DavidRM Software's The Journal Newsletter

November 2007
Volume 8, Issue 11

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to November 2007!

November is National Novel Writing Month! Good luck to all of you that are participating this year. I'm participating this year, my second time. My own Nano novel passed the 25,000 word mark today, so I'm excited about that. And, yes, I'm using The Journal. :-)

Thank you for using DavidRM Software's The Journal!

Download the latest update of The Journal from here:
http://www.davidrm.com/download/jnl4setup.exe

Check to see if you have the most recent update of The Journal by clicking on the Help menu (in The Journal) and choosing Check for Update of The Journal.

Add-on Packages Available

MemoryGrabber - Start your autobiography or help your loved ones start theirs.
Learn more about MemoryGrabber for The Journal.

Writing Prompts 1 - Improve your writing skills!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 1.

Writing Prompts 2 - Prose Challenges by Mike Hommel - Stretch your mind and your writing skills!!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 2.

Devotional Prompts 1 - Keep a record of your reflections about God, yourself, and others!
Learn more about Devotional Prompts 1.

Extended Security - Do you need a higher level of security?
Learn more about Extended Security for The Journal.

Steve Pavlina's Templates - 20 journaling exercises to help you discover your life purpose, assess your relationships, solve your problems, and more!
Learn more about Steve Pavlina's Templates for The Journal.

To order the add-on packages for The Journal, or to order The Journal on CDROM:
1. Click on the Help menu in The Journal.
2. Choose "Upgrade The Journal".

TIPS & TRICKS

TIP: Word Counting

If you've done much writing, either for yourself or for school or for pay, you've probably needed to know who many words you've written. The Journal has 2 commands for counting words, both of them on the "Tools" menu.

Word Count (hot-key: Ctrl+W)

This command counts the total number of words in the active entry. It also counts the number of characters (with and without spaces), the number of paragraphs, and the number of lines displayed on the screen.

Word Count Selection (hot-key: Ctrl+Shift+W)

"Word Count Selection" tallies the words, characters, paragraphs and lines of the currently selected text.

This command can be useful for seeing how many words you've written in the last few paragraphs or in a particular block of text within an entry.

TIP: Seeing Entry Statistics

In addition to word counting, The Journal also tracks certain statistics for every entry:

• Date Created - the date the entry was originally created.
• Date Last Modified - the date of the last modification to the entry.
• Date Last Printed - when the entry was last printed.
• Total Editing Time - the number of minutes spent editing the entry (this is measured as the time from beginning an addition/modification to the time the entry was saved).
• Revision Number - the number of times the entry has been modified (all changes on a single date count as a single revision).

This information can be viewed for the active entry by clicking on the "Entry" menu and choosing "Entry Statistics..."

WRITING EXERCISES

Free Writing Prompt - Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter: "Thank you..."

Journaling Prompt - Holiday family gatherings bring their own particular breed of stress--even if you *like* your family. How do you feel about your various family (and extended family) members? How would you like to feel? Or are you're planning to stay home this year?

Memoir Prompt - What holiday family traditions have you inherited from your parents (or your spouse's parents)? What holiday traditions did you create on your own (even if by accident)?

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 or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.

Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: davidrm@davidrm.com

If you are submitting for a particulare 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.

Editor: David Michael (davidrm@davidrm.com)
Copyright © 2007 by David Michael.