The Basics:

1. Find yourself a beautiful notebook and pen that you enjoy writing with (or open up the notes section of your phone, or grab a scrap piece of paper from the mess on your desk - it’s really not important.)

2. Write about your life that day. What did you do? What’s on your mind? What are your plans for tomorrow?

Adaptations:

1. Set a timer. If you find writing in English (or any language!) intimidating, start by giving yourself a time limit. Five or ten minutes isn’t very long, but if you repeat it regularly, you’ll see a big difference in how much you can write and how easy you find it.

2. Measure your progress. Save all of your old diary entries and look back on them over time. On a day-to-day basis, it’s very, very difficult to see our own progress, but if you look back on your writing from six months ago, it’ll probably be very clear how much you’ve improved.

3. Make it complex. Just because it’s a diary, it doesn’t mean it has to be limited to “yesterday I went shopping”. Use the time to consider the big questions taking up space in your mind at the moment: American politics, gender theory, artificial intelligence, the future of humanity - all of these can go in your diary if you’re thinking about them!