How to make a good Confession

[Miriam_M]

I'd recommend writing them all down in a notebook so you can read them out during confession instead of needing to remember, is that common practice? That's usually what I do.

It is what I also do.  The reason I do it is that I tend to forget otherwise, in the nervousness of the moment, or when I get distracted, or when the Devil tempts me to omit something which then becomes a subconscious desire to suppress it.  The Devil always accompanies us into the confessional, so we need to guard ourselves against his subtle, clever tricks.  Committing to paper is a wonderful way to vanquish him.

If my list is unusually short (rare), I can sometimes memorize it and discard the list, but this doesn't happen often.  It would be more likely if I were just going to confess a single very troubling mortal sin after a different recent, more planned confession.