Category: Journaling

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – #Booklaunch, Lockdown Innit #Poetry and Observations by Marjorie Mallon

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Sunday book review, featuring Marjorie Mallon’s latest #Booklaunch, Lockdown Innit. This is Marje’s second book with a new accounting of circumstances and observations from her journey through the Covid pandemic.

 

Lockdown Innit: Poems About Absurdity by [M J Mallon]

Get this book on Amazon

 

 

Blurb:

Lockdown Innit is a poetry collection of eighteen poems about life’s absurdities and frustrations during lockdown. Wherever you live in this world, this is for you. Expect humour, a dollop of banter and ridiculous rants here and there. Amongst other delights, witness the strange antics of a swan posing by a bin and two statuesque horses appearing like arc deco pieces in a field. Check out the violin player on a tightrope, or the cheeky unmentionables wafting in the lockdown breeze!

What people are saying:

Bestselling author Lizzie Chantree’s thoughts: ‘An intricate mix of observations from the author about how the pandemic has brought change. Some welcome, some not so much. A thought provoking read.’

Author and Poet Sarah Northwood: Lockdown Innit is a wonderful collection of predominantly free verse poetry on all kinds of themes experienced during the author’s third lockdown.

 

My 5 Star Review:

This is Mallon’s second book where she shares her views, observations and incidents she’s endured dealing with the Covid lockdown. Mallon shares her thoughts and worries and experiences through poetic prose, and free verse writing in this book, documenting a range of emotions from fear to humor.

The author gives us a glimpse of her views from taking in the mundane and everyday happenings in life, to a few scares of her own, expressed from her point of experience. She shares stories about her daughters and elaborates on some of the ideas they had to stay entertained, to an ode to her mum and the silly shenanigans that go on in supermarkets – “Shopping Bozos”, demonstrating some of the inconsiderate behaviors of some people during a pandemic.

This an entertaining documented journey through the author’s eyes of  circumstances and life during the Covid lockdowns. Memorabilia for the future – lest we forget.

 

©DGKaye2021

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Reblog and share

Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives -2020- Pot Luck – #WritingHabits by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

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I found this in my archives, not even sure I reblogged it? But It’s always interesting to look back on plans, then a year later, look where things went – south? Looking at plans, did they come to fruition? And then of course, the dreaded burnout. And then eagle-eye Sally Cronin found it in my archives and shared it at her Smorgasbord Blogs from the Archives Series.

 

Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives -2020- Pot Luck – #WritingHabits by D.G. Kaye

 

 

Welcome to the current series of Posts from Your Archives… and I will be picking two posts from the blogs of those participating from the first six months of 2020. If you don’t mind me rifling through your archives… just let me know in the comments or you can find out the full scope: Posts from Your Archives – Pot Luck – 2020

This is the first post by D.G. Kaye, Debby Gies and she shares her observations about her writing habits and how the have changed over the course of her previous six books. I am sure something we can all relate to. This was first posted in January 2020 and just before Debby took a book break.

 

Change in Writing Habits, Book Break the New Book

 

Today I’m talking about how I notice some of my writing habits have changed through the years. When I wrote my first 6 books, I was disciplined differently. I did my writing first thing in the morning right after breakfast – or the day would surely distract me. But as the order of life sometimes changes, so has my writing.

I could write a rough draft in 2-3 months of writing 5 days a week with anywhere from 100 to 2000 words in a session, depending on the inspiration – sometimes the well is empty. After writing time, I’d move to the computer. Writing all my drafts in longhand comes in handy when wanting to stay off the computer to avoid distraction. After checking out blog comments, posts and social media, and although writing for the day was done, I then spent time in between the daily grind of life, reading articles on learning the trade of self- publishing and homing in on the craft of writing.

It’s now well over a year since I put out a new book. Oh sure, I was working on one, but somehow my enthusiasm wasn’t there, and I stopped enjoying the writing. Then life happened – a lot, then came winter vacation escape, and finally, I realized that I just needed a year off from the disciplined mandate of writing a book.

In that time of not writing a book I was still writing. I write 2 monthly columns, blog articles, book reviews, run guest interviews and have been featured as a guest myself on many blogs, and have even ventured into writing poetry more seriously. There’s no shortage of writing in my life, I just wasn’t feeling inspired to write another book without a timeout from the burnout of publishing 6 books in 5 years. Each of those books took up a good 6-8 months of my life, and I realized how swiftly life is passing by, and decided I need to be living a bit more before committing to a new project. So, I learned to accept my welcomed book writing break and learned it was okay to not be writing a book for a while. The only pressure I had was self-imposed, so I finally admitted I don’t have to write a book every day for the rest of my life, and if I’ve lost the interest for a particular project, it’s okay to abandon it. Now that doesn’t mean that all the work I’d put in would go to the delete bin. All it meant that the started manuscript would live in rest in a folder until such time I may get inspired to go back to it.

