What Is the Structure for a Diary Entry?

The generic structure of a diary entry includes the date and place of writing as headline at the top left or right of the page and a descriptive heading and a chronicle of events as the body of the entry. It is written in first person point of view to express the writer’s emotions effectively. It is usually written in an informal style.

A diary is a very personal form of writing. It reflects a person’s emotions, hopes, plans and inner thoughts. People write a diary entry on a regular basis although not necessarily every day. A good diary entry follows a neat, organized and consistent structure. The date on which it is written is important to include. The body of the entry contains either a sequence of events that happened on the day of writing or a special subject matter that focuses on one particular event, topic or idea. The contents include the writer’s reflections, opinions and comments. Entries often build cohesive ties and contain reference to previous information written on older dates. They vary in length and number of paragraphs. Long entries are divided into short paragraphs, and simple punctuation is used. A line is sometimes drawn to indicate the end of an entry. A diary is often addressed as a second person with a special name. Salutations such as “Dear Diary” are also typically used.