How to Put Together a Writer's Notebook in 4 Steps

Happy New Year's Eve!

Today I just wanted to post about putting together a writer's notebook. A writer's notebook is incredibly helpful for those of you who like to stay organized (I'm definitely one of those people, although that doesn't apply to my room). It basically organizes all of your thoughts, ideas, and notes so that whenever you want to go back to them later, you don't have to turn your house upside down searching for a pile of index cards.

Also, if you don't have a writer's notebook yet, now is a great time to start one. That way you can start the new year off with a better way to stay organized.

I put my writer's notebook together earlier this year--and expected it to last until next year. I was wrong. The notebook I had been using contained 300 pages (it was even college ruled!), but just last month I had to buy a new one. I think it lasted only six months or so.

However, it didn't run out because there weren't enough pages: it was because of a lack of organization. Even though I had started out by separating my information into five different sections, I got a little lazy and before I knew it, I was scribbling my ideas on any random page I could find. After a while I noticed that I only had a couple of empty pages, surrounded by pages filled with hastily-written ideas. I had no more room for a five-page synopsis or a freewriting entry.

If only I had stuck to my original plan!

So last month I bought a new notebook and started afresh. This one is much more organized, and there is room for me to write all that I want.

Anyway, in this post I'm going to take you through the process of putting together your writer's notebook. Remember: this notebook is completely customizable, so if you don't like the way I do it, feel free to change it up. 😉


Step 1. Buy the Notebook

Buy a five-subject college ruled notebook. These usually contain 300 pages, which is plenty of room for your ideas, and you can fit a large amount of words on a college ruled page.


Step 2. Buy the Pens

I think I've bought nearly every brand of pen at our local Dollar General and tried them out. Most of them, as you can imagine, were complete garbage, but there are a few that work well.

Pilot pens are the very best that a writer can get, in my opinion--but at $1.25 apiece, they don't exactly fit a tight budget. PaperMate pens are pretty decent, and the InkJoy ones last for awhile. They're cheaper than Pilot pens but they last for a good while. If you're not interested in buying expensive pens and don't mind replacing them often, I suggest BIC Round Stic pens. They're $1 for ten pens, and they last for about a week  for me (I do write a lot, though). I have a couple of emergency packs, but I'm definitely spoiled to my ballpoint pens. 😊


Step 3. Label the Dividers

If you bought a five-subject notebook, it should come with four dividers (the first section doesn't have its own divider) and five total sections. Now it's the time to label the dividers (and here's where you can customize it the way you like). I labelled mine as follows (but you can do yours however you'd like):


Writing Ideas--

The first section in my notebook is devoted to my ideas. In this section I write any idea that I think of, along with notes, character ideas, etc.

Writing Log--

This section is where I keep my writing log (I'll write a post about that pretty soon). My writing log is where I try to track my progress when I get into my writing moods, like how many words I wrote in a day, how my revising is going, etc. I don't write in it every day, but every once in a while I'll add an entry when I feel like I've got a lot done.

Writing Tips--

Here I jot down any good writing tips that seem to help me, like good ways to get rid of writer's block (you can read my post on that here). Any tips that I find on the Internet, read in books, or hear from a fellow writer typically go in that section.

Words/Descriptions--

I write a lot of different words in this section. I love words (the more elegant, the better), so here's where I jot down words that I like, synonyms for a commonly used word, and things like that. I also write down random descriptions here as I think of them.

Freewriting--

This is different from a writing log (I'll be making a post about it shortly). Here is where I try to write whatever I want as often as I can. It helps me feel inspired, and it's a great but simple way to get those words flowing! I had this section in my old writing notebook, but in my new notebook, I've replaced it with a section for blogging ideas. I now have a separate notebook for freewriting.


Step 4. Start Writing

Now that you have all of your sections labelled, what are you waiting for? All that's left to do is start writing.

Congratulations: in four steps, your writing ideas are now organized and you're that much more prepared for the new year!

I hope that this blog post was helpful to you guys. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them! 😊