The Word Count Goal for My journals

Today I realized it is more difficult to write over 200 words in the afternoon. I am not sure of the reason, but I intend to find out. This morning I went to see the mechanic because I need advice about my car. After the garage, I called a friend and we went to the supermarket.

This afternoon I am having difficulty writing 200-word journal entries. The problem is not lack of ideas because I have several ideas. I could write about needing a new starter, I when to the mechanic this morning because I thought the problem was the battery. It turns out I need a new starter; he said I need to be careful about turning the ignition off and on.

I am being careful; I plan to drive the car as little as possible. I hope the starter last until next Wednesday when I will have the money to fix the problem. In the mean time, I will go to work and come home without making any unnecessary stops and turning off the engine.

Writing My To Do List for the remainder of November

I think best way for me to get anything accomplished is to write a "To Do List". I've tried a schedule and it doesn't work for me. The nearest thing I'm going to come to a schedule is to keep track of how long it takes me to make a journal or blog entry.

1. Hold onto my morning optimism, because that is the only way I can get anything accomplished.
2. Complete next week's edition of the writing.com Fantasy Newsletter by Sunday, November 9 at 9:00 PM Pacific Time.
3. Complete NaNoWriMo novel by November 30.
4. Extend my writing.com upgraded membership for three months by November 15. This will take me to March 15, when I plan to purchase a one-year premium membership.
5. Make a daily "To Do List" and check off everything that I accomplish on the list.
6. Don't "kick myself" because I don't achieve everything on my daily "To Do List". I have a tendency to over estimate what I can accomplish in a 24-hour period. If I accomplish between 1/4 and 1/2 of the things on the list I'm doing good.
7. Say a prayer of gratitude every evening for everything I have accomplished that day.
8. Do not begin my day without say a prayer of protection.
9. Make a grocery list before going to the grocery store.
10. Buy a 30-day bus pass as soon as my Paratransit ID arrives.

I Achieved Yesterday's Minimum word count goal

I achieved yesterday's minimum word count goal. This is a milestone for me because this is the first time since I began working as a clerk in the Primary Election, that I have achieved my minimum word count goal. I set my daily goal to write between 2,500 and 5,000 words in a 24-hour period. The 24 hours begin at sunset on one day and end at sunset the next day, which is a solar day.

On Primary Election day, I have to be at my station by 6:00 AM and I cannot leave the election site until after 7:00 PM. During the time there I have no access to a computer or word-processor; this means I have to write by hand in a pen and paper journal. All thought, this year I took a looseleaf notebook with me.

The evening before, Monday, August 11, after sunset I made blog entries, started the entry in my Gratitude Journal and in Writing My Spiritual Journey. The total word count was slightly over 1,500 words. This left me about 1.500 words to write by hand on Tuesday, August 12.

I arrived at my station a bit before 6:00 AM. I set up and prepared for 7:00 AM, when the polls opened. During the rest of the day, I managed, between serving voters, to complete the daily poem, work on "At God's Disposal" (a long poem I am writing), complete the entries in my gratitude journal and in Writing my Spiritual Journey. The total word count, after I transcribed everything into those documents this morning, was 2,569. I exceeded my minimum writing goal.

I am happy this morning. I am still a bit weary from sitting all day at the Primary Election site, but that is all right, I will recover.

Writing Changes my Mood

Only two things that will transform my bad or negative mood into a good mood, one of those is prayer and the other is writing. That is one reason I keep an off line journal, I can write about my mood and the reason for it in "Writing My Spiritual Journey". In that journal, I write letters addressed to The Glory of God.

Writing those letters helps me learn about myself, which is important for a writer. In order to write anything, I have to know my strengths and my weaknesses. By making journal entries to someone else besides myself frees my writing and self-reflection. This helps me learn about my faults and bad habits, which in turn help me to overcome and change them.

I find that my muse works when I make daily entries into that journal and my gratitude journal. Both "Writing My Spiritual Journal" and my gratitude journals are off line. I attempt to make daily entries in them at least once a day. My gratitude journal entries list ten things I am thankful for each day. I do not have to make the gratitude all at once, if I can find ten things to be thankful for in the morning that is wonderful, but not always possible.

Keeping those two off line journals also assists me to keep track of my achievements. One of the things to be thankful for is achieving or exceeding my word count goal the day before. Sometimes it is easy to find ten things I am thankful for and difficult at other times. However, looking for the gratitude items is worth finding them, because writing them down helps change a bad mood into a good mood.