7 Minute Daily Diary Writing Exercise
Read about Henrietta, a rogue chicken and follow a how-to of Lynda Barry’s seven-minute Daily Diary writing exercise.
A chicken wandering around a muddy puddle, Honolua Bay, Maui. Photo: Tanya Clarke 2019
Yesterday morning my husband found a great story.
"Henrietta the “rogue chicken” had been living at Dalton Jodrey Plumbing & Heating in Pleasantville, N.S., since last summer after she showed up one day with a group of guinea hens who roam the neighbourhood."
Who is Henrietta?
What a wonderful image! A gang of guinea hens who run with a chicken. Did she ask before she joined them? Where did she come from? Were the guinea hens friendly? What even is a guinea hen? So many questions.
The story continues.
Henrietta never went back with the guinea hens. She now lives in a coop in the garage of Dalton Jodrey Plumbing & Heating, where she cares for her clutch of chicks. Henrietta enjoys wandering around the property, eating tomatoes and sneaking into work vans to find adventure.
On Sunday, Henrietta disappeared.
By Wednesday, Henrietta was still missing. A post went up on the company's Facebook page with a couple of chicken selfies.
"A lot of people in our community know that we have had a rogue chicken live at the shop since last summer. Her name is Henrietta and she has been missing since Sunday afternoon. She is super friendly and loves to get in trucks and cars with people 😕 If you happen to see her please let us know. We miss her a great deal."
Thankfully, a kind person found Henrietta running around the nearby town and took her to a wildlife rehabilitation centre where she was collected that evening and brought back to her home and her babies.
You may be wondering what a chicken named Henrietta has to do with creative writing. Everything and nothing.
A How-To of Lynda Barry's Daily Diary
If you've hung around this blog for a while, you may know I love the work of cartoonist and teacher Lynda Barry. Barry has a wonderful way of teaching drawing and writing. Her process is thoughtful, playful and always intentional. One of her writing exercises is called The Daily Diary. To take part you will need a pen, your notebook and a timer.
Write today's date at the top of a clean page in your notebook.
Draw a frame and divide it into four sections. Like this:
Example of a Daily Diary layout.
Here’s Henrietta’s Daily Diary from Sunday.
Then, set your timer for three minutes. In the first column, write down seven things you did in the last twenty-four hours.
Repeat this in the second column but this time write down things you saw.
In the third section write down something you heard someone say.
In the fourth, write down a question that came up for you, something you've been wondering about. The last two boxes should take about 30 seconds each.
Read over your seven-minute diary and choose an image from either the DID or SAW list, thinking of each thing as a scene. Everything on those lists involves the setting and something you were doing: some kind of action.
On the next clean page of your notebook, write the place where this scene happened and the approximate time it took place.
Set your timer for five minutes and write this scene in the first person, present tense as if it's happening right now. Keep your pen moving the whole time.
Draw Yourself
Barry also includes spending five minutes drawing yourself in the scene, including your whole body engaged in some action. You can add this if you like to draw. Or not. Up to you.
Try to make a Daily Diary page every day over the next week. You might be surprised by what comes up for you. If anything, it will help to keep you in the present, listening and looking at the world around you. Sometimes you find stories there.
Do you keep a notebook of things you notice? Does it help with your writing? Do let us know in the comments below.
Until next time.
