Julie's Literary Journal Experiment

Here’s a paragraph from my own journal, followed by variations.

We played Minecraft for our date night tonight. In the game, I’ve had this weird pink sheep following me all over the place, and I got so caught up in how adorable it was that . . . well, I forgot Joseph was there.
“You know,” he said from across the room, “all the guys in my program are so jealous of me. They really wish that their wives would play video games with them.”
There are days when all I think about is how much I love my husband. Then there are days when I get so caught up in chasing sheep and building staircases that I forget I even have a husband.

1. Work involved the usual stress today. I struggled over poorly placed footnotes and listened as my mentor sought my input on a difficult paragraph he was perusing. I still despise geology, but thankfully my editing professor gave us time to work on our project today (we’re practicing writing business documents in preparation for when we do freelance work). Because he gave us all that time in class, Joseph and I were able to do a date night tonight. We went to the temple and See’s candy, then settled down at home to play Minecraft. [basic summary of day]

2. My head pounded as I stared at the tangled mass of footnote in the chapter I’m editing at work today. Joseph and I went to the temple for date night tonight, then to See’s Candy, where I sampled delicious chocolates that melted on my tongue, delighting me with their bursts of fruity filling. When we got home, we played Minecraft. My surroundings instantly melted around me as I started working on my grand stone castle . . . and chased around a sheep practically glowing with vivid pink wool as I begged it to accept me as its master. [entry that appeals to senses]

3. --Don letting out a sigh of frustration as he puzzles over the manuscript that we’ve been struggling to improve at work

--My geology professor grinning as he makes another pun about how much geology rocks as I inwardly groan

--My head aching in protest as I get home from another long day of work and school

--Joseph flashes his usual smile that somehow still makes my heart flutter each time (as cheesy as that sounds) as he announces that it’s time for date night

--The hard day fades away in an instant

[snapsnot sequence of day]

4. Joseph is the ultimate master of creativity (and terrible puns). He’s creative in his approach to games, stories, dates, and (most importantly) Minecraft. Our world is teeming with life and color from the farms and diverse buildings that he’s built. He couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice as he suggested we play Minecraft tonight. And then there’s me. I built my staircase wrong, so I had to tear some of it down. My cat fell off a cliff. I spent half of the night gushing over this pink sheep that follows me around. I have a long way to go before I catch up with the master. [description of one character from day]

5. Why do I want to be an editor, again? Will authors always see editors as heartless villains? How many more puns can I put up with--both from my professor and my husband? How is it that I still fall in love with Joseph each day? How did I get lucky enough to have a husband who unabashedly shares his hobbies and passions with me? [thought-provoking questions]

My favorite entry from this exercise was the one where I tried to appeal to the five senses--which required thinking outside the boxes, as Minecraft is blocky and hard to describe. Doing alternate exercises forced me to look at my day from different perspectives and remember different aspects of my day. I noticed little details about my day that I would have easily forgotten and was glad that I could write them down. It’s important to be able to write about one’s life from multiple angles so that one can produce the most accurate and/or the most meaningful reflection possible.