Diary
- Use first-person & style should be reflective.
- The register can be informal.
- The structure should be usually spontaneous. Use simple past or present perfect preferably and include adjectives to describe emotions/feelings.
- It may be chronological, so you must use time connectives, such as before, after, next, just then, shortly, last, eventually, firstly, secondly, and thirdly, etc.
- Make sure your sentences are complete and well structured.
- Your tone can be informal.
- Include the date!
- Your style must be reflective, narrative, and fresh.
- It could be a straightforward account of a day’s events.
- Describing emotions will enrich the message of your text
- Engage your audience by explaining experiences that are significant for you
- You may want to add the details that describe situations or scenarios only for you. For example, instead of saying, ‘I listened to my sister, who is tall and slim.’ You might use instead ‘I listened to my sister.’
- Focus on a particular situation. Pick a starting and an ending point.
- Your message should be credible.
- Audience: This is a private text. The audience is YOU.
- Context: The situation you decided to describe or narrate (something related to your life or experience).
- Purpose: To record or track experiences that are significant for you.
- Saad AlDin, K. & Morley, K. (2018). English B: Second Edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. Pages 81 – 83
Other text types