fitting text to the space allotted

for “good words” entries

The number and length of words in these entries are set.

You can’t simply leave off the end of a quotation or the last line of a song lyric because you run out of space.

One way to work around this is to write your words before you add other embellishments or artwork to your page. Rather than adding words to blank spaces, you will be adding art into the spaces around your word.

Another idea: use a pencil first. I often do this with text that is outside my typical handwriting style. For example, when I make titles or want to include a quote in a larger than typical handwriting size.

Over time you will grow more confident in gauging the

For journaling, prayer, and diary-style entries

These types of entries are more flexible. You get to decide what you write, how much you will write, and how detailed you want to be in your writing.

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My dad often tells me the story of my great grandmother cooking a big noon meal for her family as well as all the hired men who would come to help with harvest. This would be an everyday event for a few weeks each fall, but the number of people she was feeding each day wasn’t static.

One day, one of the hired men noticed that there always seemed to be “just the right amount” of food day after day. He asked her how she knew how much to cook. And her answer was brilliant. “No matter how much food I make, you eat until it is gone.”

Yes, there is a bare minimum amount required, but beyond that it is all “extra” and the food would simply be eaten until there was none left.

For me, journaling spaces work much the same way.

There is a minimum amount of space required, but I tend to just write to fill the space.

If there is space left, I add a few more details.

If I’m running short on space, I might write less than I had originally planned.

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Over time I have learned to gauge the amount of space and my typical handwriting size and just instinctively “know” approximately how detailed or wordy I can be in my writing. There is also a bit of mental flexibility and agility involved in this process; if the space is running out more quickly than I anticipated, I sometimes choose different wording to make it fit. If I finish my thought and still have more time to write, I might add another sentence or two.