: Re: What are some disadvantages of writing fiction in a diary format? I find writing in a diary-style is the easiest way to write fiction. The format is the same as a diary, with each entry beginning

@Annie587

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One big disadvantage is that you can't give too much blow-by-blow of events or you break the format. Yes, someone might write in a diary, "And then Bill said ... and then I said ... and then we went to the park ..." But would anyway really write in a diary, "Bill entered the room. He saw Sally on the left and me sitting at the desk. He strolled casually over to Sally. Sally nervously brushed her hair ..." etc. There's lots of description that goes into the action of a story that would just seem very unlikely in a diary.

Big advantage: Very conducive to detailed discussion of the hero's thoughts and feelings. In a conventional narrative, this would look odd. But in a diary, it's expected.

Another advantage that occurs to me: You can lie. That is, if in a narrative style you said, "Bob was having an affair with Sally", and then later you say that in fact this never happened, that that was all just a mistaken idea that one of the characters had, the reader rightly feels lied to: You told him it was so and then later you told him it was not. But if you write, "Amy thought that Bob was having an affair with Sally", that pretty much gives away that it's a mistake. Oh, there are plenty of ways around this, but sometimes it gets awkward. But in a diary format, you can write "Bob is having an affair with Sally", and it's understood that this is what the hero thinks, which may or may not be reality.

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