Directed Writing and Composition IGCSE June 2026 By Dinzei Maureen Marris

 Directed Writing and Composition IGCSE English June 2026 By Dinzei Maureen Marris

Text A

The following text is an article written by a person who keeps a diary.

I still get funny looks when I mention that I keep a diary. What exactly have I got to tell this black 

book? What secrets can I possibly be keeping?

The answer: nothing of any great note, yet so much of my life is in it. For twenty years I’ve kept 

it every day. You can’t hold back time, but you can try to save the past from being completely 

erased. It may feel trivial to record things as they happen, but later they may prove instructive or 

amusing. A diary is good exercise for the writing muscle, the way a pianist practises scales or a 

runner practises sprinting, but it doesn’t have to be well written.

For whom are you writing? Diary writing is the most private form of literary creation because 

often you are both the author and the sole reader. There are great advantages to this, especially 

in an age when so many lives are lived online for anybody to read, criticise and judge. On 

the other hand, there’s a long tradition of published diaries: nowadays you can even read 

people’s diaries online as they write them. Politicians’ diaries can shed a very different light 

on events from the formal record, and diaries kept by travellers and adventurers provide 

fascinating insights into places and people in a way which is less curated than in a travel book. 

Published diaries have sometimes given a voice to people whose lives would otherwise be lived 

unnoticed and on the margins, like the servants of the wealthy or like people living in remote 

rural communities in the past. Publishers know that readers like poking their noses into other 

people’s lives. There’s even a whole genre of fictional characters who write diaries.

A diary’s long perspective furnishes a picture not just of what you did but of who you were. 

Sometimes I happen on a diary entry from years ago and think: did I write that? We evolve and 

acquire new selves. Memory will blur, whereas a diary can claim: ‘I was there at the time.’

Diaries can shape our futures too. We can set goals and monitor our progress towards meeting 

them or chastise ourselves when we don’t. Gratitude diaries, to record the things you’re grateful 

for that day, are common these days: it’s your diary to do what you want with.

Text B

The following text is taken from a blog written by a different person giving their views on 

diary writing.

I’ve kept a digital diary for 10 years. In the process, I’ve written hundreds of pages filled with 

emotions, rants, stories and experiences, good and bad. People ask me if this habit of journalling can 

be harmful. For example, do I ever get lost in negativity if I keep writing about it?

When you are in a rough spot and want to write down the negativity that’s in your life, doing 

so can be very confronting. For some, this venting can result in a negative mindset. You can 

sometimes prevent this by simply keeping that negativity out of your diary or journal.

Some people feel such an extreme urge to keep a journal that it consumes their lives. My digital 

diary so far contains around 400000 words. Some people’s diaries amount to a lot more than 

that. Do you really want the majority of your life to be about how you’ve been journalling about 

your life? Life is right in front of us, not inside our journals. If we want something to journal about 

then, paradoxically, we have to switch off our devices and start living instead.

People can stumble upon your diary, whether a physical diary or a digital one, and read 

everything you thought was private. And, because it’s private, you’ve written things that others 

might view as hurtful, embarrassing or just weird. Even trustworthy friends and family can upend 

relationships as a result. There are ways to keep your journal safe and hidden from view, both 

online and offline. It might seem like an extreme precaution, but it is necessary if you want your 

diary to reflect your honest, truthful feelings about your life.

So can journalling be harmful? The answer is ‘yes’, but a journal or diary is only harmful if we 

allow it to be. These situations are easily avoided if we understand why we journal our lives and 

how to benefit from doing so.

Read Text A and Text B in the insert and then answer Section A, Question 1 on this question paper.

Section A: Directed writing

Question 1

Your friend is considering keeping an online digital diary to be published on the internet. 

Write a letter to your friend giving your advice about whether or not this is a good idea.

In your letter you should:

•

evaluate the ideas, attitudes and opinions in the texts

•

give your views about the factors your friend should consider about keeping and sharing 

a diary.

Base your letter on what you have read in both texts, but be careful to use your own words. 

Address both of the bullet points.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer and up to 25 marks for the 

quality of your writing.

Section B: Composition

Answer one question from Section B.

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions. Answer on this question paper.

Up to 16 marks are available for the content and structure of your answer and up to 24 marks 

for the style and accuracy of your writing.

EITHER

Descriptive writing

2

Describe the surroundings as you travel out of a city into the countryside.

OR

Descriptive writing

3

Describe the moment you find an object which was lost.

OR

Narrative writing

4

Write a story about a new group of friends.

OR

Narrative writing

5

Write a story with the title, ‘Following the river’.