In that time away from book writing, without the rules of my self-imposed discipline hanging over me, instructing myself to write first thing in the morning, I didn’t always only write in the morning anymore. And I noticed I was developing new writing habits – writing spontaneously as compared to writing by schedule.

In my old writing habits, if the morning had passed and I was into my daily activities, I was done writing till the next morning. If an idea sprouted to mind, I’d simply jot down a sentence with the idea in a notebook to keep for fodder for a future a topic to write about. But now, throughout this past year plus that I haven’t put out a new book, I have found that random ideas have taken up more of my immediate attention—going with the inspiration when it hits. Instead of just making a notation, which would have certainly had a different interpretation than the one I originally had in mind from the magic of the moment, instead of just jotting the thought down and left to meld into the many other fleeting ideas, I’ll immediately pick up a notebook and write what comes to mind about that topic, while it’s fresh in my mind, dropping whatever I’m doing in that moment to take advantage of the moment. Please head over to Sally’s to continue reading.

 

*Note, I think I originally wrote this post in early 2020. Intentions were good, but 2020 happened big time in my life, and still continues. The book was finished and self-edited then left aside again. As soon as I get some semblance of a publishing mojo, the book will be released. Stay tuned!

 

Source: Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives -2020- Pot Luck – #WritingHabits by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

 

©DGKaye2021

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Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – This is Lockdown: Covid19 Diaries – #Anthology by MJ Mallon

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This week’s Sunday Book Review is for Marjorie Mallon’s new heartening release – This is Lockdown: Covid19 Diaries #anthology. Marje has written this book based on her thoughts, emotions and experiences being documented throughout this pandemic. She also invited several authors to join her anthology by submitting their thoughts and experiences in short story, flashfiction and poetry form. I was honored to be invited and be part of this testament to our times.

 

 

 

Blurb:

An anthology and compilation of diaries, short stories, flash fiction, contributions from the ‘isolation writers,’ plus poetry written during the time of lockdown in the UK. This Is Lockdown is written from a writer’s perspective highlighting the simple pleasures of day-to-day life during such an uncertain and frightening time. It also gives a glimpse of the blogging, writing world. The book showcases several authors and their thoughts on what it is like to experience ‘isolation’ as a writer. I also discuss the handling of the pandemic and my thoughts on what might happen next. In the final part of the book I include my latest short story idea: a YA romance and various short pieces of poetry, and flash fiction inspired by the pandemic.

The full list of authors are: Richard Dee, (Sci Fi , Steampunk, Amateur Detective author,) Catherine Fearns, (Amazon Bestselling Author of Police Procedural/Mysteries and Music Journalist,) Lynn Fraser, (Author,) Jackie Carreira, (Writer, musician, designer and aspiring philosopher,) Willow Willers, (Poet and Writer,) Sharon Marchisello, (Murder Mystery, Financial non-fiction author,) Fi Phillips ,(Author, Copy Editor,) Jeannie Wycherley, (Dark stories, Suspense, Horror,) Chantelle Atkins, (Urban Fiction, Teen/YA,) Tracie Barton-Barrett, (Speaker/Author,) Peter Taylor-Gooby, (Crime, Love Stories, Political Fiction,) Ritu Bhathal, (Chick Lit, Romance, Poet,) Alice May , (Author, Artist and Speaker,) Miriam Owen, (Blogger, Doctoral Researcher,) Drew Neary and Ceri Williams (Ghost Horror, Supernatural,) Katherine Mezzacappa, (Historical Fiction/Romance,) Sally Cronin, (Huge supporter of indie community/Blogger/Author) D G Kaye, (Memoirist/NonFiction,) Adele Marie Park, (Fantasy, Horror, Urban fantasy,) Marian Wood, (Blogger, Poet and Writer.) Samantha Murdoch, (Writer, Blogger,) Beaton Mabaso (Blogger, African storyteller,) Frank Prem (Poet, Author) Anne Goodwin (Author, Book Blogger) Sherri Matthews (Writer, Photographer, Blogger,) Jane Horwood and Melissa Santiago-Val – Community Masks for The NHS .

 

My 5 Star Review:

MJ Mallon begins this heartening book with a stunning foreword to mark the times that are sure to become part of a testament of our times in history on the 2020 global pandemic Covid19 that has rocked our collective world.

The book is broken down into three parts – Daily diary entries from the author, writer’s testaments, and thoughts in flashfiction/nonfiction stories, and poetry. Each contributing author evoking their experiences and thoughts.

