Writing Tips on Journal/Diary-style stories?

[CatsAreCutest]

I have this story idea/prompt about a reincarnated character is thrown in unknown fantasy world (as always), and his story/travels is recorded in a journal or diary or something similar.

The ideas i have in mind aren't concrete, but the story is to mainly highlight creatures, worldbuilding and lore, mysteries and cultures, and other aspects aside from purely quests and action-adventure (it will still be a part of the story, but its not the sole focus). (I've also considered adding sketches and illustrations to add more content and make it interesting, but well, my drawing skills are mediocre at best and i don't have money for commissions.)

I'd like to have some opinion and tips for making this story into reality. How can i write it properly, while still being interesting? And is there any things i should take note of before i start writing? What are the pros and cons of writing this type of story and how can i work around the cons?

Thanks in advance!

 

[TotallyHuman]

If its a diary then using direct speech is likely not good.
Then, the descriptions of a sequence of actions can't be too detailed either. The descriptions of objects can be as detailed as you want though and probably should be accompanied by the protagonist's impressions.
Idk.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Do you have any idea how giant of a potential you can make out of this?

Granted, you could only be locked into one perspective, but with it you can do some really chilling, subtle story telling. The journal can jot down not only what the protagonist sees but can also effectively reveal what the protagonist FEELS about the thing. If the whole story hinges on the protagonist's point of view, you could play with your audience on who truly is morally superior over the other and since this is the protagonist's journal, have him make questionable reasonings towards his actions. You could have a psychological undertone going about it and have the journal leave clues around so as to reveal snippets of the side characters around him and strategically leave bread crumbs as to their identity and personality whilst letting the readers fill in the blanks with their imagination.

You won't be able to flourish your world-building or dialogue as much as you could with a regular story format, but since you've given yourself such a small playground, you could easily use it to its greatest effect. You don't need to worry about what the audience feels about something. All you need to do is worry on how YOUR protagonist feel on something. World building can be left with easygoing descriptions and whilst it's about reincarnation, have him make connections between his past so you could reveal both his surroundings and his backstory at the same time. Say when he's exploring a forest. He would offhandedly mention that it reminds him of a picnic he had with his younger sister, and how much he misses her or stuff like that.

You won't able to do much in the creative department, but you're given a much easier platform in terms of execution. Do this well, and you might be the next big thing on the Trending tab.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Well, why don't you try it if it sounds good to you?

You know, there were some cases that a story is not immediately appreciated, but in the course of time, your audience and followers increase. (The Great Gatsby is a famous example) Just remember to give your best.

You may consider your readers' opinion, but definitely, the final decision to write it or not (as well as see its potential) will be on you.

 

[GDLiZy]

See epistolary novels, such as Dracula. They are also written in the diary format and letter format.

 

[Ral]

I've read some stories that are written like this and actually read actual journals and diaries and I liked them.

Some things to consider though is how limited this type of storytelling style would be. People really don't write journals or diaries to provide detailed narration of the events. Practically no one can remember everything and be able to write it at the end of the day in their diaries or narrate them in their journals. They are pretty much spontaneous recordings (little to no editing and planning) for personal benefit.

Another thing to consider is what the journal or diary is for. Diary is mainly to record the daily events that happens. It is like a log. Journal is more personal. It is not just events but also thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. Sometimes they can be more specialized like writing journals where you focus on the topic of writing.

The thing thought is story aren't told like this. GDLiZy points out epistolary novels but they are actually series of documents (usually letters from various people but could include things like newspaper articles, diary entries, and memos) and not a single document like a diary. This larger sources of documents allows for a more wider view and multiple views like an omniscient narrator.

My advice would be to make it a complete epistolary novel (hence documents from various sources) or use the journal entries (I don't think a diary would work well here) as supplementary material to regular narration format.

 

[Samuel_Spader]

You know, there were some cases that a story is not immediately appreciated, but in the course of time, your audience and followers increase. (The Great Gatsby is a famous example) Just remember to give your best.

Dude, the Great Gatsby is one of the best novel I've read years ago, and yes, this novel is a great example.

Also, BenJepheneT is correct, stories in these type of formats rely heavily on how the protagonist feels, and perhaps also on how you can pull the readers to feel some sympathy and/or connections to what your protagonist is feeling.

This story format maybe perfect for those 'Slow Life' kind; where the protagonist will try to reconnect his old lifestyle with his current situation in the other world.

About the cons, perhaps it's biggest weakness is about how to actually generate that 'feel' from the protagonist, since you need to imagine yourself to feel the protagonist's feels to be able to pour them into words, and also world building will be tertiary, and exposition is also limited.

Perhaps (it's just my personal advice), to better simulate the 'diary feel', you can add a self-made date or 'days of living in this new world' if it's going to be some journal-like story.

 

[CatsAreCutest]

See epistolary novels, such as Dracula. They are also written in the diary format and letter format.

I've read some stories that are written like this and actually read actual journals and diaries and I liked them.

Some things to consider though is how limited this type of storytelling style would be. People really don't write journals or diaries to provide detailed narration of the events. Practically no one can remember everything and be able to write it at the end of the day in their diaries or narrate them in their journals. They are pretty much spontaneous recordings (little to no editing and planning) for personal benefit.

Another thing to consider is what the journal or diary is for. Diary is mainly to record the daily events that happens. It is like a log. Journal is more personal. It is not just events but also thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. Sometimes they can be more specialized like writing journals where you focus on the topic of writing.

