Diary Writing
Writing: A Day in the Life of Your Favourite Artist
Lesson duration is: 20 minItems in this lesson
Writing: A Day in the Life of Your Favourite Artist
Session Plan
Warm Up
Introduction
Objectives
Key text features
Planning
Writing
Reflection
For one day, would you trade places with...
Or someone else?
What 3 things might that person do in one day?
Writing songs / lyrics
recording in the studio
playing a concert
Practising scales or songs
vocal warm ups
meeting fans
Hanging out with friends or family
Travelling
enjoying hobbies
exercise
talking to press or media
cooking, eating, cleaning
relaxing
meditation
shopping
Learning Objective
At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
write a diary entry in the style of your favourite music artist using appropriate language and format. (L1.3.24 - 20%)
What Is a Diary Entry?
Purpose
Definition
A diary entry is a personal record of daily events, thoughts, and feelings.
It helps capture memories, reflect on experiences and express emotions.
What would you normally find in a diary entry?
1. "Once upon a time"
2. Formal language
3. The date - Tuesday, 12th May
4. bullet points
5. facts
6. statistics
7. first person
8. opinions and feelings
9. chronological order
10. informal style
Choose three features from this list:
What would you normally find in a diary entry?
Choose three features from this list:
1. "Once upon a time"
2. Formal language (more serious, professional or "posh" sounding)
3. The date - Tuesday, 12th May
4. bullet points
5. facts
6. statistics
7. first person (I, me, we, us, my, our)
8. opinions and feelings
9. chronological order (events described in the same order that they happened)
10. informal style (more relaxed, friendly sounding)
Key Features of a Diary Entry
Diary entries are written in the first person, and often include dates, and describe daily events, feelings and personal opinions.
Informal Language Style
Use informal language, contractions (like I'm, can't), and express emotions honestly.
Planning Your Diary Entry
Think about a typical day for your chosen music artist.
What do they do? How do they feel?
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Time What happened? Thoughts & feelings
Example Diary Entry
"Dear Diary, what a Monday! Today was incredible! I performed in front of thousands - easily the best night of my life so far. Weird though, because the day started off so normal and boring..."
Notice the date, first person and emotional expressions.
Your Turn!
Write Your Entry
Reflection
Start your diary entry as your favourite music artist. Include a date and use the key features discussed.
Swap your entry with a partner or judge it yourself.
How have you captured the artist's feelings and daily life?
Have you / they used:
date (s)
First person
informal style
Chronological order
feelings and opinions
Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.
Write down 2 things you want to know more about.
Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.
Further Reading
Usually, a diary entry is written as a personal record - so the audience is the writer only. Sometimes, however, diaries are published - and can tell us lots about a famous person or the time and place that they lived. Also, many works of fiction are written in a diary style, so there are lots of great books out there that we can enjoy reading to better understand the ways diaries are written. Have you heard of, or read any of these famous examples?