Mallon has covered and documented life in lockdown, tracking events as they happen and the human condition scrutinized for its affects with shared incidents, displaying fears, finances, health concerns, and what a potentially killer disease portends. Her diaries touch on emotion as MJ expresses her own fears and concerns and observations at the days and weeks progress in lockdown.

Common threads I noticed from all writers: Loss of writing muse and creativity, restructuring of family life and function, adjusting to lockdown, and for many – overwhelming online ‘everything’ now, cutting into a writer’s work time and creativity.

This book is for everyone, for we all share the same common Covid fears and adjustments in this very world we all live in. A recommended read for reflection and to reinforce, we are not alone.

 

©DGKaye2020

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writing tips

Change in Writing Habits, Book Break the New Book

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Today I’m talking about how I notice some of my writing habits have changed through the years. When I wrote my first 6 books, I was disciplined differently. I did my writing first thing in the morning right after breakfast – or the day would surely distract me. But as the order of life sometimes changes, so has my writing.

 

I could write a rough draft in 2-3 months of writing 5 days a week with anywhere from 100 to 2000 words in a session, depending on the inspiration – sometimes the well is empty. After writing time, I’d move to the computer. Writing all my drafts in longhand comes in handy when wanting to stay off the computer to avoid distraction. After checking out blog comments, posts and social media, and although writing for the day was done, I then spent time in between the daily grind of life, reading articles on learning the trade of self- publishing and homing in on the craft of writing.

It’s now well over a year since I put out a new book. Oh sure, I was working on one, but somehow my enthusiasm wasn’t there, and I stopped enjoying the writing. Then life happened – a lot, then came winter vacation escape, and finally, I realized that I just needed a year off from the disciplined mandate of writing a book.

In that time of not writing a book I was still writing. I write 2 monthly columns, blog articles, book reviews, run guest interviews and have been featured as a guest myself on many blogs, and have even ventured into writing poetry more seriously. There’s no shortage of writing in my life, I just wasn’t feeling inspired to write another book without a timeout from the burnout of publishing 6 books in 5 years. Each of those books took up a good 6-8 months of my life, and I realized how swiftly life is passing by, and decided I need to be living a bit more before committing to a new project. So, I learned to accept my welcomed book writing break and learned it was okay to not be writing a book for a while. The only pressure I had  was self-imposed, so I finally admitted I don’t have to write a book every day for the rest of my life, and if I’ve lost the interest for a particular project, it’s okay to abandon it. Now that doesn’t mean that all the work I’d put in would go to the delete bin. All it meant that the started manuscript would live in rest in a folder until such time I may get inspired to go back to it.

In that time away from book writing, without the rules of my self-imposed discipline hanging over me, instructing myself to write first thing in the morning, I didn’t always only write in the morning anymore. And I noticed I was developing new writing habits – writing spontaneously as compared to writing by schedule.

In my old writing habits, If the morning had passed and I was into my daily activities, I was done writing till the next morning. If an idea sprouted to mind, I’d simply jot down a sentence with the idea in a notebook to keep for fodder for a future a topic to write about. But now, throughout this past year plus that I haven’t put out a new book, I have found that random ideas have taken up more of my immediate attention—going with the inspiration when it hits. Instead of just making a notation, which would have certainly had a different interpretation than the one I originally had in mind from the magic of the moment, instead of jut jotting the thought down and left to meld into the many other fleeting ideas, I’ll immediately pick up a notebook and write what comes to mind about that topic, while it’s fresh in my mind, dropping whatever I’m doing in that moment to take advantage of the moment. I have notepads scattered in almost every room with ideas and started stories waiting to be told, instead of just ideas that were left as a sentence,  never to be found again in the midst of a mountain of notepads. And I’m quite enjoying being a spontaneous writer. I’ve amassed several ideas for books and blogs this past year from random ideas that come to mind.

Through this new, no pressure process, I was sparked by an interesting book blurb I’d read while browsing through some books on Amazon, sparking a new idea for a book to write, which has since become a new enjoyable experience again. I’m thrilled to have my book writing mojo back.

It felt good to find inspiration again and to be starting a new project, despite the multitude of interruptions from daily life, and despite not always getting to write first thing in the morning or working on the book daily, My raw first draft is ready to be entered into the computer now where first round revisions will begin. I’ll be taking a winter escape break in a short few weeks, so when I return, I’ll be diving into rewrite mode as I enter my stories. As it seems life may be taking on new directions for us this year – again taking up a lot of my personal time and brain space, I hope to publish early summer. At least I now have a plan. I suppose the bonus is, the longer I allow my  manuscript to marinate in-between edit rounds is a good thing.

