Cassie's Literary Journal Experiment

31 August 2018: Friday

I'm in King's Canyon National Park with Maegan and Curtis Taylor. It's been fun. They are cool people to travel with. They are very easy to be around.
King's Canyon and Sequoia are really remarkable places. These trees are so big and impossible not to gawk at. It's so impressive.
I'm worried that once school starts and I'm not able to escape and go travel when I get stressed out. I'm worried that I won't be happy even after I have checked all the things off my bucket list.


Variations:

1. Bullet points

• I'm at King's Peak 
• With Maegan and Curtis Tayor
• School starts soon

2. Flipping it (first last, last first)

Even after I check all the things off my bucket list, I still might not be happy. And that worries me. I escape when I get stressed and now that school is starting again I won't be able to leave on a moment's notice. I've been so impressed by the trees at King's Canyon and Sequoia National Park. They make me feel small; they make the world feel miraculous. I've been around people who are fun to travel with. 

3. Negative

Traveling with a married couple post-breakup is not fun. No matter how cool Maegan and Curtis Taylor are, it never leaves my mind that this was supposed to be a couples trip and I am missing my couple. The world is so impressive to look at and I wish I had someone to share it with. 

I've mostly handled the breakup by running away and not being in places we made memories together. When school starts, I'll be stuck in Provo, just surrounded by all the places that remind me of him. I'm already sad just thinking about it. Eventually though, I won't even have places to run away to anymore and I'll still miss him. I'm worried I won't be happy ever again.

4. Positive

Meeting Maegan two years ago was one of the biggest blessings in my life, and I'm so glad I like her husband. I thought I might feel like a third wheel, but they are both so chill that I haven't at all. It's so exciting to me to have friends that like to travel with me. We have gone to four National Parks on this road trip and right now we are in King's Canyon. The sequoia trees are taking my breath away. They are unlike anything I've ever seen. I want to go everywhere. There are so many places to see in the world. When school starts, I'll be exploring the world more theoretically from books, and that will be an adventure too. There is a never-ending adventure ahead of me and the fact that I don't know what comes next scares and excites me. Life is endless.

5. Key words

Kings Canyon

Sequoia

Cool

Maegan

Curtis

Impressive

School

Stressed

Writing the positive and negative version was the most interesting to me. Both stories are true and accurately reflect the feelings I had about that trip. It is interesting because on paper they sound so different, and like maybe one has to be true and the other can't be. But really a complex variety of emotions existed within me at the same time. And writing this I realized that I get to choose the narrative I pull out when I recant this experience. When I tell people about the trip, I always choose the positive side. But I also always know that the trip was really emotionally difficult for me because I had just called off a wedding! It's interesting how people can be multiple people at the same time. It is also interesting how form matters in telling a story. Whether I use bullet points or key words, or make the story more linear rather than how it was written so choppy, it affects the recall and highlights different aspects of the event. This was cool!

Marcus Cain’s Literary Journal Experiment

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

September 30, 2019

Today was the start of week 5 for the fall semester. It’s a little rough since my days continue to start at 6am and end around 9:45pm. Throughout the day there are several hills I try to get over throughout the day and the most difficult one today was classes. I kept falling asleep. Oops. It’s probably because I forgot to make lunch – running a little low on energy. I woke up a little while coaching.

Variations:

1.    Chronological Accounts (No Emotions)

-      Today I woke up skipped my workout at the gym because had too much homework for the day before my classes started. I fell asleep in class a lot. That evening I had a great time coaching.

2.    Bullet points (Informal)

-      Start of week 5, fall semester

-      The length of my day

-      Several hills like classes

-      Fell asleep

-      Didn’t make lunch

-      Coaching

3.    Reflection on Greatest Emotions (Singular Thought)

-      The 5^thweek of the semester is kind of like the rest, and I beginning to get more tired even though I woke up by the end of the day. 

4.    Descriptive Positivity (Turn Around Event)

-      “Can we blast Taylor Swift and have a dance party?” My kids that I coach on Mondays at 7pm are now my dance party crew. They constantly are high energy and honestly believe that listening to Taylor Swift on full blast gives them powers to practice harder. I have to say, I believe it works. They are constantly dancing around to each station but focus when it is necessary. It’s a whole lot of fun that really gives me energy to get through the last few hours of a 16-hour day.

5.    Reflective Questions (Rhetorical)

-      Is it possible to survive 16-hour days that are on a constant cycle throughout the semester? Why do my days feel like a constant roller coaster, only the hills are high and lows of physical energy? Is falling asleep in class the new study habit I’ve mastered? Is a peanut butter jelly my only source of energy throughout the day? What if I coached all day; would keep me awake longer that sitting in classes? 

