Your First Dear Diary Entry
May 1st 2010 12:24
In word count or page count competitions like Nanowrimo and Script Frenzy, on the first day you usually want to get as far ahead of the mandatory word count as possible. Since the Dear Diary project is not about word count but rather about writing every day, and getting to know your character, that's not your goal today.
Before you write your first Dear Diary entry, you need to decide what part of your character's life you're writing about, and whether or not your character has been journaling for a number of years. If your character is journalling for the first time, they're probably going to mention that in their first entry. When I start a journal of my own, the first page is usually an introduction to who I am. Your character might start the same way.
Let your character talk to you. Ask questions. Ask them-why are you writing this diary? When did you start thinking about writing a diary? What do you want out of this diary-a place to vent, a record of your life, or a place where you can learn more about yourself? The answers to these questions are great things to include in your character's first diary entry.
What happened today in your character's life? They might have gone shopping for a nice notebook to journal in, or someone might have given them a notebook for that purpose. They might have had an ordinary day, going to work or school, talking to people they usually see, or they might not have. They might have gotten dumped that day. A parent might have been diagnosed with a terminal disease, and your character might want to write about the journey through it.
There are a thousand variables and millions of possibilities when writing a journal. Don't try to make things happen-just let your character tell you about who they are and what their life is like. Ask questions if you have to. Let them answer honestly. Don't put your words in their mouth.
While writing, consider: does your character write the way they talk? They might write in a more formal manner, or they might write with even less formality because nobody's paying attention to what they say. They might not be used to writing, so their words might be awkward. They might be bad at spelling-and there's nothing wrong with that, that's just who they are. You aren't writing this diary to publish it-you're writing it to know more about your character.
Happy writing everyone.
Before you write your first Dear Diary entry, you need to decide what part of your character's life you're writing about, and whether or not your character has been journaling for a number of years. If your character is journalling for the first time, they're probably going to mention that in their first entry. When I start a journal of my own, the first page is usually an introduction to who I am. Your character might start the same way.
Let your character talk to you. Ask questions. Ask them-why are you writing this diary? When did you start thinking about writing a diary? What do you want out of this diary-a place to vent, a record of your life, or a place where you can learn more about yourself? The answers to these questions are great things to include in your character's first diary entry.
What happened today in your character's life? They might have gone shopping for a nice notebook to journal in, or someone might have given them a notebook for that purpose. They might have had an ordinary day, going to work or school, talking to people they usually see, or they might not have. They might have gotten dumped that day. A parent might have been diagnosed with a terminal disease, and your character might want to write about the journey through it.
There are a thousand variables and millions of possibilities when writing a journal. Don't try to make things happen-just let your character tell you about who they are and what their life is like. Ask questions if you have to. Let them answer honestly. Don't put your words in their mouth.
While writing, consider: does your character write the way they talk? They might write in a more formal manner, or they might write with even less formality because nobody's paying attention to what they say. They might not be used to writing, so their words might be awkward. They might be bad at spelling-and there's nothing wrong with that, that's just who they are. You aren't writing this diary to publish it-you're writing it to know more about your character.
Happy writing everyone.
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Comment by RedParrot
Really Long Link
As with SF when I switced to screen plays, the formatting got in the way of the actual production. I did overcome it and suspect the same will happen here.
Stretch writing wings. Stretch tech wings.
Stretch stretch stretch.
Grow. Grow. Grow.
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
Thanks for sharing your project. So far so good
I like Elgin's voice-simple and straight to the point.
~Dianna