Learn2Write

So much has happened in the last year. So many incidents, experiences, feelings and emotions remain untold. There are so many stories that you haven't really shared with anyone. But why?  As children, you go through a plethora of incidents every day and that’s what moulds you to be who you are. That’s what changes your attitude to life, your way of handling situations and sometimes even avoiding them altogether. But when at a certain point in life, you wish to know how was it that you became the person you are today, you feel at a loss for a starting point. All that made you who you are will simply be wiped out from your memory. Now, how do we save ourselves from such a situation?

With so many stories to share, why not allow yourself to bring your pen to meet paper and express yourself freely using a diary? With the help of a diary, your life will feel sorted, will be put into the right perspective and you will be able to find yourself amidst the tangle of everyday activities. With this article, let’s check how to make your diary your best friend.

To begin with, pick a peaceful area that allows you to write: this is necessary, although you won't be speaking out loud.

You need to start by addressing the diary: consider it as someone that you are really close to. Would you like to call it by a name? Would you like to think of it as something magical that can talk back to you? Would it have the personality of someone that you are familiar/comfortable with? It’s always best to build a relationship with the diary first so that you feel a tendency to come back to it daily.

Next, establish a bond with the diary consistently: you could mention the date on which you share incidents of a particular day with the diary. This will help you know exactly when a life-changing experience occurred. You could share all your joys, pains and thoughts as the first step to establishing a relationship with the diary. Remember, unlike actual friends, this is a true secret keeper and you can be yourself 100%.

Talk casually as you would with a physical person: you can talk to the diary out loud or inside your mind, whichever feels most effective to you.

Ever been amazed by a crazy, beautiful day? You could initially talk to the diary about what kind of a day it was. Did you expect it to go one way and it turned totally opposite? Or did it go as planned? For example:

Oh diary, you really should have felt the wonderful weather. You could have felt the breeze swishing across your pages if you had been with me when I opened you in the park. We ought to try that at some point. Note how a connection is established with the diary initially before talking about your day.

Let’s say you were having an ongoing argument with a friend. You could say, “Hey, I’m not sure what else to say to Steve. We’ve been arguing for almost two weeks now and we still can’t come to an agreement. I don’t want to think we can’t get through this, but I don’t know what more to do or say.” Note the conversational tone and the pain felt while you express your feelings.

Maybe you have a difficult relationship with a family member: “I hate that my mum and I don’t get along. She just doesn’t understand me, and she refuses to listen when I try to tell her how I really feel. I pray that she would try to see things from my point of view sometimes. Until then, I hope to be more patient and understanding to her.” Note how you state your hopes and analyse a situation.

Remember a few grammar rules to follow: the content needs to be organised structurally. You could use linking words and proper paragraphs to help you with that. Since most of the details are a retelling of what happened, you need to ensure that the simple past tense is used consistently. Finally, you could ensure that the first-person narrative is used throughout.

Wind up with a proper sense of closure: depending on the mood, you could close with your hopes/plans for the next day, or maybe someone interrupted your writing in between and in that case, you could excuse yourself and simply say good night. A basic ending could be ‘I think I should head to bed. Good night.’

From an examination point of view, we need to follow these tips to understand the skill of organised diary writing. Keeping a diary will not only help you find tackling this exam question easily, but will also have a positive impact on your well-being. From reflecting on emotions to having a safe space to vent, possessing a diary can serve as a powerful life tool and a practical test-taking practise to ace your exams. By spending a little time to contemplate the activities of the day, you can make keeping a diary an enjoyable and productive experience in 2023.

Getting a child to practise creative writing can be a parent’s worst nightmare. After endless dodging by the child, many to and fro arguments between the parent and the child, often culminating with promises of reward to the child on completing his writing, the child finally sits for the dreary yet necessary exercise. 

The whole experience can be exhausting for the poor parent and uninspiring for the child. On top of that, the idea of practising writing, with the sole aim of scoring high in exam, under a ticking timer and the constant, watchful eye of the parent does not really get the creative juices flowing in the child. Shouldn't creativity be a ‘spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,’ as Wordsworth once said?

That’s right. Writing should not feel like a task. The trick is to make it fun and educational at the same time. Here, we offer you five different and effective ways of making your child practise writing. Let’s get on with the first tip then.

1. Start a scrapbook: 

Imitation can be a stepping stone to awakening imagination in one. Scrapbooking a stock of handy quotes is a technique vouched for by budding writers. Encourage the child to copy out favourite quotes and fascinating descriptions from literary works. Writing out interesting text stimulates learning as well as creativity in the mind. Remember to ask the child to go through his collection (as a form of reading exercise) at the end of a week or fortnight.

2. Keep a diary or journal: 

Why not gift your child a beautiful diary and help him start on a new literary journey? Inspire the hidden writer in him to record special moments and events of the day. Diary writing can help the child develop unique and personal style of expression. Give your child space and freedom to write as and when he wishes. Starting first as some sporadic entries, diary writing should over a period become a daily exercise.

3. Scribbles and doodles: 

Sometimes writing from scratch can be daunting. To make writing exercise more exciting, take an already existing text and encourage the child to edit, improve or rewrite it. This text could be anything: a short story (many free stories are available on the web), a few paragraphs of a news article, or a work previously written by the child. If you want to create memorable moments with your child, you could write a short piece (story or description) and offer the child to evaluate and enhance it. A reversal of roles will draw the child’s interest and eagerness to re-write.

4. Letter and note writing:

Encourage the child to write letters (or mails) to grandparents, distant cousins and friends. Suggest that the child make cards for occasions like birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc. and enclose special messages for the recipient. With these activities, kids can learn how to communicate, socialise and, at the same time, practise writing skills.

5. Storytelling

Spinning a yarn is in the DNA of human beings. The first seeds of creative writing were implanted there. Nurture this inherent gift by making storytelling part of the day-to-day family discourse. From ‘What happened at school today?’ to ‘Why do you like your teacher?’, narration requires creativity, skill and precise vocabulary. When communicating with your child, ask him to describe the people he met, the places he visited and the feelings evoked in him by his experiences.  This exercise encourages children to be creative when describing the setting, characters, and the story as it unfolds. Ultimately, your child will become confident and less hesitant when he actually sits to write. 

So there you have it: some new ideas to help your child to get writing. Which one do you think will work for your child?