Shortly before going into hiding Anne receives a diary for her birthday. She starts writing straightaway and during her time in hiding she writes about events in the secret annex and about herself. Her diary is a great support to her. Anne also writes short stories and collects her favorite sentences by other writers in a notebook.
When the Minister of Education makes a request on the radio for people to keep war diaries, Anne decides to edit her diary and create a novel called 'The Secret Annex'. She starts to rewrite her diary, but before she has finished, she and the other people in hiding are arrested.