But what are you to write about?  First, the weather.  Don’t forget this.  Write, “Cold and windy,” or “Warm and bright,” as the case may be.  It takes but a moment, and in a few years you will have a complete record of the weather, which will be found not only curious, but useful.

Then put down the letters you have received or written, and, if you wish, any money paid or received.  The day of beginning or leaving school; the studies you pursue; visits from or to your friends; picnics or sleigh-rides; the books you have read; and all such items of interest should be noted.  Write anything that you want to remember.  After trying this plan a short time, you will be surprised at the many things constantly occurring which you used to overlook, but which now form pleasant paragraphs in your book.  But don’t try to write something when there is nothing to write.  If there is only a line to be written, write that, and begin again next day.

Do not set down about people anything which you would not wish them to see.  It is not likely that any one will ever see your writing, but it is possible, so, always be careful about what you write.  The Chinese say of a spoken word, that once let fall, it cannot be brought back by a chariot and six horses.  Much more is this true of written words, and once out of your possession, there is no telling where they will go, or who will see them.

The best time to write in a journal is in the evening.  Keep the book in your table-drawer, or on your desk, and, after supper, when the lamps are lighted, sit down and write your plain account of the day.  Don’t try to write an able and eloquent article, but simply give a statement of what you have seen or done during the day.  For the first week or two after beginning a journal, the novelty of the thing will keep up your interest, and you will be anxious for the time to come when you can write your journal.  But, after a while, it becomes tedious.  Then is the time when you must persevere.  Write something every day, and before long you will find that you are becoming so accustomed to it, that you would not willingly forego it.  After that, the way is plain, and the longer you live the more valuable and indispensable your journal will become.

But some practical young person asks:  What is the good of a journal?  There is very much.  In the first place, it teaches habits of order and regularity.  The boy or girl who every evening arranges the proceedings of the day in systematic order, and regularly writes them out, is not likely to be careless in other matters.  It helps the memory.  A person who keeps a journal naturally tries during the day to remember things he sees, until he can write them down.  Then the act of writing helps to still further fix the facts in his memory.  The journal is a first-class teacher of penmanship.  All boys and girls should take pride in having the pages of their journals as neat and handsome as possible.