Task 2b; Reflective writing

So after a few weeks of writing in my journal I have tried out a few of the different ways of writing out my experiences which were listed in our handbook and wanted to share with you all what I felt worked best for me.
This task I enjoyed as it was a way of finding out how just a way of writing something can differ with the same content. 

Description;
I found this way of writing came quite naturally to me and I didn't have to think about it very much. Stating the events of my day, the time, the place is what I had already used when starting out on the journal writing task. This way works well as it is straight forward and to the point. I do however tend to go off on a tangent as I write, its amazing how much happens in a day! As I took each of these styles of writing on during one week I thought that description would be my favourite and most easy to come to terms with, however I think my mind will be swayed now!

Initial Reflection;
This type of writing I found initially quite hard. As I put my pen to my paper I felt I was thinking more about what to write, rather than just writing about my day. Reflection on my day or week began to feel very therapeutic and made me realise that I had either achieved something that day/week or there were challenging moments which I know I have learnt from. Not having the chance to write experiences down is something that most people are victims of, however from this type of writing I felt I began to learn more about me as a person in my everyday life whether it be as a wife, teacher, or a friend. When writing just a normal journal - like a description style of writing I didn't actually focus on how I was feeling when issues may had arisen. It most definitely brought a more emotional side to my writing and when you compare the styles, the initial reflection shows more strength and power than the other which I found interesting. 

List;
This style stood out for me in a big way because I LOVE LIST's! I can't love without them! However, when it came to writing about my day it was certainly different to when write about what I need to put in my suitcase for my sunny holiday! So surprisingly I didn't really enjoy this style of writing, it was like I hadn't written enough and it was a rushed way of thinking. I can see why some people would love this as it is a quicker way of making a journal about your day, thoughts, whats bothered you etc - but just wasn't for me. I took a look at the website www.listography.com and I was amazed! Such an insight and this showed me how people love this list format and obviously works well for them. Definitely worth checking it out before or even after writing in this style.

Evaluation;
I found that when I was writing an evaluation of my day it almost felt quite similar to the initial reflection, however when reading it back and comparing the two, it was apparent how different my way of writing was. I did find it difficult to evaluate in detail about my day, I was writing about a typical day for me and unfortunately it didn't really pull out any interesting feelings as I wanted to focus more on what had worked well in the day and what maybe hadn't worked so well. I didn't really talk much about my feelings which I know isn't what journal writing it about but this is what I think i found the hardest part about this style of writing.

Graphs, charts and diagrams;
I am usually better with visuals as I have mentioned in my previous blogs so experimenting with this style was exciting. I personally wouldn't choose to use this way every day as it was quite time consuming, however I did choose the graph option out of the 3 and used my computer to devise this. I was more worried about making it pretty than the actual content! I did find it interesting to look at as I used a yearly plan and divided into sections of my work life and social life. It did show significant differences within my years and as I have got older how much more my work life increased and social slightly decreased! I think this style is something worth doing at the end of every year and a great way of comparing the previous years. Looking at if you set yourself a goal to go on more holidays that the previous year you can visually see this etc. I enjoyed this but like I said not something I would probably use on a regular occasion.

What if?;
Unfortunately I am a big 'What if' person, and I say unfortunately as I think this is sometimes a bad attribute to have. When something happens I will normally 10/10 ask ' oh but what if i did this, or that instead maybe that wouldn't have happened' etc. But I do get reminded daily by my husband and parents that I have to just get on with it and deal with the situation that may have come up. However, when reading the description of this style in the handbook I saw a completely different approach to it. Dream big? What would you LOVE to happen? Imagination is an amazing thing and when you get going you almost can't stop! I actually loved this style as I started to think about dreams that I may have had and that may never happen but it was fun to think about them again. In relation to a journal I used this style in a sense of realistic and non realistic - what could happen and what may happen in a few weeks, years! This way when l come to looking back at my journal in years to come, some of my thoughts may have even come true! I found it fun and engaging to write this way.

Another view;
This style of writing was interesting but not something I would maybe do again. I chose to become my mobile phone for the day. It was very active but didn't really give me a chance to  write much about my day as it didn't see much of it. I liked the different approach to this writing and found it artist in many ways as I most definitely had to think about it more than the other types of writing. 


As an overview of all of them, I enjoyed the initial reflection and what if the most enjoyable styles of writing. I found out a lot about how just the different ways of writing can explore so much and how I learnt more about myself within that.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on my blog on this subject,

S x