Which tense to use when writing a diary?
For writing diary content every day, which English tense is appropriate to use?
Things have all happened already. I usually write late at night (end of the day) or the next day.
Should I use simple past, present perfect simple, or another tense?
You can use past or present tense but it depends on the author's purpose. In a diary, if someone will read it, use prese …
6y ago
I find these answers interesting because to me, a diary is a place you confess your innermost thoughts, while a journal …
11y ago
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/6114. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
2 answers
You can use past or present tense but it depends on the author's purpose. In a diary, if someone will read it, use present tense to make the reader feel like are in the same situation. Otherwise, if it's personal, there's no rules needed to follow. Good Luck:)
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31466. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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I find these answers interesting because to me, a diary is a place you confess your innermost thoughts, while a journal is something you write in every day to talk about what you did. (note the jour- root, meaning "day")
That having been said, if I'm reporting on what I did today, or yesterday, I'd use past tense, because it's something I did. But if I'm using the writing as a way to work out my thoughts or emotions, I'd use present tense, because it's something I feel, which is still ongoing.
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