And so, perhaps you may be wondering what I’m working on? Because it’s still a work in progress, I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice it to say, as a memoir writer, you can expect more personal stories. This book is based on ‘first times’ of doing things in life – my life. The title has yet to be finalized, but the working title is ‘Fifteen First Times’, the subtitle is: The Good, The Bad, The Funny, and The Sad. They may be my stories, but they’re relatable, and sometimes moving. So, if you enjoy reading my books, I’m confident you’ll want to read this one!

 

Here is a ‘very’ rough draft of a ‘working’ blurb:

A collection of first-times in life where Kaye takes us with her on some of the big moments of life’s most natural events through the intimate, conversational style we’ve come to know from this author’s style for extracting the meatiest moments in life and getting to the heart of each matter, delivered with sincerity and inflections of humor.

 

Have you noticed your writing habits have changed through the year?

©DGKaye2020

 

Copyright
© D.G. Kaye and DGKayewriter.com, 2014 – 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to D.G. Kaye

 

 

Are You Familiar with Automatic Writing? – The Sisters of the Fey

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I shared a post last week on our Sisters of the Fey blog on Automatic Writing. If you’re not familiar with this process, you may want to read on.

 

Are You Familiar with Automatic Writing?

 

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER AND FIRST BEGAN LEARNING ABOUT ANGELS AND SPIRIT GUIDES, I BECAME QUITE CURIOUS ABOUT  ‘AUTOMATIC WRITING’. I THOUGHT IT WAS SO INTRIGUING TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE FROM THE SUBCONSCIOUS WITH A GUIDED WRITING FROM A HIGHER POWER.

 

So what is automatic writing?

The formal name for automatic writing is psychography – the ability to produce writing from the sub-conscience through divine guidance, and spiritual or supernatural source while under a calm, trance-like state. This isn’t to be misconstrued with ‘free writing’. Spirit is invited in with an unconscious mind – a gateway to our higher selves.

 

How to prepare for automatic writing:

First we must clear our minds. Sit in a place free from distraction. You can use meditation to obtain this calm, or whatever method most comfortable to bring ourselves into a calmed mode to enable us to receive the messaging.

Next, call on an entity – your spirit guide or an angel to to help you channel whatever it is you are focusing on in your thoughts that you hope to write answers for. You may ask, “Who is here?”

Close your eyes, breathe deep till you feel relaxed (or meditate to get there) then think about a topic or question you hope to be given divine guidance to write about. Have a note book in front of you and pen in hand. Focus on your topic, put pen to paper, and let your hand guide the pen – almost in a similar way a Ouija board works.

What do you want to write about? Maybe it’s a problem that’s been on your mind, a recurring dream you’ve been having and wanting to make some sense of, even a story-line idea you may be wanting to write about can be your focused writing intention.

 

Preparing for the writing: 

You should set a timer for this exercise for anywhere from 10 minutes (recommended minimum) to a half an hour. This helps with not being distracted by wondering how long you may have been writing, because with closed eyes to keep from distraction, you won’t be checking your watches.

Closing our eyes helps to keep the focus on our intent so the mind doesn’t get caught up in what is actually being written. This prevents edits or cross-outs from diverting our train of thoughts. Remember, if your mind does drift off topic, keep writing whatever it is that comes to mind – even if it’s whatever thought came to mind that threw off your original thoughts. Our minds entered this state with a clear mind, if jungled thoughts should interrupt the stream of consciousness, then perhaps that’s what was needed to be written.

After the timer goes off, relax for a few moments. You should close the session with thanking the spirit who guided your writing. Then go ahead and read what you’ve written. What you wrote may not make immediate sense and you can highlight thoughts from the writing that may potentially lead to further writing. You may not have received what you were hoping for as this process may take you a few times to get comfortable with. The object is to keep trying this method when you feel inclined, and look back on prior writings of earlier attempts to see if you find a pattern in what your writing is trying to convey to you.

Purpose – Using automatic writing to seek guidance from the soul. The channeling helps to guide us to pull from our soul. With the mind still and empty, we can focus solely on our question or topic. This exercise helps us tap into something greater than just our ‘thinking’ mind.

When Assessing what you’ve written, and haven’t yet decided on what the message was that has come through your writing, you can feel free to do this again by asking another question, now regarding what you have previously written that previously didn’t make sense to you. How do you know you’re channeling from your soul? – If your words give you clarity and a direction to continue forward with, as opposed to vague or disjointed writing, the process is working for you.

~ ~ ~

Have you ever written something in the quiet, wee hours of the night, looked at it later and wondered, ‘did I write that?’. If so, there’s a good chance you were writing from a higher state of consciousness.

Have you ever tried automatic writing? I’d love to hear in comments, some of your experiences.

*Sue Dreamwalker was gracious enough to add a link in her comment below to an older post she’d written about just one of her experiences with Automatic Writing. Please feel free to take a look at Sue’s experience HERE

 

The short video below will demonstrate a concise explanation on the process of automatic writing.

