Shattered Kingdoms

I do not believe that a journal is -essential-, however, for me at least physically writing something down(not typing) seems to cement it in my brain. I hardly ever actually look back through what I have written but I know it is there in the event I need it. I am also a habitual logger of all my sessions both as an imm and as a mortal and I keep both hard and digital copies of all things I build or rps I plan. Again, I practically never look back over any of these things, but its there.

As D said, everyone is different. We all learn and enjoy things differently. I suggest you try out a couple things and see what works for you.

All true. I suppose I should have specified that I found it essential for me. That and searching logs with regular expressions. But then, that's a given, isn't it?

I guess the takeaway here is that everyone has methods and tricks they individually use to great success and enjoyment. Keep experimenting until you find yours: don't settle for depending on others.