Journaling with Chronories

I wrote a bit ago about my searching for a journaling application. I've found a lot of benefit from writing every day and wanted to combine this with also documenting my days. There are lots of application options with varying feature sets, but I ended up settling on Chronories.

A big reason I ended there was because the application does all sorts of behind the scenes data collection. So even if I didn't actually sit down and write every day the app would still compile some data. So I've been using Chronories for a little better than a month now. My results have been a bit mixed.

First off, my change in lifestyle has thrown me out of a regular routine and I'm still working on settling into a less structured day. It's pretty obvious that this has resulted into less personal writing as I haven't written in Chronories nearly as regularly as I was planning to (hopefully I can change that in the days ahead).

Today for the first time since I started using the app, I took a quick spin through the automatically generated reports. Even though I haven't written much there is still some pretty cool data in there. Even a just month of data was pretty interesting to look back on. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it looks like in six months or a year.

So, I guess it seems like my choice of app is doing what I hoped it would. I could neglect the whole idea of "journaling" and it would still grab some interesting data about my days that I could analyze later. That said, I am missing the benefits of writing each day so I do plan to do that more often going forward.

Chronories probably isn't for everyone, but it's working pretty damn well for me so far. Hopefully I'll be able to do a bit more manual entry into it in the coming months and I think that will add even more interestingness to the reports. We'll see. Maybe I'll post some examples of these reports down the road where I've got a few months of data to look at.

At this point it's safe to say the app is doing what it's supposed to, but I am not.

750 Words

Some time ago I stumbled on a theory or school of thought that involved writing 750 words the first thing of every morning. These are called Morning Pages, which is an idea from the book by Juila Cameron called The Artist's Way.

The idea is that you're able to sort of flush your brain out and work through any thoughts or ideas that you have fluttering around in your mind right away in the morning so that the ideas flow the rest of the day. It's a journal of sorts, which was something initially that turned me off about it to be quite honest. Then I discovered a Web application called 750 Words. The application provides you with a place to do your writing each day and then keeps track of the words you've written. It attempts to analyze your writing as well, which can be quite interesting at times.

The original idea for Morning Pages encorages the writing to be done right away in the morning and done longhand. It amounts to about three pages of writing. While the analog approach is kind of cool to me, and I have done some of my writings this way, I just can't make it routine. I'm at a computer all day so this electronic solution fits my lifestyle perfectly. And I'll say, while not completely necessary, the info nerd in me kind of enjoys the stats and analysis of my writing.

Buster Benson, the application creator, was nice enough to include some other dynamics in the application to encourage writing as well. There is a game element to 750 Words that awards you badges based on the number of days you've written as well as on your behavior. For example, you'll be awarded The Flamingo once you've written ten days in a row. While these aren't a huge motivator necessarily, they are kind of fun and I have to say I've gotten more encouragement from them I thought I would.

I haven't followed the Morning Pages method from The Artist's Way exactly, but I've found the exercise of a writing brain dump each day to be incredibly helpful. For me the practice of just writing down my thoughts has allowed me to process things much more easily and clearly. There's something to getting your thoughts down that brings light to them. Problems seem easier to deal with. It's easier to flesh out ideas or see their validity or stupidity.

An additional benefit to writing 750 words each day is that you're also honing your writing skills. The best way to become a better writer is to write more and let's be honest, we could all be better writers. Plain and simple. 750 Words allows you to monitor your writing and do so in a personal, private setting. If you're apprehensive about sharing your writing this is a perfect solution. I, personally, use it as an addition to my other writing.

I'll admit that I don't write my 750 words every single day, but I will say that I just feel better on the days that I do. I can notice a difference in my mindset during the stretches where I am especially committed. Over the last six months or so I've grown more and more attached to this writing and it has now essentially become a part of my day's routine. I don't feel right without it.

Whether your an artist or a writer or neither, the benefits of writing each day make trying 750 Words a no-brainer.