 

Source: Are You Familiar with Automatic Writing? – The Sisters of the Fey

 

Copyright
© D.G. Kaye and DGKayewriter.com, 2014 – 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to D.G. Kaye

 

Guest Featured Author

Guest Post – Marsha Ingrao is back with Journaling Part 2 – Online Journaling

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Guest Featured Author

 

I am thrilled to have back here, author/blogger Marsha Ingrao with her promised Part 2 post about Journaling. Many of you should remember that Marsha was here a little while ago posting on how to journal and she said she would come back and share all about how to journal online!

Online journaling is different than journaling in a notebook, and Marsha is going to tell us about how to journal online, what are the most effective tools for journaling, how to keep your online journals private, and lots of other juicy tips. So now I give you Marsha:

 

Here’s a Secret About Online Journaling

“The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.” — J.M. Barrie

 

The purpose of this article is to outline the benefits of online journaling.

 

Most of you already journal online and don’t even realize it. If you blog, use Facebook, Twitter, or other social media, you have started an online journal.

Online Journaling - Marsha Ingrao

 

“ A journal is meant to collect your ideas and observations on any number of things and put the happenings of each day into writing. In this way, you can better remember what you did, what you thought, and what was happening when you were younger.” https://penzu.com/what-is-a-journal

Journaling Makes Sense If You Want More Out of Life

Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit, suggests that forming keystone habits can change your life. A keystone habit  means “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives.”

 

Journaling online may well be the keystone habit that would change your life in many ways. Five hundred words a day would mean you could write a book in just 100 days.

 

Maybe you want to lose weight. Doctors and nutritionists ask yo to journal your food intake for a day week or month. Built into your regular journaling routine, you could be a healthier you in just a few months.

 

Maybe you want to be happier. My friend whose husband’s brain cancer has reached the stage past effective treatments started a gratitude journal on Facebook.

 

What do you want to do or be? Start journaling, and let electronics help you do it.

 

Humans Pass 70,000 Thoughts Through Their Heads Each Day

 

Dr. Deepak Chopra, a “rigorous, skeptical scientist, acknowledged some error in his measurements and said that humans process “60,000 to 80,000” thoughts daily.  Discover Magazine

 

Does it seem like the great ideas that flit  through your brain each day are gone? You are right, most of them become inaccessible after a short time. We can only hold seven ideas in our heads at a time.

 

Naturally, not all of those 70,000 thoughts are worth recording, but if you want to capture more of those little puffs of idea bubbles, you might consider adding the online journal to your journaling repertoire.

 

Online Journals Work Faster To Keep Up with YOUR Brain

An online journal can help your brain crunch those 70,000 diverse thoughts each day.

 

The interest in journaling has surged with the use of computers. For example, over 10,000 people read a forum which asked Google why it hadn’t created an online journal application.

 

One of them, Mgjacob summarized her needs to the Google engineers.

I am looking for a function where I can maintain information like

  • medical records of kids, parents for fever, health checkups, treatments, surgeries, BP, cholesterol, Sugar records, etc., so that I can look for patterns in the data.
  • events occurring in family and friend circle.
  • tags for messages and store into categories.
  • financial notes on payments and renewals
  • details of holiday trips with snaps
  • auto location tags and manual corrections
  • audio, video, still photos to be added to notes

 

While Google has not created a specific product for online journaling, there are many Google products you can use. Journalists have developed journals using Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Slides and Calendar. Other companies have also designed products for journalists.

 

There are numerous advantages to keeping an online journal in addition to or instead of a hand-written journal. The purpose of this post is to list reasons you might want to use an online journal.

 

1. Secrets Make An Online Journal Essential

Just like Penny on the Big Bang Theory, every journal writer may inadvertently write something in their journal that is not for public eyes. Or they wish they could hide their private thoughts. An online journal can be encrypted so that even if someone found it, he our she could not read it.

 

Influencers who write for LifeHacker advise online journal writers to encrypt their writing much like the military does.

 

“One way to encrypt your journal is with TrueCrypt so you really are the only person with access to it. Doing so trades some portability, since you’ll have to decrypt it before you can update or edit it, but it definitely keeps it secure.”

2. Online Journals Can Be Accessed Through Any Computer

Unlike a paper journal, you can write in your online journal from anywhere you have internet access. It may surprise you to find out how many aps there are for journal writing. I recommend and use several products in Google Drive as my journal. However, journaling software is as ubiquitous as journalers.

 

3. Journal Software Adds Features that Improve the Online Experience

Here are just a five online journal software companies recommended by LifeHack.

Quora writers have several additional recommendations.