Reflection: I like the 4^thvariation because it focuses on the positive of the day rather than the negative. What happens throughout your day is usually forgotten if it is negative, so it is important to write down and remember the positive moments. However, I do like variation 2 because it helps me remember what happened that day for reference. I think using alternate approaches is a great way to understand your life through different lenses. There are different ways we can approach life and even more so there are different approaches we can write about life. Experimenting with different variations is a fun way to look at your day in a new way. 

Kendal's Journal

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

Proud of my consistency of writing lately. I guess its a mode of survival during fall. Can't believe it's already September. I just finished my homework and I feel like I'm figuring out my schedule nicely. Feels good. I ran up a mountain today. Finally felt alive and was cured from my weird feelings of not feeling human. Loving my classes. My friends are great too. Feel like I'm doing well in all aspects of life and everything is set up for success. 

1. -proud of my consistency with writing

-can't believe its already September 

-ran up a mountain today

-classes and friends are good

-feeling good

2. Proud of my writing consistency and how I ran up a mountain today. Feeling alive and like everything is going to work out makes me feel like everything is set up for success.

3. Why do I have to write or run up mountains to feel okay? How is it already September? Why did I not feel human? 

4. Even though I didn't feel good, I got things in order and feel alive now.

5. Proud of my writing consistency today. I finished my homework and I feel like I am figuring out my schedule nicely. Feels good. I ran up a mountain today and it made me feel alive. Loving my classes. My friends are great too. Feel like I'm doing well in all aspects of life and everything is set up for success.

In reflection I can see the different ways of writing in a journal. Each gives a different feeling to conclude a day. It shows that we each have a choice as to how we do that. Journaling is an art form and I am just seeing that now and I like it. I like 3 and 5 best. The focus on positivity and then the questioning brings up reflection.

Buckets's Literary Journal Experience

An abbreviated passage from a my Freshman year journal.
April 11, 2015
I participated in the 24 hour theatre project which was immensely fun and incredibly long--24 hours, to be exact. The writers took had from 7pm to 7am to write the script and we had from 7am to 7pm to practice then perform. Then you sleep forever. I was with Margaret. Margaret was with Eurydice with me and in my TMA 150 class.

1. I woke up early to get to my play practice, then did that non-stop for 12 hours. There was only a one hour break before we performed and we used it to practice. Woof. Lots of my friends and Michelle came and afterwards I bought a liter of Dr. Pepper and hung out with more friends. (basic summary)

2. "Your play was great. I promise." I probably should have told Michelle there was a kissing scene in the play. Guess when you have 12 hours to perfect a 20-minute play, things slip you mind. So freaking tired. My throat was wasted when I showed up at Spencer's apartment, but the crew was there, so I hammed it up all over again.  (casual yet theatrical, made to build personal character)

3. -Jared, my director that made me kiss Margaret even though it wasn't in the script.
    -Michelle, coming to my play even after we broke up.
    -Spencer, who showed me his new fish named Lyndon B. Johnson.
    -Margaret, who went 19 years before kissing a boy. (bullet list and focused on others' narratives)

4. I'm so grateful for all the opportunities BYU gives me to make memories and be with other people (moralized, generic)

5. Margaret is tremendous. She has such a commitment to her character, and has really good chemistry with me on stage. During Eurydice she did a great job creating connections with every character; even though she had a minor role. She got into the acting program, and is so close to convincing me to audition. Her dark curly hair and occasionally funky syllables give away her Jewish heritage, but you could never tell when she acts. You could also never tell that she never kissed a boy before tonight, but that's just the power of acting, right? (Long, descriptive explication of a single subject)

Definitely a stretch to rewrite a journal, but doing so allowed me to get into literary thinking, not regurgitation. The samples were also much, much more condensed than my typical journal entries, which made it all the more challenging. Out of the styles I imitated, I liked style 3 the most. This one mixed this sort of absent-present with a grocery list. It proved to make me think about my interactions with other people and condensing them into simple, memorable bytes.

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.

Cameron's Literary Journal Experience

Here's a paragraph from my own journal:

28 September 2019

“I don’t think there is anything that brings the spirit into my life more so than listening to BYU Vocal Point and stretching firs thing in the morning. It reminds me of my mission. Every day, after running, it was the only CD we had, I would stretch and listen to Vocal Point. My mind often wandered as the words of Come Come, Ye Saints would settle my heart. Now, as I sit and reflect on those memories, they help me through the long and monotonous hours of school. Sometimes I wish to be back there.”

