Cycles in Journal Writing
One of the benefits of rereading your journal entries is that you will begin to notice cycles in your writing. Not only on the surface, though. If you study your words you will begin to see the cycle of many themes in your life. The blah moments, the highlights, the times you commented on feeling tired, the time you had great ideas… The list goes on.
While rereading your journal entries list headings for whatever themes regularly pop up. Using a simple tally system note the number of times you made a reference to one of these themes. Or use a calendar* and track this way. Even the days you didn’t make an entry reflect you were too busy doing something else. Note this in your tally, too.
You may find some deeper insight into your thoughts and moods and how they are changeable and altered by the different aspects of your day. Perhaps you will learn ways to combat those blue days and harness the power of those great days to achieve your dreams.
*Keep old calendars with lots of writing room in each date for noting these cycles when you reread journal entries.
Heather
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POSTED IN: General: Journal Writing, Journal Themes
3 opinions for Cycles in Journal Writing
Velma
Mar 7, 2007 at 10:06 am
That’s a really cool idea! I’ve kept most of my old datebooks (which I used until I got a PDA), and I could actually take one and go back to that year in my journal, and note the topics… I could probably — if I were using very short descriptions — put several years’ worth of notes into one.
Must try this! (Should not leave work to do so, however.)
Heather Goldsmith
Mar 7, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Glad it helped, Velma. ;-)
So, What Did You Get for Christmas?
Jan 2, 2008 at 1:08 am
[…] I can’t believe I haven’t asked what everyone received for Christmas this year. My family knows very well my obsession with journals and writing so will always include some journal writing related gifts. This year my daughter bought me a lovely pen. It’s a Parker brand & purple; what else? Purple is only my favourite colour. The pen writes with a lovely smooth line in dark blue ink. I’ve been using it ever since Christmas Day to fill the pages of my journal. My mum also bought two spiral bound journals. These are simple notebooks, but light enough to make carrying them around easy. I’m sure to get to them some time soon. I also received a couple of calendars. These are always handy and I find plenty of uses for them when they’re old. […]
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