Diary Writing

• newEditor
• English
• Special Education

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?