What is a Writers' Notebook?

The Writers' Notebook

The most important tool in your writer’s toolbox A.K.A. the writers bible, a series bible, writers journal, writers bullet journal and more. For the sake of this article, I’m going to call it a notebook because that is also what I call it in my workshop.

About the workshop

Recently, I added more information and recorded the workshop for the writing community to view the entire year on my YouTube channel. In the workshop, we go over what a writers’ notebook is, digital and physical options, notebook ideas, and how to get over the fear of a pretty notebook.

What is a writer's notebook?

Having your writing life in a central location helps your mental health and decreases anxiety. A writer’s notebook is a way to keep track of all the important information for your novel, writing projects, poems, series, serial project, author collaborations, and your writing yearly plan.

Why do I need one?

When working on a project, it helps to keep all of your ideas, information, and plans in one place. Especially if you are a world building, or writing a serial or series of books.

How do I make one?

Physical or Digital? Physical examples: Composition style notebooks Spiral notebooks Journals Planners Three-ring binders with loose-leaf sheets

Digital examples: Documents on Google Drive, Microsoft Word, and others. PowerPoint or Google Slides Excel or Google Sheets Campfire Blaze Wiki pages like PB

Do I have to write it all down on paper?

No, you don’t, but I recommend you keep your information in either a physical or digital location for easy reference. I keep hard copies of information and tracking of a project these along with the first draft go in a folder as a physical backup for any reasons that might come up.

Do I only want one notebook?

If having a master notebook works for you and you have the space for it, that is a great idea. You can also have as many as you like, but have a system that makes finding what you need easily.

I have a workbook for each series I work on, along with a main writer’s dashboard in my Notion.

Want to see my notebooks?

Fire Series Google Docs

You can take this workshop for free all year at my YouTube channel playlist.

Workshop

I love your workshops. I love that you continue to improve and add to them each time you host them. ~ workshop attendee

Amazing Ideas and they are helpful! ~workshop attendee

I love your upbeat voice and the information you covered. I had no idea I've been essentially keeping writer's notebooks all this time, but I never really called it that! Everything else was very nice and easy to follow. ~workshop attendee

What other workshops do I offer?

1.Social Media for Authors part 1 and 2. I’ll be hosting part 1 for free in March. You can request your seat today here. 2.Trello for Authors 3. The Bookend Revision Technique 4. Ywriter for Beginners

Also, if you would like to take a private Writers’ Notebook class with me, you can also book that here.

Go forth and be creative.