how – Soha's Leaf

Well, well. I am so glad that you’ve decided to start writing in a diary!! And before you read further, lemme tell you right away that diary writing is super awesome, fun and beneficial.

I started keeping a diary from my 2nd grade. Of course I wasn’t too good at the starting. But, then I gradually became a master at writing in my diary. I still have a diary. I usually write four-five pages in it daily. No, if you’re a beginner, you don’t have to write five pages everyday; it’s absolutely fine if you write one page, or even half. Let’s do it slow, day by day, not to hurry.

So, read on to know how to keep a diary and make it interesting enough.

Pick a notebook/diary

Now this is the basic thing, you know. You’ll need a notebook or a diary to write in. You can choose anything you like. Preferably, I’ll say you should choose a diary itself, a cute one or any other diary you like. Because, if the particular diary is attractive, it’ll make you want to write in it. Or, if the diary you have is not satisfactorily pretty, you can make it pretty yourselves. By decorating it with colorful stuff, or anything you find pretty.

You can also use a notebook, no worries. You can decorate it too with what you may prefer. I use a diary, mostly. But, notebook is also a great option for people who cannot afford diaries. You know what, it’s not about what you write in, but what you write. So, it’s completely up to you what to choose 🙂

Give a name to your diary

And that’s another important thing. Give a cute name to it. Basically, your diary is your friend!! A bosom friend, you know. You can share absolutely anything you have in your mind with your diary. Your top secrets, your thoughts, your opinions, the things you faced during the day, what made you happy today- it can be anything you want to share with your intimate friend.

Now, your diary is your very, very close friend. It will never judge you, nor make you feel bad about anything. It’ll be patient.

I have named my diary ‘Louis’. I share everything with him. You can name your diary ‘Katie’, or anything you like. Or just keep it as simple as ‘friend’.

Start by ‘Dearest’

Diary writing is nothing but letters your write to your intimate friend. So, if you know we start writing a letter using ‘dear’, ‘dearest’ and their name ahead. You have to do the same thing here. What will this do is, it will create a feeling that you’re talking to your best friend.

Here’s an example of how I write: Dearest Louis,

And after writing that, I begin from the line below. There’s no need to skip any lines.

Talk to your diary

That’s what you exactly have to do: Talk to it! And that’s how you make it interesting. You’ve to write everything you have in your mind. For example, your utmost feelings, thoughts, opinions, your new goal, things that took place today, your plan for the future, if you’ve recently read a book what do you think about it etc. It can be anything! Remember, your diary is now your friend, and not just a normal diary. What would you talk to an intimate friend of yours? Talk it all to your diary. You don’t have to be too formal, you don’t need to be too perfect about your grammar, you don’t need your handwriting to be good. Because, the diary is only meant for you, and not somebody else. No one is gonna read it. The conversation is only going to be between you and your diary.

You just have to chat with it! It’s that simple, you see. You probably don’t have to write an essay.

Here’s an example: Dearest Louis,

The only thing everyone is talking these days is that stupid talent show. And it’s really starting to get on my nerves! People are practicing before school, after school and even during lunch. I’ll be so happy when all this is over! I’d been waiting for Mary to ask Lucy and Julie to join her dance squad, so i was not surprised when she approached them about it after gym class today. However, I was shocked when Lucy and Julie turned her down! They actually told her they didn’t want to be in the talent show unless I was in it too. I couldn’t believe my BFFs had basically told Mary to take her little dance group and flush it !

I have seen a few people write their diaries like this: Dear XYZ,

First I woke up in the morning at 8.00 am, then I brushed my teeth and then had my breakfast. After having breakfast, I washed myself, then did my homework. Then I got ready for school and then went to school. I studied in school. When I came back mom had made me donuts. I ate them all. Then I studied for an hour then went to play. Today’s day was good.

You can make out the difference between the two diary entries, right? The second diary entry seems too plain, formal and boring; while the first seems informal and interesting. Because, the first diary entry has been written in a way we talk to friends. That’s what.

Make your diary pretty

Once you’ve written your diary entry, you can stick the related pictures into it. Or even, you can draw related pictures yourself, to make your diary more appealing. You may stick stickers if you like too. But not too many, of course.

