Writing 4 - Keeping a Diary

Diary writing is a personal form of writing that is very useful to the writer, recording happenings in his everyday life. Diary writing also helps the writer to keep track of all the major events that occurred in his lifetime. The writer is able to use diary writing as a form of self expression when he is unable, or unwilling, to share his feelings with others.

The quality of diary writing depends on the imagination, creativity and expression of the writer. There are no set guidelines and, since the diary is a personal record, diary writing is often in informal English. However, recording the time and date of entry is extremely useful when referring back to events in the past. Although diary writing is a personal habit it is very useful to be regular and systematic in penning your diary. A daily record is the most commonly used frequency as something happens every day and it makes good sense to record all events, big or small. The probability that something small today would become big in future is always high and it would help to be able to recall correctly an event that took place earlier.