Writing a Diary Entry

- a diary entry is similar to a personal letter, since you write about the things that happened to you, your
problems, your feelings and about your hopes, plans and dreams
- a diary entry beings with the date (which is usually written in the top right-hand corner); you may opt for a
different way of numbering the date – e.g. day 6205 of my life
- you may address your diary (not necessary; e.g. Dear Diary / Hey Diary / Whazzup etc.)
- at the end of the diary entry you may want to say goodbye to your diary (but it's not necessary)
What’s the catch of the “diary entry” – the authenticity of the language. In diary entries, usually
informal/colloquial language is used – can you really imitate that kind of language?

Outline of a diary entry

Date e.g. 3rd June 2009 or June 3rd 2009 or 6/3/2008 or 3/6/2009
(opening formula) Dear Diary / Hey Diary
Introduction You will usually begin your text with some kind of general
sentence about the day (This has been one of the best days of my
life… ) or a general statement about your momentary state of
mind (e.g. I’m totally down.)
Main Body In the Main Body you write:
- what happened to you;
- well organised and divided - how you felt and still feel about it;
into logical paragraphs - what your hopes/plans for the future are.
- 1 paragraph = 1 major idea/
thought developed into a
paragraph
Conclusion You can end your diary entry with some kind of final remark
about the day or your feelings (I finally got this off my chest… I
feel better now that I have written everything down.) or a
sentence about your momentary situation (e.g. Oops… I didn’t
realise it’s almost midnight; I have to go to bed now and get some
sleep… I have an important English (!) test tomorrow.)
(closing formula) Love, XXX
Hugs and kisses, XXX
Signing off, XXX

Textual and linguistic features of a diary entry

a variety of tenses narrative tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect
simple/continuous – to describe past events; present perfect
simple/continuous – to talk about experience and past actions
with a result; future simple – to talk about unplanned activities in
the future; going-to: to talk about planned activities in the future)
style and register: informal - elliptical (short, incomplete) sentences
- exclamations: Terrible! Fantastic!
link words – informal ones - anyway instead of nevertheless
- but instead of however
- besides instead of moreover/furthermore
- so instead of that’s the reason why
TASK 1= Last week you graduated from high school. Write a diary entry reflecting on the new stage you have
reached in your life. Be sure to discuss your feelings, activities and future plans. (May 2007 SL)
Task 2 = We all have to endure embarrassing incidents which often have unexpected results. Such an incident
has just happened to you and you decide to write about it in your diary. Write your diary entry. (November 2005
HL)