I try to do daily journaling in Evernote. Right now, it’s hit or miss. I guess really what I should do is come up with my own template, since the two I found for free are pretty… I don’t know. If the flow, format and functionality of something doesn’t work for me, I end up not using it. It’s one major reason I use Evernote and not OneNote (the other reason being – remember LiveWriter? Shut down. Remember Microsoft Money? I’m sure two years from now, OneNote will be gone as well).
But why journal? In my case, I’m carrying around a little notebook with me everywhere. I write down ideas as they come to me. Journaling is an extension of this.
You can get more ideas for stories as you journal. Writing is an exercise. Every time you do it (especially if you’re reading books on it) you should be getting better.
You can flesh out scenes as you journal. “Should I have Captain Hook swing in on a rope, or just kick in the door?” Further journaling will reveal the difficulty of a one handed man swinging on a rope.
It records plans that you may otherwise forget. Reading what I’ve noted later on often reveals plot twists I’d completely forgotten about later!
Give it a try. As a writer, you’re writing anyway!
