In order to enter into the reading of Jose Donoso's diaries, this paper reconstructs the location of the referential genres in the Chilean tradition and their lack of recognition when he began writing his first notebook in 1950. From this context, rather resistant to this type of writing, it is proposed to explore in Donoso's own diaries preserved in the archives of the University of Iowa and Princeton, the relationship of the Chilean narrator with the writings of the self, his reflections, influences as well as the motivations that prompted him to maintain diary writing for forty five years (1950-1995).