[original entry: usually my journal entries reflect the thoughts I have been having about a Spiritual concept or chapter.]

Variations:

1. “This morning, I listened to BYU Vocal Point. It reminded me of the wonderful spiritual experiences I had on the mission. It acts as a form of meditation for me for the rest of the day. Then I went to school, did homework and went to the gym. I got to see a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. I worked for two hours, came home ate and did homework until I retired to bed. Today was just another day. Sometimes I wish to be back there.”

[List like format, chronologically mapping out the experiences of the day, not much thought or emotion behind this journal entry]

2. “I don’t think there is anything that brings the spirit into my life more so than listening to BYU Vocal Point and stretching first thing in the morning. I am inside, preparing to stretch after a brisk morning run. The weather is starting to change, the fall leaves change color. In reflection, I take a deep breath of crisp fall air. Again, memories of Frederick, MD enter my mind. Was it really 4 years ago that my companion and I briskly walked the cobblestone streets downtown, longing to find someone to teach? A dog jumps out, instantly helping me reminisce on days when my companion and I would have to run. It was crazy! Sometimes I wish to be back there.”

[Deeply reflective, tying past memories and emotions to current situations. More descriptive and reminiscent]

3. “-wake up

-meditate with BYU Vocal Point

- Study Scriptures

-Go to school

-go to work

-do hw

- go to sleep

 [bullet points. Very informal, no detail, hopefully no one writes a journal like this.]

4. Well it was another day. The semester seems to be going by slower and slower. Wow my haircut is way not good, I look in the mirror, man Studio 1030 usually does a good job at cutting my hair, but this time it’s pretty outlandish. What the heck! They cut way too high! I can’t believe I spent 15 bucks on this! Ugh, I have so much homework. Literally all I do is work and go to school and study. How am I supposed to have a social life? This is not enjoyable. Is it even worth it? Where is the weekend? 

[complaining entry, with a bad haircut, this person sees everything in a horrible light. Not effective for progress]

5.  I’ve decided to take a stroll through the mountains, I have one headphone in my ear and one out. The tune of Come Come Ye saints starts playing. Though it’s been a hard week, I feel as though I can conquer anything. I get out of my car, removing the headphones, I disconnect from the world. I look to my left, the rocky cliffs stretching high in the sky. A bird dances across the horizon, its heart fluttering giving it life. A worm dangles from its mouth. It only thinks of its next meal and how it can provide for its hatchlings. There they stay, waiting upon what mother has brought for breakfast. The thought then occurs to me, are we any different? I look to my right, the panoramic view of nature excites me as I breath in the morning air. Cool, crisp, calm. There is no wind. There they stand, ancient and immovable – trees. Do they bow to the wind? No. Do they shrink before the hail and the sleet and the storm? No. But here they are on this warm fall day with not even a tinkling breeze to be felt. I look around. All is still.

 [Descriptive, I tried to pay attention to the senses, not intended to be didactic, but meant to be thought provoking]

Reflection Paragraph 

Writing each variation made me feel different about the day. Though each variation did not happen on September 28, each variation involved an experience that I've had and written in the past. I think my favorite one to read and write is the 5th entry. I really tried to pay attention to detail and recreate an experience I had that could relate to almost anyone. It made me feel like I had a connection to my audience and I hope it invites people to appreciate nature for what it is. Either way, I think knowing I would be writing for an audience changed the way I thought about writing an it allowed me to experience my memories in a whole new way. 

Henry's Literary Journal Exercise

Journal Entry:

I woke up this morning and got straight to homework before class at noon. I’m trying to stay a few days ahead so I don’t fall behind. Classes were normal, although I learned some weird stuff about The Book of Mormon and how it was translated. Crazy. After class just went to the library and got some more studying done before dinner with Sam at Taco Bell. After that we basically just sat at the Romneys and chatted. Nothing special but I had a good time. Pumped for movie Tuesday tomorrow night.

1.        

-          Lots of Homework

-          Class

-          More Homework

-          Dinner with Sam

-          Romneys House

(rushed, literal)

2.        

I woke up 3 minutes before the alarm went off. Literally nothing worse. I hate starting the day and just diving straight into homework. My morning routine felt rushed. My classes were boring as always. Except we learned some weirdddd stuff about Joseph Smith. Idk. I got trapped at the library for a few more hours then Sam and I hurried to T Bell for dinner. Then basically just sat at the Romneys for a while..I’m kinda sick of just sitting around

(Negative, annoyed)

3.        