While writing you can use color pens and pencils for highlighting words or writing the date. You may stick real flowers in it. You can probably do anything.

Don’t forget to write the date

Write the date before starting the diary entry. This is one of the most important things to not forget. Writing date might seem silly to some of you, but it is probably not. When you grow up, you’ll read the previous diary entries of yours. And when there’ll be a date on the diary entries, you’ll find it fun while reading that you wrote these things at that time! So, just don’t forget to write dates before every diary entry 🙂

End with ‘Yours,’

This isn’t necessary, but you might as well write this when you’re ending your diary entry. For example: Yours,

(Your Name)

This will just give your diary a clear idea that you are the person talking to it 😀

I hope this helps you out in your journey of writing your diary! Before you start off with your first diary entry, lemme tell you this, that it’s okay if you’re not consistent about writing in your diary daily. It’s okay if you just forget to write, or skip to write in your diary. I personally do it. It happens naturally, with everyone.

I am so glad you made a visit here! Do share this with your friends and family who might find this helpful. And, don’t forget to take a look at my other blog posts as well :))

Be kind,

Soha

The following list will help you find a best book for you. So, just scroll down until a book catches your attention!

What you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.
The Phantom Tollbooth

1. The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth is a fantasy novel written by Norton Juster. It was originally published in 1961. This book is a MUST READ for everyone who who are literally tired of their boring lives, and have ‘nothing worth doing’.

This story focuses on a boy called Milo who thinks everything in this world is a waste of time. Then he finds a huge package in his room. He finds the package quite mysterious. It actually is a magical tollbooth, and having nothing better to do, drives through it in his toy car, transporting him to the Kingdom of Wisdom, which was once prosperous, but now troubled. He then there meets two sweet and funny companions- the Humbug, and the dog Tock. The three friends set off to a dangerous, but an exciting mission to rescue the two wise princesses, Rhyme and Reason.

The story is full of magic and fun! They meet unexpected ‘people’ on their journey, go on a wrong way, make a lot of mistakes, and learn life lessons through various twists and turns. This is a beautiful book that every teenager should have!!

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
The diary of a young girl – Anne Frank.

2. Diary Of A Young Girl- Anne Frank

I cannot tell how much I loved this book in words! It’s a superior!!! So, this is a well known and one of the the best young adult classics. This book is a diary of a girl called Anne Frank who was fleeing the horrors of the Nazi occupation during the World War-II.

They went into the Secret Annex in her father’s office building, after Anne’s bigger sister got a call-up notice. Her diary tells the story of her life in hiding, her thoughts, her longing to be free again, her family consequences and her relation with Peter, who is a boy living with Anne’s family in the hiding.

There are two families in the hiding. One is the Frank family, and the other is Van Daan’s, which belongs to Peter. There is one more person living in the hiding with the two families, Mr. Dussel. This book teaches us a lot many things. This is again, a MUST READ.

With guns, you can kill terrorists.
With education, you can kill terrorism.
I am Malala

3. I Am Malala

This is a book that tells the story of a young girl who was fighting for education, and was shot by Taliban. When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, Malala Yousafzai spoke out. She refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday 9 October 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. Shot in the head at the point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, she was not expected to survive.

Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in Northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize!

This book is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, and of Malala’s parents’ fierce love for their daughter in a society where sons are on a very higher position, than girls. It will make you believe in the power of one person’s voice to inspire change in the world. This book is one of my personal favorites!

Raise your words, not your voice.
It is rain that makes the flowers grow, not thunder.
The Breadwinner

4. The Breadwinner

I simply love this book. This is an extraordinary tale of a girl called Parvana. From the day she was born, she was facing the terrors of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The women there were obliged to stay inside their homes and cook food and take care of their kids, while men were free to do anything they pleased. If a woman in case had to go outside her house, she was enforced to wear a burkha and a hijab, and was obliged to have a written note with her, from her husband, saying that he had given her the permission to go outside. If found without one, you won’t know what’ll happen.

