diff --git a/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish b/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish
index 29417045..af30b164 100644
--- a/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish
+++ b/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish
@@ -45,36 +45,38 @@ function jrnl --description 'Lightweight journaling tool'
             switch $response
                 case y Y
                     begin
-                        echo "# $(date +'%A, %b %d, %Y')"\n
+                        echo '# %{date}'\n
+                        echo '<!-- Use the %{date} placeholder for the date. -->'
+                        echo '<!-- Comments will be ignored. -->'
 
-                        echo "## Gratitude"\n
+                        # echo "## Gratitude"\n
 
-                        echo "I'm grateful for ..."\n
+                        # echo "I'm grateful for ..."\n
 
-                        echo "## + Wins"\n
+                        # echo "## + Wins"\n
 
-                        echo "- small_victories"\n
+                        # echo "- small_victories"\n
 
-                        echo "## - Challenges"\n
+                        # echo "## - Challenges"\n
 
-                        echo "- hard_things"\n
+                        # echo "- hard_things"\n
 
-                        echo "## Reflection"\n
+                        # echo "## Reflection"\n
 
-                        echo "_One sentence to reflect on today:_"\n
+                        # echo "_One sentence to reflect on today:_"\n
 
-                        echo "- reflection"\n
+                        # echo "- reflection"\n
 
-                        echo "## Learned"\n
+                        # echo "## Learned"\n
 
-                        echo "- fact_insight_or_skill"\n
+                        # echo "- fact_insight_or_skill"\n
 
-                        echo "## Tomorrow"\n
+                        # echo "## Tomorrow"\n
 
-                        echo "- prep"\n
+                        # echo "- prep"\n
                     end >$template
                     eval $EDITOR $template
-                    set -f new_template
+                    break
                 case n N
                     break
             end
@@ -87,6 +89,7 @@ function jrnl --description 'Lightweight journaling tool'
     set entry "$jdir/$today.md"
     # check if journal entry exists
     if not test -f $entry
+        set contents (string join \n "# $today" "$(tail -n +2 $template)" | string collect -N)
         cat $template >$entry
         set -l prompt "Created $entry, open in $EDITOR? (y/n)"
         while read --nchars 1 -l response --prompt-str="$prompt" or return 1