Even though my personal study was rushed this morning, I’m glad I took the time to sit down and pray and read. I think it helped me in my studies throughout the morning. My classes weren’t too bad so that’s nice, although I learned about Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon by looking into a hat? That was wild, but it didn’t really bother me too much. I got to see some friends at the library before Sam and I went to Taco Bell for din. Always hits the spot. Then we basically just hung at the Romneys house for the night. We didn’t do anything but I love just sitting there and talking to them. I feel lucky to be friends with them.

(happy, grateful)

4.

I’m tired so this might be short. I’m getting kinda sick of the day in day out routine. It’s just getting old. I feel like I just do the same thing over and over again. I need to find new ways to be happy throughout the day. My schoolwork is weighing down on me. I constantly want to lay down and nap but I never have the time. I need to go to bed.

(no effort, tired)

5.

Who knew that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon using a hat? I mean I guess I knew about the seer stones, but looking into a hat was a little bit of a twist. I appreciate that BYU is teaching this stuff in depth instead of glossing over it, though. I think that is the right approach. And when I think about it, is there any way that translating an ancient text would seem normal? Like, it had to happen somehow. So it’s whatever. Just kinda surprising to hear at first. Anyways, my day was good. Just normal study and homework stuff then went and chilled with friends.

(focused, optimistic)

Using a different approach each time helped me to focus on different aspects of my day. It is interesting to see the different things that come to mind when I choose to write more about certain topics.

Ana's Literary Journal Exercise

September 22, 2019

Journal Entry: This morning I did my communion report for English 385—so I went to the Provo Community Congregational United Church of Christ. I came a little early, and it turns out, the first person I met was from Hawaii, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was visiting there for his niece’s baby baptism—we talked until church stated. Everyone was friendly. There were three baptisms that day. The only song they sang that I knew was “I Need Thee Every Hour,” but at least I knew one!

Variation 1:

--Hawaiian LDS member: friend to me at the Provo Community Congregational United Church of Christ (met when I came early)

            --Reverend Cupples: talked about sacrament of baptism, had three baptisms

Variation 2:

 I went to a church I had never went to before, and even though it was unfamiliar to me, I ended up learning a lot, and got to witness three baptisms. I even got to meet new people. It turned out to be a great Sunday despite my nervousness.

Variation 3:

“Help me figure out how to write this assignment.” It’s what was going through my head. Reverend Cupples and several members of the congregation helped my visit be an enjoyable experience. There was even a part when Reverend Cupples was talking about being children of God (with the baptisms taking place), which was great, as that was a theme I kept hearing throughout the week.

Variation 4:

The first person I happened to meet wore a plain red tie with a white shirt—matching with his son. At first I thought I blended in well when I also observed the wife and aunt (who were dressed up in floral dresses, similar to me), but then the father started to talking, and when he started to ask me about BYU—he told me he was a member of The Church. So the cat was out of the bag, and he explained to me he was only there for a baptism taking place.   

Variation 5:

How is it that the first person I meet turned out to be of the same religion as me when I did my communion assignment? Why do they do infant baptism vs. our child baptism? Why do they only participate in baptism in so often? How was I so fortunate to be able to have them sing at least one song I knew (“I Need Thee Every Hour”)?

When I use different approaches, I am able to focus on different details of the same story—details I may have overlooked in the writing process or didn’t think were that important at the time I was writing. For the variation of the asking questions, in specifically, it gets me thinking more about the event or about my ideals, which I can either answer on the spot, or come back to later, or never answer and have them there to open up to and reflect on. The list, for example, can be more as a way to get my thoughts down on paper without going too much in detail (the only reason why I have never liked this approach when it comes to journal writing—I love it for research paper outlines, creative writing drafts, etc.—is it’s more of a beginning stage for me, not a final product. 

Literary Journal- Katy Sumsion

This is my usual journaling style:
Yesterday was an OK day. I went to work around 7:45am. It was cold outside, and I didn't really want to go in, but I figured after missing almost a week of work I had better show my face. I needn't have bothered, though. There was hardly anything to do, so I ended up mostly just working on homework for the morning. Good thing, too. I was getting behind. After work, I went to water aerobics and did some funky dance moves in the water. It was a surprisingly good workout. After that were the rest of my classes. Visual rhetoric was dry as usual, English novels was fantastic, and we had a really good discussion in LDS lit. Went grocery shopping. Made curry for dinner.
[Event focused, not descriptive]