 

Unlike a handwritten journal, with most online journal formats you can share your post with multiple recipients. You can also allow them the privilege of adding to your journal entry.

 

Even though my top pick is Google Drive, I experimented with Penzu to write this article. I also checked out Google Calendar. Both Google Drive and Calendar are private unless you choose to share your entry.

 

Penzu allows you to lock your entries for free. For a price they encrypt it for you. They remind you by email to write in your journal. Unlike Google Docs, it has a fancy journal like cover. You can create the same look in Google Slides.

 

Long ago I used Evernote, but opted to use Google Drive instead, but you can record directly into Evernote. Over five years ago I tried recording minutes to meetings. Transcribing notes was not a feature of the application. Transcribing by hand is like trying to use a pedal sewing machine to outfit a cast of 100 players in a school play that is scheduled next week.

 

3. Multi Media Works In Online Journals

This morning I called on Siri to make a note. You can’t do that with a hand-held journal. I recorded on my phone’s text program, but Evernote works better because you can organize your notes.

 

This feature also makes journal writing accessible for visually impaired writers or people who can’t use their hands. My mother’s 92-year-old cousin writes every day and uses Dragon Naturally Speaking. The professional version of this program works well for recording and transcribing podcasts.

 

With almost all online journaling programs you can add photos, videos and sound recordings making the online journal more versatile than the paper one.

 

4. A Hand-Held Journal Is Never There When You Need It

You read that you should keep your journal within reach, but not necessarily right in sight so you can get it when those diverse thoughts float across your mind. However, you broke the rule and left it on your desk when you went for a ride.

 

While most people don’t carry a bulky or a small notebook with them everywhere, few people leave a room without their phone. It takes little effort to record what you want to say into your phone.

 

Some phones are even waterproof. Sean Hollister writes, “When inspiration hits in the shower (all my best thoughts are #showerthoughts), I don’t need to dry off before I jot them down.” Cnet

5. Organization Is Easier With an Online Journal

Experts say to resist the urge to organize when you are in the throes of the random act of journaling. However, the power of the journaling experience is to review what you have written from time to time. Every two or days is best so that you don’t miss something urgent that you needed to do.

 

In a paper journal, this task is daunting, but it is not difficult online. With the versatile, but simple Google Drive application, it is easy to create an index using a Google Spreadsheet.

 

“Search” is on every program out there. Search spoils us for the real world, doesn’t it? Not only does our journal get lost, so do glasses, food, clothes, toys. Maybe some day everything will have searchable chips in them.

 

For now enjoy the online ability to search for words within your journal. As you review and organize, you can filter out less useful ideas, even cut and paste the best ones into a new journal entry, blog post, comment, chapter of your next book, or email..

 

6. Journal Writing Focuses on Quantity Not Quality

Using an online journal, space is not an issue. There is no illegible scribbling at the bottom of the page or between lines or vertically in the margins. You can write as much as you want and you won’t run out of paper.

 

Don’t you hate getting to the end of your paper journal right in the middle of a great thought? Have you bought a new journal? Can you find one? Even if you have a stack of them waiting for you, which one are you going to choose? Your thought bubble just burst.

 

7. How’s Your Handwriting?

Your handwriting may be great, but if you are a student now, the chances are likely that you are not learning handwriting. Soon people may all have to sign their names with an X. My husband’s signature looks like he could write prescriptions. It is totally illegible.

 

While illegible writing is a great way to encrypt your hand-written journal, it’s not effective if YOU can’t figure out what you wrote. For people like me who are dyslexic or have graphic dysfunctions, keyboarding doesn’t solve all the problems with writing and legibility, but it helps.

 

8. Boys Like to Journal Online

CBS News reported statistics showing that boys and men are less likely than girls or women to excel at reading and writing. Using computers improves that statistic for both reading and writing. It’s a gadget. It has buttons and gimmicks.

 

If you struggle looking at a blank page, journal products give you some starts, and the internet itself can infuse you with brilliant ideas. Once your brain gets going, inertia takes over and off it goes.

 

If you like journaling online, then you will do it. That’s what’s important. Always write. Write quickly, Turn off the grammar nazi. Write lots. Edit later or not at all. 🙂

 

9. Photograph Notes Instead of Writing Them

Photographs integrate so well with an online journal. If you are at a conference and you don’t want to write notes, take a picture of the screen, and paste it into your journal. Voila all you need to do is go back and record your thoughts about each picture.

 

On of the disadvantages of an online journal is that you can’t doodle. Or can you? Doodle on anything, take a picture of it and paste it into your journal. Or use Google Keep. It has a screen for doodling. Partner that with a touch screen computer, and doodling is back in business. Another way to appease the doodle instinct is to get an online sketch pad or a phone that has a stylus.

