Diary Writing

British & IGCSE › Checkpoint 6 English (Cambridge Primary 0058)

1. What is a diary?

A diary is a personal and private record in which a person writes about their day: what happened, what they thought and how they felt. Because the writer is 'talking' to the diary (or to themselves), the tone is informal and honest. A diary entry is always dated, and it usually ends with a reflection on the day and a thought about tomorrow.

What earns marks in a diary entry

2. Features of a diary entry

3. How to structure a diary entry

The teacher's structure has five parts: date → greeting → body → reflection → conclusion. The body is usually two or three paragraphs in time order. Put the closing words and a comma on one line, then only your first name on the line below.

4. Useful phrases and sentence starters

5. Strong sample

6. Common mistakes

• Forgetting the date or 'Dear Diary,'. These are the features that show the examiner it is a diary.
• Writing a list of events ('I woke up. I ate breakfast. I went to school.') with no feelings.
• Describing every minute of the day instead of slowing down at the important moment.
• Being so informal that the writing breaks the rules: no capital letters, text spelling, 'gonna', 'wanna'. Informal does not mean careless.
• Writing only in the past tense and never reflecting on how you feel now.
• No ending: the entry stops in the middle of the day.
• Signing off on one line ('Goodnight, Omar') or with your full name. Put the closing words and a comma on one line and your first name only below.
• Writing a diary when the task asked for a recount, or a recount when it asked for a diary.

Practice task

1. Practice: "Imagine you have just spent your first day at a new school. Write your diary entry for that evening. Consider: • how you felt in the morning • what happened during the day • someone you met • how you feel about tomorrow." Write a short plan.

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   G.A.A.P.: diary entry (named) → date, Dear Diary, first person, informal, sign-off with first name · audience = myself (but the examiner reads it, so correct English) · 'Consider' → at least 3 bullets, use all 4 · purpose = recount + express feelings + reflect. Date: Sunday, 21 September. Dear Diary, Hook: 'Today I was the new boy, and I never want to feel like that again… or do I?' P1 Morning: could not eat breakfast, uniform too stiff, butterflies at the gate. P2 The day: got lost looking for the science lab, everyone stared, embarrassed. P3 Someone I met: Youssef shared his map of the school and his crisps at lunch, we both love drawing comics. P4 Reflection: maybe being new is not so terrible. P5 Tomorrow: a bit less anxious, will sit with Youssef, will bring my sketchbook. 'Until tomorrow,' / first name.

2. Which of these are NOT suitable in a diary entry, and why? (a) Dear Diary, (b) Yours faithfully, (c) I can't believe it! (d) gr8 day (e) Thursday, 12 March

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   (b) 'Yours faithfully,' is a formal letter sign-off, far too formal for a private diary. (d) 'gr8' is text-message spelling, which is never acceptable in exam writing, even in an informal text. (a), (c) and (e) are all suitable.

3. Turn this telling sentence into a showing sentence: "I was very happy when I got my test back."

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   For example: "When I saw the big red 'Excellent!' on my test, I could not stop grinning, and I almost jumped out of my chair." (the feeling is shown through actions and body language)