1.Waking up yesterday honestly felt like the hardest thing I had ever done. My eyelids were crusted shut, and my body was about three times as heavy as it usually is. When I finally pried myself out of bed at seven, I stumped over to the bathroom and beheld my reflection in all its glory: bedhead, red lines crisscrossing my face from where it had been smashed into the pillow, and my t-shirt crumpled up around my waist. After brushing my teeth and putting on clothes, I walked to the door, bracing myself for the cold. I was not disappointed, the fine weather of last week seemed to have disappeared. "Well," I thought, "at least I can start wearing sweaters again."
[High description, physical feeling]

2.-David leaving at 6, while I sleep in until 7.
-Brother Wilson showing up at 9am when I arrived at 7:45
-My water aerobics instructor (I forget her name) doing ridiculous dance moves for me to imitate in water
-Professor Mason discussing the genius of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
-Lindy running over my pie crust at the grocery store, and me sending her in for a new one.
[Bulleted list, person-focused]

3.Why did I have such a hard time waking up yesterday morning? Why has the weather gotten so cold all of a sudden? Why can't I seem to focus in my visual rhetoric class? What is the point of going grocery shopping when most of the time I don't even feel like cooking?
[rhetorical questions, negatively focused]

4. In the morning, I felt mostly exhausted, but as the day went on, my emotional energy increased a lot. I was feeling pretty pointless at work, so I started doing my homework. That helped me feel more on top of things. My water aerobics class really woke me up. It got my blood pumping, and I left feeling energized. My classes, in large part, made me excited to be an English major, and excited for my opportunities at work. I was hungry when I went grocery shopping, so I probably bought more food than I should have.
[Emotionally focused, not overly descriptive]

5. God was watching out for me today. I woke up late, but still made it to work early. Tender mercies, right? I had some extra time to work on homework at work, which was a great opportunity for me to catch up. I really felt the spirit in my LDS lit class; we read a Eugene England article about the importance of the church in relation to the gospel, and I felt the need to correct my attitude a bit. Family home evening with Dave was great as well, we discussed the different accounts of the First Vision from a book I've been reading by Steven Harper.
[Spiritually focused, event and emotion driven]

Seeing My Day in a Different Way

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

I feel like I need to tell you about yesterday before I can talk about today. Yesterday was honestly a really awesome day, though I got only a ¼ of the homework done I needed too. I went to Devo and ran into Carter and since it was President Nelson we were there two hours early so we got caught up. Which was great. He is in love with his current girlfriend and they are adorable.

1.

·     I went to Devo 

·     Ran into Carter, met girlfriend

·     Had convo about perfectionism with Zach 

·     Haley’s confession 

[List]

2. Today was a day full of tender mercies. First, I ran into Carter and got to sit with him for devotional. I haven’t seen him since before Jerusalem, so it was nice to catch up. Then the devotional was with President Nelson and it was awesome. It also led me having a conversation with Haley that really need to have. Later I ran into Zach, who I also haven’t talked to in forever. He shared with me some of his struggles and I realized that I have gone through a lot of the same things. I was able to share some meaningful insights with him. I didn’t get enough homework done, but I feel like everything that happened today happened for a reason. 

[Gratitude]

3. I couldn’t believe my eyes, who would have thought that amidst the 600+ people filing into the Marriot Center that Carter would happen to be walking right next me. I was caught off guard and our initial greeting was awkward. We began catching me and he followed me and Joanna through the portal and into a one of the rows closer to the ground floor. I am glad things weren’t awkward between us after everything that happened last summer. I had missed him and was excited to catch up.  

[Novel like retelling]

4. The excitement was almost tangible in the air. The number of body parts in the room was overwhelming. I couldn’t believe that there was still 20 minutes till the devotional, the Marriot was jam packed. The choir director’s voice rang through the conference center as she spouted out words of encouragement. She wanted them to do their very best. It seemed even the center itself understood what was about to happen. The lights seemed to shine a little brighter. The chairs and floor seemed a little cleaner.

[descriptive of setting]

5. Today I learned a lot. I realized that sometimes things are not going to go the way you thought they would, but that’s okay. I had three different conversations today that took up all of my time, but I think that they were so important. One helped me to be feel comfortable with an old friendship. Another helped me realize I could bless other with my hard experiences and the final one helped me to better understand the struggles of my sister. 

[more focused on the outcomes of the day instead of what happened] 

I think I really like the novel telling one. I don’t think I will do it everyday, but it forced me to focus on what the interesting aspects of my day were. I liked writing all these various versions of my day, because it made me think about what really was significant to me that day. Also that by changing what was significant, my whole day seemed different.