 

10. Online Links Turn Your Journal Into a Research Project

Online research has gained credibility over the years. You can find almost anything, even journals, online. If you are writing in your journal, and you have a question, the internet is there to help you. List the links for reference.

 

11. Online Journals Can Go Public Instantly

You might think that journals should always be private. But consider the ship’s log on Star Trek which reminds us that journals often have very public uses.

 

Those of you who watched the TV series House might remember the episode in which a patient consistently blogged about her strange illness. House had been banned from the case, but kept up via blogging. He even instructed the woman’s assigned doctors through his comments on the patient’s blog. Eventually the clues they found about her symptoms led to a proper diagnosis and ultimate cure.

 

Different software programs give journalists the option to share a journal entry or the entire journal.

 

12. Ways to Use a Journal

Assuming that you hate to write, and have never kept a journal, Rosella LaFevre wrote a post for Huffington Post listing thirteen ways to use a journal. Here are some of them with added prompts and a few extras.

  • Record daily events. Don’t forget the date. (every meal deserves a picture, every hike, every garden, every decorating job)
  • Small victories (conquering ant bites, winning a poker tournament, talking your husband out of buying a Porsche.)
  • Turning goals into todos (write a guest post, clean the kid’s bathtub, go to Hawaii
  • Favorite quotes (install Momentum for daily quotes and pictures around the world.)
  • Notes (grocery list, family todos)
  • Affirmations (notes you want to send to people)
  • Books to read (take a screenshot of the book or list of books or cut and paste your friend’s email recommendations into your journal.
  • Movies to watch (ditto books)
  • Networking info ( business cards, photograph them or scan them.)
  • Questions (Why haven’t I kept a journal before this?)
  • Problems (You don’t have any? Refer to the last bullet)
  • Drafts (not in your attic, that would classify as a problem.)
  • Add Mood, labels, and Emojis to help you recreate the day.
  • Tell yourself the truth. There’s no need to lie to your journal if you are fully protected. If you don’t feel comfortable writing something, don’t. But be honest in what you write.
  • Write naturally without worrying about grammar, spelling or even if it makes sense. If it doesn’t make sense, call it poetry.

13 Cautions

  • Keep your password safe. I use a spreadsheet file called something other than Passwords to record all my files. I keep them in code form so that I know what they are, but if someone should break into my computer, they would have a hard time understanding what the codes are. I also keep them coded in my handwritten journals. Since codes change from time to time, the journal I am currently using has my current passwords only, and only those I use the most.
  • Some people scribble faster than they type. For those happy scribblers voice recognition programs help you avoid typing, but not without some humorous mistakes. Just ask Siri. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjp58jbvefXAhVN4mMKHR8fCZEQtwIINDAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZjZ4tdtEvcQ&usg=AOvVaw1DgClLBXORLuJZzsXWNypt
  • Too much computer usage causes eyestrain. So does too much reading and writing out of books. The lighted screen may cause headaches. Some would suggest to limit your journaling to 20 minutes in the morning. Others would set a word limit, like 500 or 1,000 words.
  • You may remember less of what you journal online. That’s when labels, files and search engines come in handy.

 

14. Does Your Online Journal Smell Good?

Touch and smell may be the only sensory competitions in which your online journal cannot compete with a print journal.

 

At first you might consider that touch might also lessen the appeal of the online journal. But those who have typed on a computer all their lives, understand the feel of well worn keys. The same feelings emote from them as from a well worn pair of shoes with scratches and holes that make them more comfortable.

 

Like a paper journal, notes, stickers, and covers add character to the computer. Virtual notes, stickers and covers do the same for the online journal. But does an online journal emit an odor? Are there online pheromones?

 

Sorry, no there are not.

 

Can you live without the smell and feel of your journal?

 

Summary

Most writers journal. You might prefer to use only a print journal or you might choose an online journal. There are many tools to use when you journal. Using them is a matter of what is most convenient and pleasing at the time. This post outlined twelve benefits benefits and several cautions of using an online journal. The most important thing to remember is that “slow progress is better than no progress.” Anomyous

 

Start your online journal today.

 

Related Posts

Follow Up to Use Your Blogging Journal Like a Pro

If You Blog, You Should Start a Journal…. Whaaaaaaa?

How To Create AND USE Your Own Transformational Blogging Journal

 

 

Wow! Thank you so much Marsha for this amazing article contribution. I so appreciate the research you’ve done to compile this most informative article on Online Blogging.

Marsha Ingrao

About Marsha:

Before becoming a consultant in history and English language-arts, Marsha Ingrao taught grades K-5 for many years. Marsha journaled to work through the tragedy of her first marriage, which ended in the death of her husband at the age of forty-seven from a rare genetic disease. Encouraged by doctors not to have children, she whined to her journal as she also kept it crammed with lesson plans, poetry, news, prayer requests, drawings, Bible studies, and lists.

