RYP Stories: 365-Day Journal Your Story Project: Day 2: Paper or Digital (Part 1)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

365-Day Journal Your Story Project: Day 2: Paper or Digital (Part 1)

CHOICES: PAPER OR DIGITAL?

The most important decision you can make regarding journaling is what type of journal you want to keep. There are two main categories: Paper or Digital.

PICK ONE

I recommend picking one as soon as possible and experiment with it. See if it works for you. If it does not, try the other. You could even try each and see what you like the most. The beauty about journaling is: THERE ARE NO RULES. So, you can change and adjust your journal, and how you journal, as you go.

JOURNALING HINT

Experiment. See what works for you and what does not work. Make note of it in your journal. Then, make adjustments as often as necessary.

WHAT DO I RECOMMEND?

I debate if I should say this now or later. I decided to say this now so you can start thinking in these terms. I want to persuade you in any way I can to make your journal permanent and not give yourself the opportunity to have your journals lost because of some freak accident. (I have. That is why I say this.) It can cause you great pain that could have the potential to stay with you for the rest of your life. Literally. I am not making a bigger deal out of this than what is necessary. This is firsthand knowledge.

I recommend in the end to have it digitally. I will spend the next several days talking about this and why. But, digital is permanent. You cannot lose them. They cannot be stolen.

That being said, you might want to start with a paper journal and then type it up as you go. If you feel stifled by doing a digital journal, then by all means do the paper version. But, whatever you do, get it saved digitally. I will tell you why in the days to come. I do some of this.

Writing it on paper, with my own hand, can have more meaning to me. It gets me to look at things differently with pen in hand. I find it a far more sacred act to write my journals by hand. I am not sure why, but I do. However, I make sure to type them up in my computer (not a typewriter) every day or at least every week if I do journaling by hand. (Why every day or week? That way I do not procrastinate and say I will get to it later. I have learned that this mentality can cause you not to type them up and you can lose your journals through a freak accident, act of nature, or them being lost or stolen.)

If you are an artist and want to draw or paint or scrapbook for your journal, paper is essential. However, make sure to scan them and get them saved digitally as soon as possible. Again... It is permanent that way.

If you have never journaled before, I recommend doing it digitally from the very beginning. Do not make the paper kind a habit. It is far too risky not to do so.

PAPER

Paper journals are what you think. It is paper and pen. It could also be paintbrush, photos, and pen. It can also be a form of scrapbook. It can be typed with a typewriter (which is not permanent either).

Paper journals can be the fancy blank books you see at the bookstore (and other places).

Other possibilities are:

~ Legal pads

~ Steno Pads

~ Spiral Notebooks

~ Loose-leaf paper

~ Scrapbooks

~ Photo Albums

Remember with most of these, ink fades. Water, animals, and people can damage, steal, or destroy. Weather can destroy them as well.

DIGITAL

A digital journal is something you keep with a computer, cell phone, and/or other internet connected device.

It is a permanent way to journal. Your computer, cell phone, tablet, and any other device can be destroyed and this journal will last. This is a forever journal. It cannot be lost or damaged.