Keeping a diary is a common New Year’s resolution, but it can be hard to think of things to write in a diary every day.
Cartoonist Lynda Barry encourages students in her comics classes to keep a diary of the things they notice in the world around them. Keeping this kind of diary can help you as a cartoonist, writer and artist. It can also give you great ideas for comics, characters and dialogue.
You can use Lynda Barry’s diary format, or you can use this simplified version:
You can download a Diary Challenge double page printout.
Don’t worry if you don’t remember to keep a diary every day, just keep drawing and writing in it as often as you can.
Comic club members could keep a diary for at least seven days, then at the next comic club meeting they could use their favourite words, phrases and images from their diary to make a comic.
Comic club leaders, if you haven’t come across Lynda Barry’s Syllabus or What it is, they are full of brilliant ideas.
Comics Club 