History Main / SecretDiary

See also {{Diary}}.

* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': One newlywed NPC keeps a secret lair with a diary that details his plan to marry for money and then murder his father-in-law to secure his inheritance. If the player chooses to save the father-in-law, they can give the diary to the wife to bypass the usual Persuasion test to convince her.

* Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Liavek}}'' story "Paint the Meadows With Delight" by Creator/PamelaDean, where the main character steals her sister's diary in hopes of figuring out why she's been acting so strangely, and, since she can't read the language it's in, tries to get an older relative to translate it for her. It says much about [[BigScrewedUpFamily the family involved]] that Jehane didn't realise what she had done was objectionable until she got called out on it.

* The infamous diaries of British Conservative politician, compulsive womaniser and professional MagnificentBastard Alan Clark were a straight example while he was writing them. Once he was safely retired he [[DefiedTrope sold them to a publisher]] and sat back to enjoy the show as various colleagues in government, journalists and other public figures were allowed to learn what he ''really'' thought of them.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'', Shrek goes through Fiona's childhood diary, in which she explained her dreams of meeting her Prince Charming and living happily ever after, which only serves to fuel his guilt about Fiona changing for him.
-->'''King Harold:''' S-Sorry. Uh...I hope I'm not interrupting anything.
-->'''Shrek:''' No, no, no. I was just reading a... a scary book.

* ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'' - Cleo initially keeps a diary about her newfound mermaid powers. Her sister Kim finds it and tries to expose the girls' secret. Kim mistakenly thinks Miriam is a mermaid too and when she realises her mistake, Cleo pretends the diary was just a school assignment about rewriting fairy tales, and destroys it after.

** "Logbook": It's all made worse by the fact that Ulrich, the diary's writer, mentions XANA and Lyoko.
*** In the same episode, it's revealed that Sissi also has a secret diary.

* In ''Discworld/{{Wintersmith}}'', the Nac Mac Feegle have a great problem with the ''idea'' of a secret diary. Why would Tiffany write her thoughts down in a book with a lock on it which she keeps hidden at the back of a drawer if she didn't want anyone to read it?

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Curiosity Almost Killed the Cat", Dog starts keeping a diary after Cat (who has one of his own) introduces him to the concept, along with the rule that it's wrong to look in someone else's diary. However, Cat finds himself unable to resist taking a peek, and Dog is understandably [[WhatTheHellHero upset]] when he finds out (especially since one of his diary entries called Cat the most honest person he knows).

One character finds the secret diary of another character (almost always female), that contains all their [[DarkSecret darkest secrets]].

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Creator/MaryAstor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' and ''Film/MeetMeInStLouis''. It fueled [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/09/inside-the-trial-of-actress-mary-astor-hollywoods-juiciest-sex-scandal a huge court fight]] and [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]) around Astor's post-divorce attempt to get full custody of her daughter (she didn't). She had written about many affairs including lavish descriptions of playwright [[Theatre/TheManWhoCameToDinner George]] [[Theatre/YouCantTakeItWithYou S.]] [[Film/TheCocoanuts Kaufman]] (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Her husband had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Lurid excerpts were reprinted in the tabloids amid endless speculations. Thank God [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it. If you're interested, look up ''The Purple Diaries'' by Joseph Egan.

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Creator/MaryAstor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' and ''Film/MeetMeInStLouis''. It fueled [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/09/inside-the-trial-of-actress-mary-astor-hollywoods-juiciest-sex-scandal a huge court fight]] and [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]) around Astor's post-divorce attempt to get full custody of her daughter (she didn't). She had written about many affairs including lavish descriptions of playwright [[Theatre/TheManWhoCameToDinner George]] [[Theatre/YouCantTakeItWithYou S.]] [[Film/TheCocoanuts Kaufman]] (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Her husband had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Lurid excerpts were reprinted in the tabloids amid endless speculations. Thank God [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it. If you're interested, look up ''The Purple Diaries'' by Joseph Egan.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Island'', Heather read Gwen's diary aloud on National TV in "Not Quite Famous" for humiliate her.

** Another Disney sitcom ''Series/{{Jessie}}'' also has this. In one episode, Zuri looks into Jessie's diary on the computer. This leads to a {{Mistaken For Aliens}} subtext.

** In the games ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLifw A Wonderful Life]]'' and ''Another Wonderful Life'', you can read your child's diary where they write about their relationship with you, their career aspirations, etc.

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Creator/MaryAstor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' and ''Film/MeetMeInStLouis''. It fueled [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/09/inside-the-trial-of-actress-mary-astor-hollywoods-juiciest-sex-scandal a huge court fight]] and [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]) around Astor's post-divorce attempt to get full custody of her daughter (she did). She had written about many affairs including lavish descriptions of playwright [[Theatre/TheManWhoCameToDinner George]] [[Theatre/YouCantTakeItWithYou S.]] [[Film/TheCocoanuts Kaufman]] (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Her husband had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Lurid excerpts were reprinted in the tabloids amid endless speculations. Thank God [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it. If you're interested, look up ''The Purple Diaries'' by Joseph Egan.

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Mary Astor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''. It fueled a huge court fight and [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]) around Astor's post-divorce attempt to get full custody of her daughter (she did). She had written about many affairs including lavish descriptions of playwright [[Theatre/TheManWhoCameToDinner George]] [[Theatre/YouCantTakeItWithYou S.]] [[Film/TheCocoanuts Kaufman]] (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Her husband had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Lurid excerpts were reprinted in the tabloids amid endless speculations. Thank God [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it. If you're interested, look up ''The Purple Diaries'' by Joseph Egan.

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Mary Astor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''. It fueled a huge [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]). She had written about her affairs including lavish descriptions of Creator/GeorgeKaufman (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Her husband had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Huge court fight for custody of their child, excerpts reprinted in the tabloids and endless speculations. Thank God [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it. If you're interested, look up ''The Purple Diaries'' by Joseph Egan.

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Mary Astor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''. It fueled a huge [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]). She had written about her affairs including lavish descriptions of Creator/GeorgeKaufman (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Thorpe had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Huge court fight for custody of their child, excerpts reprinted in the tabloids and endless speculations. Thank God [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it. If you're interested, look up ''The Purple Diaries'' by Joseph Egan.

* One of the most famous secret diaries of the early 20th century was kept by actress Mary Astor, whom you'll be familiar with from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''. It fueled a huge [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-1.htm Hollywood scandal]] ([[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-2.htm part 2 here]] - [[https://www.trivia-library.com/b/hollywood-celebrity-scandals-mary-astor-diary-part-3.htm part 3 here]]). She had written about her affairs including lavish descriptions of Creator/GeorgeKaufman (let's just say BiggerIsBetterInBed and let it go at that) in glorious detail. Thorpe had had affairs too but DoubleStandard & all that. Huge court fight for custody of their child, excerpts reprinted in the tabloids and endless speculations. Thank God [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Edward abdicated the British throne to marry Wally]] or we might all still be hearing about it.