The thing thought is story aren't told like this. GDLiZy points out epistolary novels but they are actually series of documents (usually letters from various people but could include things like newspaper articles, diary entries, and memos) and not a single document like a diary. This larger sources of documents allows for a more wider view and multiple views like like an omniscient narrator.

My advice would be to make it a complete epistolary novel (hence documents from various sources) or use the journal entries (I don't think a diary would work well here) as supplementary material to regular narration format.

Aside from Dracula and The Great Gatsby, do you know any other good references about these called epistolary novels? (Preferrably webnovels like here on SH or RRL, but any will do) I didn't really think about using documents and and other sources before, i just thought about writing from MC's perspective, but it actually sounds interesting, albeit slightly complicated. Thank you for your tips! It helped a lot!

 

[CatsAreCutest]

Do you have any idea how giant of a potential you can make out of this?

Granted, you could only be locked into one perspective, but with it you can do some really chilling, subtle story telling. The journal can jot down not only what the protagonist sees but can also effectively reveal what the protagonist FEELS about the thing. If the whole story hinges on the protagonist's point of view, you could play with your audience on who truly is morally superior over the other and since this is the protagonist's journal, have him make questionable reasonings towards his actions. You could have a psychological undertone going about it and have the journal leave clues around so as to reveal snippets of the side characters around him and strategically leave bread crumbs as to their identity and personality whilst letting the readers fill in the blanks with their imagination.

You won't be able to flourish your world-building or dialogue as much as you could with a regular story format, but since you've given yourself such a small playground, you could easily use it to its greatest effect. You don't need to worry about what the audience feels about something. All you need to do is worry on how YOUR protagonist feel on something. World building can be left with easygoing descriptions and whilst it's about reincarnation, have him make connections between his past so you could reveal both his surroundings and his backstory at the same time. Say when he's exploring a forest. He would offhandedly mention that it reminds him of a picnic he had with his younger sister, and how much he misses her or stuff like that.

You won't able to do much in the creative department, but you're given a much easier platform in terms of execution. Do this well, and you might be the next big thing on the Trending tab.

I have this idea of the MC travelling around the world to solve a central mystery or to explore this new world. Your tips and ideas are very very helpful, thank you! I hope i can pull it off properly.

 

[DDTStudios]

My stories kind of follow what you are trying to say. I focus a lot on the world since it’s so complex and I write in first person. I also have one which is written in third person.

 

[Tejoka]

I did something like that once. I think the key is to have it be meaningful that you're reading a character's journal, but not too overbearing. For example, I mentioned it a few times when it was relevant. I had the character note that she wouldn't go into detail on some things, in case someone she didn't want to got hold of it, etc.

Although that depends on the case. In my example, the character wrote it as a log for herself and also for someone specific to read in case she died, but a typical journal might be different. Also, most people really don't remember every detail. For my story, it was more of a constantly logging events that she later cleaned up to make it more readable, but that worked because it was sci-fi and the character had a a neural implant. If you write in a paper diary once a day, it's going to feel different and the narrative should reflect that. If it's litRPG, maybe there's a way to use a system function to help? If not, it's still okay to not make it totally like a real diary for the sake of telling a good story.

I agree that the real strength of it is the connection to the character. You can show a lot by how they write down their thoughts, or what they might choose to dwell on or ignore when they do. But like any first-person POV story, it's limited to one perspective. Still, I like the idea of noting what the character found out about the world. If they tell it in their journal, that has the potential to be much more interesting than, say, including a dry history book chapter, because you can include their reactions and opinions.

 

[atgongumerki]

any other good references about this so called epistolary novels

RE: Monster would be the most prominent example! (for me at least)
But it may not be the best, as the protagonist slowly transforms into a skill-sponge with a harem.
Early on however I found it enjoyable!

 

[fegurail]

do you know any other good references about this so called epistolary novels?

There's the novel daddy-long-legs

 

[zamu]

Diary-based stories can be interesting, but one thing to keep in mind is that it will always be retrospective. Although I know you intend it to more be about lore exploration, but it also means that if your character ever encounters any kind of conflict, it will inherently lack tension because just by the fact that they are able to write about it in their diary, they clearly came through the conflict more or less okay.

Not exactly. It depends on the time the entry was written relative to the time the event took place. You can easily have a build up not knowing where the events are leading to and the character only knows the stuff at the end of the day. Sure they made it out of the boss room, but they need rest and are writing down their experience before they sleep in case they don't wake up (they can record their worries of making it out of the dungeon or of their rescue). You could also lack consecutive entries where the lead up leads to a long time before the next entry where they detail the suffering and/or misfortunes they underwent to be able to write in their dairy/journal. For your other points you are completely on point.

OP, I would say that one of the best ways to go about this is to set up some framing story of someone else reading the dairy to be able to comment on it and possibly comment on discontinuity of the journal with additional narrative. Or someone else collating and organizing journal entries into digestible volumes and inserting footnotes and comments on the entries themselves (look at WH40k's Caiphus Cain for an example). Either of these allow for a unreliable narrator which is super helpful for allowing suspense to build up.

 

[PandaSempai]

I've actually read a Japanese WN with the same idea as this. It has this weird Date/Year and etc that made me very confused at first. It was a type of dungeon diving novel so I still read it. This kind of writing style is actually not that creative but it has a very large potential when it comes to 'story telling'.