep a blog that I use to keep my friends up to date (generally) with what I’m up to, but I keep more detailed things and more personal things in my paper journal.

As some of the others said, I tend to censor or edit myself if I know that someone else might read what I am writing.

i write pen on paper. i find it much easier to get my thoughts on in handwriting rather than on the computer, and i’d never want anyone to read what i wrote, so knowing it can only ever be in one place, never looked at except by me, and totally safe…i just like it.

I prefer a paper journal. i buy a pretty notebook and keep it somewhere safe. i have not kept an on-line journal, i think it is less personal.
although if people read your on-line journal they won’t know it’s you.

I prefer a paper journal. i buy a pretty notebook and keep it somewhere safe. i have not kept an on-line journal, i think it is less personal.
although if people read your on-line journal they won’t know it’s you.