One of my students asked me for a tip to improve her writing. I could only think of one—keep a diary.
Why? Because that’s the best advice I’ve ever received.
In third grade, my English teacher noticed that I loved writing poems and (very) short essays. She told me to keep a diary so that I could improve my writing. She said I could write anything and not concern myself with grammar (at least not yet). All I needed to do was have fun, write an entry daily, and be comfortable writing.
Being the “good” student that I was, I did as she said. I kept a diary until college. Eventually, I did become a writer.
Reviewing my diary
From time to time, I would go back to my diaries (I had a lot) and read my entries. I would smile (or smirk) at how petty the topics were. Still, what mattered was the evolution of my writing.
I noticed that as I got older, the style appeared to be easier to read. It was as if I became more comfortable writing than I was in the earlier entries.
Surprisingly, even without critiques from experts, grammar, and style improved. It all happened without me noticing it until such time as I actually did read old entries.
The diary served as a record of how I improved and reminded me of what else I could change to be better.
Diary turned blog
Of course, the time has changed. With the emergence of technology, I’ve become accustomed to typing. Yes, I became a fast typist, too (60 WPM). I realized that I like typing articles better than handwriting them. Well, that’s because I don’t write legibly. Yes, my handwriting is that bad.
Soon, I decided to blog. It was Blogspot back then. However, I was not able to sustain my blog. I was not religiously adding entries to it as I used to with my diaries. That’s because I was already working then, and maintaining a blog became quite tedious.
Still, the blog did help me maintain my love for writing.
Back then, writing almost became more of a task because it was what I did daily. Also, I was writing mostly news stories. It was utterly different from diary entries or blogs. So, the blog became my break from the monotony of news writing.
Even now, with my work-from-home gigs that mostly involve writing, I find keeping a diary and (almost) maintaining a blog very helpful.
Still, even if I was not (and still am not) able to maintain my blog with regular daily entries, it’s something that keeps my love for writing intact.
I’m not saying that just because you keep a diary, you’ll become a good writer. Of course, there’s more to writing than just jotting down words.
Still, I believe that for anyone to be a good writer, he or she must first be comfortable writing. That’s where a diary helps best.
Had my teacher not asked me to keep a diary, I probably would be doing something else right now instead of writing–perhaps singing? 😂😂😂
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