Journalist Ditches Cloud Apps for Local-First Writing After 15 Years of Journaling

A writer with 15 years of journaling experience shares how switching from cloud-based apps to local plain text files transformed their practice. They found that cloud syncing caused subconscious self-editing, as concerns about privacy discouraged honest, unfiltered writing. The shift to a local-first setup — using an app called Cozy to write directly onto their own computer — removed those mental barriers entirely. Features like entry tagging, calendar views, and photo attachments are retained, but all data stays on the user's own machine. The author concludes that owning and controlling your own writing, rather than any specific tool, is the core principle behind meaningful journaling.