The Journal Newsletter
Introduction
Summer 2007 is just about over now. Only a week left. So if there were things you wanted to get done this summer and have been putting off … Times almost up. Get to it! =)
As I predicted last month, I have released an update of The Journal 4.1! The Big New Feature of The Journal 4.1 Build #237 is the option to have more than one entry on a particular date. Look in “The Journal News” below for the rest of what’s new and fixed in Build #237, and then look under “Tips & Tricks” for a quick lesson in how to use the new feature.
Then you can check out this month’s writing exercises and read Diana Little’s “How I Use The Journal”.
Thank you for choosing DavidRM Software’s The Journal!
Tips & Tricks
TIP: Creating a log-style category
As of The Journal 4.1.0.237, you can have multiple, time-stamped entries on a date. This new feature allows you to create a “log” style category, where you make entries throughout the day.
To create a log-style category:
1. Click on the “Category” menu and choose “New Category…”
2. Enter the name of your category, and make sure that the “New Category Type” is “Standard Entry”. Then click on “Next”.
3. Select “Daily/On Demand”, then click on “Next”.
4. Select “Normal Document Entry”, then click on “Next”.
5. Click on “Finish”.
Now, whenever you want to make a new entry in your log category:
>> Click on the “Create New Entry” button on the toolbar (next to “Redo”), or just hit the hot-key: F9. Then start typing.
Once you start typing, the entry will be “stamped” with the current time, which will be displayed (along with the first line of the entry) in the entry tree below the calendar.
Nice, neh?
TRICK: Copying the “structure” of a loose-leaf category
The Journal’s loose-leaf categories, like “Notebook”, allow you to arrange your entries in a “tree” structure. But have you ever created a structure in one category that you wanted to use again in second category? Or even a third?
For example, maybe you created an A-Z list of root entries (like the one in the My Address Book add-on package). To do this, you hit “Create New Entry” (hot-key: F9) 26 times, named each entry in turn: “A”, “B”, and so on. Maybe you even when back to each root entry and assigned the “folder” Calendar Charm (hot-key: Ctrl+F2).
Now you want to do have the same set of A-Z entry “folders” in another category. Except you don’t want to go through all that work again.
And you don’t have to! Here’s how:
1. Create the structure you want in the first category. (You can skip this step if you’ve done that already.)
2. Click on the “Entry” menu and choose “Export Entries…”
3. Select “These Categories/Entries”
4. Below “These Categories/Entries”, find the category with the structure you want to duplicate.
5. Expand that category so you can see its entries.
6. Check each of the entries that make up your structure (example: the “A” through “Z” entries talked about above).
7. Select “Journal Export Format (JNX)”.
8. Click on “Export”, and give the JNX file a useful name (example: “AlphaFolders”).
That creates a copy of your structure that you can now import as many times as you need. Like this:
1. Click on the “Entry” menu and choose “Import Entries…”
2. Select your JNX file.
3. Click on “Import All”.
4. When you are prompted for what category to import into, you can choose the category you want the structure in. Or you can click on “Create New” to create a new category to import into.
And that’s it.
Writing Prompts
Free Writing Prompt – Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter: “Captain’s log, supplemental …” Or, if that’s too cheesy: “Fascinating …”
Journaling Prompt – Do you have any outstanding/unfinished “seasonal projects”? What are you doing to complete those projects?
Memoir Prompt – Describe the biggest and/or most important project you worked on for an employer. How long ago was that? Is the final product still in use?
How I Use The Journal
Editor’s Note: The Journal is used by people from all over the world, from many nations, representing a variety of personal, professional, and religious backgrounds. Journaling is by definition an intensely personal undertaking, so it should not be surprising that when someone writes about how or why they keep a journal that they will end up sharing personal information. The Journal Newsletter does not support any particular personal or religious lifestyle, but rather attempts to support anyone who keeps a journal, for whatever reason they do so. Thus, the views and opinions expressed in “How I Use The Journal” are solely those of the submitter and not necessarily the views of DavidRM Software. Whether you agree with the submitter’s views or not, I encourage you to read the article and glean from it the information and techniques that “ring true” for you.
by Diana L. Little
This is probably not going to be professional copy, because I am not yet a professional, and I’m so busy right now, I can’t see straight. But I wanted to share with you–Thank you David!!!–and everyone else, that my Journal is the most important program on my computer!
I’ve still to this day, have not upgraded from the initial purchase from years ago, (The Journal v3) but I use it nearly everyday, promising myself that someday I will upgrade, when I find the time!
Everything goes in my Journal. Good times and bad are both recorded in the pages of my Journal.
I also use it to store copies of all of my personal writings from my magazine blogs, and groups! I simply copy and paste what I’ve written into my Journal program, along with an explanation of why I wrote it, or what I felt about writing it. I’ve been known to copy important responses to certain e-mails too.
But the most important, is last November 2006, when I joined National Novel Writer”s Month (Na-No-Wri-Mo) for the first time. It’s an Internet based writing event (www.nanowrimo.org), with the goal of writing 50,000 words in one month. I won of course!!! I achieved my goal of over 50,000 words, and I received a certificate for my work, that is now hanging on my wall above my computer! I wrote daily, my feelings, and achievements in my journal, and now it will be a treasure for years to come.
And at the end of each year, I do a re-cap of all that happened in that year, (Year in Review) so when I need to find out when something happened in my life, I can just visit the last day of each year, and I have it at my fingertips. Just a keystroke away!!!
I especially enjoy your newsletters! And although I don’t have time right now to do all the writing prompts, or get involved, I will someday soon…
Thanks again!!!
Sincerely,
Diana L. Little
Submission Information
If you would like to contribute to the “How I Use The Journal”, “Writing Exercises”, or “Tips & Tricks” sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling, writing, or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.
Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: support@davidrm.com
If you are submitting for a particular section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.
If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.
As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.