Writing in a diary

[PringlesQueen]

Apologies if this is in the wrong category, but....
I recently had a beautiful baby and I would like to start writing a diary about my pregnancy, but obviously retrospectively.
My question is what tense should I write my entries in?
Many thanks

[Theland1]

You should write your diary as if your child was reading it, in twenty five years time.
So what sounds the best to you?
What would you have liked had you come across a diary from your Mum?

[Quizmonster]

Writing in the present tense always gives a 'story' more immediacy. Thus: "Today is the day of my first scan and I..." rather than: "I went for my first scan this morning and I..."

[Theland1]

QM is right. Sorry.

[saxy_jag]

What tense do you 'feel' the diary? There's no rule in anything like this, you just go with your gut feeling.

Past or present, first or third person, all have their advantages, drawbacks and difficulties. However, the latter are not insurmountable if you intend to publish.

If you do intend to publish, still go with your heart and don't just write to 'convention' or 'to the market'. You're going to be with this project for a long time and you'll need to love it as much as you love your baby. As someone once said to me, if you don't love it, how can you expect anyone else to?