 

She retired in 2012, wrote Images of America, Woodlake, blogs, and volunteers in her community through several service organizations.  She and her second husband live in the foothills of California with their dog, Kalev and two cats.

Connect with Marsha on Social Media:

FB Page: 
Twitter: @MarshaIngrao
LinkedIn:
Google +: 
Pinterest:
Instagram:
Tumblr:

Check out Marsha’s books:

Woodlake – Images of America

Sign up for Marsha’s newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of her book – So you think you can blog?

 

Guest Featured Author

Guest Author and Blogger Feature – Marsha Ingrao on Journaling

Published on by 116 Comments

Guest Featured Author

I’m excited to have over here today, friend, author, retired teacher, and blogger extraordinaire Marsha Ingrao. Marsha offers excellent insights on her 2 blogs. MarshaJustWrites.com offers blogging tips, author interviews, blogging challenges, as well as an excellent series on book reviews. Marsha also runs a blog TCHistorygal.net where she shares her travel reviews and photos on some of the many places she’s traveled to, as well as sharing her pet projects raising funds for her Woodlake community.

I invited Marsha over today to talk about the different methods of journaling. We thought it was an appropriate post because I do much of my writing from journals where my thoughts and books begin. So without further ado, I’ll let Marsha take it away . . .

 

Ways to Journal

You can call it a journal or a diary. Either way, in the 21st century there are two ways keep track of your thoughts, online or offline. Both have their advantages. This post will discuss the time-honored handwritten journal. The next post will explore the differences in an online journal.

 Journaling by Marsha Ingrao

 

Handwritten Journals Show Specific Benefits

Research shows that the kinesthetic act of writing aids learning. Writing by hand slows a person’s raging thoughts and makes the writer focus on what is essential. Many journalists use a personal shorthand, which engages a different section of the brain. Others include drawings which activate additional cognitive processes.

A 2005 study shows that the act of writing a journal has mental health benefits as well. It does not lessen the seriousness of the situation a person goes through, but it does help to put their troubles into perspective.

UCLA researcher, Matthew D. Lieberman told the Guardian  that “”writing seems to help the brain regulate emotion unintentionally.” Even writing bad poetry or songs, writing by hand made the calming effects of journaling more effective. He also said that “men seemed to benefit from writing about their feelings more than women, and writing by hand had a bigger effect than typing,” Dr. Lieberman said,

A  2014 study found that individuals who journal a form of narrative focused on positive outcomes in adverse situations reduces stress. In a 2010 study, Briana Murnahan from Eastern Michigan University also conducted a study on the results of journaling and found that diaries and journals both helped people reduce stress, but men were more likely to keep a journal, which is less private.

Handwritten Journal Basics

  1. Bound journals don’t get lost as easily. They are available in all sizes and prices with and without clasps and a ribbon bookmark
  2. Include the date of each entry.
  3. Leave the first few pages blank to write in a table of contents or index of pages you want to revisit
  4. Leave the first few pages unmarked for frequently used information like sign in codes, birthdates, (coded, of course)
  5. Use the inside covers or back few pages for lists.  This might include books you’ve read, new people you meet, prayer requests, anything you might want to add to as you work through your journal.
  6. Write a page number on at least every other page.
  7. Don’t worry about form, grammar, or neatness.
  8. Review it.
  9. Keep it handy.

In the next post in this series discover how keeping a blog or an online journal differs from a handwritten one and how you can use both effectively.

 

Thank you so much Marsha for being my guest here today and for sharing your wonderful insights on the many reasons to keep a journal. I know I’m looking forward to your follow up post – on Online Journaling and would be thrilled to host it here too. 🙂

 

Biography

Marsha Ingrao

 

Before becoming a consultant in history and English language-arts, Marsha Ingrao taught grades K-5 for many years. Marsha journaled to work through the tragedy of her first marriage, which ended in the death of her husband at the age of forty-seven from a rare genetic disease. Encouraged by doctors not to have children, she whined to her journal as she also kept it crammed with lesson plans, poetry, news, prayer requests, drawings, Bible studies, and lists.

 

She retired in 2012, wrote Images of America, Woodlake, blogs, and volunteers in her community through several service organizations.  She and her second husband live in the foothills of California with their dog, Kalev and two cats.

 

Connect with Marsha on Social Media:

FB Page: 
Twitter: @MarshaIngrao
LinkedIn:
Google +: 
Pinterest:
Instagram:
Tumblr:

Check out Marsha’s books:

Woodlake – Images of America

Sign up for Marsha’s newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of her book – So you think you can blog?

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http://marshajustwrites.com/use-blogging-journal/