Why did Zlata begin writing a diary?

Zlata Filipovic began writing a diary because she wanted a place to record her childhood. Plus, she wanted to create something she could read to look back on her life, laugh, cry, and reminisce. Her older girlfriends were writing diaries, so Zlata felt it was the right thing to do. After the war began, the diary became a friend willing to accept anything and everything Zlata wished to say.