Question for those of you who keep journals. Do you date each entry, each page, or just put a starting and ending date on the cover?

I've tried keeping them before putting dates, times, places etc on the page as a future reference, but I never kept up with them. Here lately I have just been free flow writing in a composition notebook and I write something almost every day. When I was "time stamping" them, it seemed more like work, and I didn't write so much.

What do you folks think?

Quite funny, actually - I do all three. In the front of my journal I have a "Title Page" with the beginning and ending dates of the particular volume. In addition, I place the date, day of the week and time at the top of every entry. Since I generally journal directly before hitting the rack for the night, this not only helps my feeble mind keep track of what date I wrote the entry, but also when I was going to bed that night! Since my entries are two facing pages long, I end up dating every open pair of pages (top of every left-hand page). One other thing that could be seen as a nice side effect of dating my entries would be the ability to go back and read what I was thinking about 1, 2, 5 or even 10 years ago to the day. That's just my style - YMMV, as they say.

I date each entry, and almost always put a time as well. Sometimes I'll put in more than one entry in a day, and the separate times help. Plus, I don't skip more than a line or two between entries, so a new entry doesn't normally mean a new page.

like murderface (love the name) I date the entry and sometimes write more than once that day so the entry begins, "later............"

I tend to enter a lot of short entries with an occasional longer writing once or twice a week. All of mine begin with

-- Date -- Time -- Location


I find when going back through the journal, the context tends to help me keep things straight,

I date and time. If I'm adding throughout the day, just time, especially if I'm droning on about the same subject.

Date-Day of the Week

My entries are about 6 pages long. I write big and I have a lot to vent about. I try my darnedest to write before bed. It helps me wind down.

I do not date each page, just at the beginning of the entry.

I date each entry, but also paginate my Moleskines and then keep the first 2 pages blank for a table of contents, which I fill in as I write.

I always enter the day and date and then the time for different entries through the day. I like being able to look back at what I was doing on whatever day a years or years back ! Always gives me good perspective ---- and lots of chuckles too !

I add the start date of the journal on the front cover and I date each entry including the day of the week but only at the beginning of the entry not on each page. My entries vary sometimes 1 page to several.

I just came from a meeting where the speaker talked about raising teenagers. I did not think this title was about journals.

I date all of my journals. My evening journal is dated and I list the pen and the ink I'm using. I skip every other line and go about 1-2 pages an entry.

The boat log is dated as I need to track when I was on the boat when I changed the oil or replaced some lines etc.

The journal I keep with me for meetings at work I date so I can remember what was said and when.

The jogging log I used to date but that became just like work. When I got back into jogging I now just jog and have fun and don't worry about times.

Every entry is dated on my personal journal. When I'm traveling I'll include the location. If I write a second (or more) entry in the same day I start a new page and date it just like any other. I date entries in my drafts notebook when it seems appropriate for any practical or whimsical reason. My sketchbooks get a starting month/year on the inside front cover but I don't bother with a finish month/year.

I date the events that I write about. When the revisions are finished, I use that date when I post to the journal. The front cover of the journal (or the title page, if the covers are fabric) gets the starting and ending dates of the contents.

Paddler