Parvana with her mother, bigger sister Nooriya, smaller sister Mariyam, little brother Ali and her father, lived in a small concrete flat, half destroyed by the bombs. When Parvana’s father gets caught by the Taliban for raising his voice over a Taliban, the family had no man left in the house to make money. The family already is suffering from poverty. Seeing her dear family suffer, Parvana takes a huge decision of disguising in a boy, and making money for her family.

She faces a million challenge while doing so. This is an unusual story of an unusual girl.

Life, with its rules, it’s obligations, and its freedoms is like a sonnet:
You’re given the form ,but you have to write the sonnet yourself.
A Wrinkle In Time

5. A Wrinkle In Time

This is a super amazing science fictional novel written by Madeleine L’Engle. This is an absolute page turner! I literally fell in love with this book. The only drawback of this book is, that it ends!

So, this is the story of three kids: Meg, Calvin and Charles. Meg and Charles are siblings, while Calvin is their friend. Charles is the youngest. He’s just five, but yet he tends to know everything which is going on in Meg’s and his mother’s mind. He is very wise and intelligent, compared to the other boys his age.

So, Meg’s and Charles’ father is been caught on some other far off planet. This story focuses on how they rescue their beloved father. This novel also teaches us various things, which we would never give a thought to. This is a MUST READ.

Just go on passing your light to others. And then there’ll be no place for the darkness to dwell!
A Dosa’s Hardships

6. A Dosa’s Hardships

This book is a collection of 10 short amazing stories. Each story gives out a moral, in a fun way. What if the Sun goes on a vacation? Does a dosa face any hardships? Is being short, great? How is sometimes patience not a solution? Tough is actually easy?

You’ll get all answers to these questions in this short, but revealing book. And, this book is written by me! Yes, you read it right. So, this is my first book which I have written. I wrote this book in the lock down days, just as a hobby. Then, later got it published. I hope you want to read this book 😀

Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear.
Totto-Chan
The Little Girl At The Window

7. Totto- Chan

The Little Girl At The Window

This book is something really different; something very unique and special. This is an autobiographical memoir written by Japanese television personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. This sweet tale is based on the real life incidents of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and her unusual and special school- Tomoi.

This book tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during the World War-II which included learning with fun, love and most important of all, freedom. This unusual school had old train carriages as classrooms and it was run by an super amazing man, who was it’s founder and headmaster- Sosaku Kobayashi. The school only had maximum 50 students, one of which was Tetsuko Kuroyanagi- Totto-Chan. She was a naughty little girl when she was a child. She also had got expelled from her school. Then her mother put her in Tomoi. Her life totally changed!

Read the book yourselves to find out how her life changed, to know more about the extraordinary school, and Totto-Chan’s and her classmates’ funny, but innocent ways. And the way the headmaster handled the kids.

Every time I read this book, I wonder, “Why isn’t my school like Tomoi? If only Tomoi was still there, I would seriously ask my parents to put me there!”

The school got destroyed in the war, sadly enough.

This is a world best-seller, and a MUST READ!

You are never too small to make a difference.
Greta Thunberg

8. Greta Thunberg

I guess, you all know who is Greta Thunberg. She is the one who raised her voice against the climate injustice happening around the world, in 2019, when she was just 15.

She took a place outside the Swedish Parliament, with a banner saying, “School Strike for climate”. She knew, not going to school is kind of a crime. But still, she did the ‘crime’. She, sat outside the Parliament every Friday for a climate strike, alone. People began to notice her. Some took pictures of her. Some of them trolled her on their way. But, Greta never gave-up.

This book tells an amazing story of a recent heroine, Greta Thunberg. She is a climate activist, and the founder of the organization- Fridays For Future.

Climate change is threatening our planet; our house is on fire. Yet, the leaders are ignoring our call for help. Millions of children strike every Friday for the environment. Greta woke every kid around the world, and she is the role model for all of them. Hats off to such a girl!

I do hope that these books will help you as an adolescent in some or the other way. Don’t forget to share this post to all your friends, so that they too get to know about these awesome books. You can find these books on Amazon, Flipkart and other online stores, as well as in your local book stores.

You just won’t find the book which I have written on Amazon or Flipkart. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you can surely shoot me a mail to purchase my book – itsprincess.soha@gmail.com

Thanks for making a visit here!