I have always kept writing notes and yellow post-it notes. but it has not been as organized as now. Since I began writing on this blog about both writing and witchcraft, I have felt the advantage of having a basic structure to work with.
It is also called discipline and dedication. I write between 4-6 hours every day, not always behind the keyboard, for I love to write in hand. However, my health does not allow me that so often, so I restrict the handwriting to the most important notes about e.g. character traits.
It is only recently that I have begun using a writer´s notebook on a daily basis, and there is no way back after that. It is already an indispensable tool for me to care as much for as I care for my Book of Shadows in witchcraft.
A writer´s notebook to me is not like a daily journal where you write about the ways of life. It is for practical writing uses, and therefore I believe there need to be some structure in it. That I attain by indexing my many notebooks and ring binders and put page numbers on them.
I have picked the sections according to my current knowledge about writing and my practice with my novel. I have deliberately included grammar rules, since I write in English and not my native Danish. It is something that probably will evolve over time, so I keep track of it all in a document on my laptop.
A closer look into my writer´s notebook is like this at the moment :
Index
- In every notebook and ring binder
- Always numbered pages
Character development
- Positive and negative character traits
- A-Z character flaws
Common writing mistakes
- Characters
- Description
- Psychology
Descriptive words
- Concepts and idioms
- Emotions (positive and negative)
- Physical descriptions (body language)
- Senses (taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight)
- Sounds
- Weather
Dialog
- Ideas and inspirational quotes from novels, stage plays and motion pictures
- Punctuation rules
Editing and publishing
- Checklists
Genres
- Definitions
- Examples
Grammar rules
- Parts of speech (word categories and elements)
- Inflection (tenses and words changing)
- Syntax (sentence structure)
Online writing and reading resources
- Relevant links
Overused words
- E.g. very
Point of view
- First person
- Second person
- Third person
Worldbuilding/setting
- Locations
- Society types
Writing challenges
- Ideas
- Word count practice
Writing habits
- Daily writing routines
- Playlists of inspiring music to write to
Writing prompts for writer´s block
- One for each day of the year
- Genre prompts
Writing quotes
- From other authors
- Words of wisdom and inspirational words and sentences
- Lyrics and poems
Writing techniques
- E.g. stream of consciousness
- E.g. foreshadowing
Personal notes
- Brainstorming
- New ideas to research
- Notes for writing theory (how to´s )
- Other relevant material to sort
Of course, I´ll never finish my writer´s notebook. It´s an ongoing project, and it changes every time I use it, which is on a daily basis. I have a section called personal notes where I keep material that does not fit into the other sections.
I have not worked my way through all the sections either. That is my creative writing project for this fall season.
I work with my writer´s notebook in two different ways. Firstly, I keep material with lots of information in ring binders, where there is space to write longer notes, descriptions, and character sketches etc. Secondly, lists with synonyms, overused words and descriptive words etc. are in smaller note books that are easy to carry.
I often change my working space, depending on where it feels right to write that day. I have a mobile work station and three permanent working places. I have a well-developed inclination to procrastinate and be somewhat unorganized, so it is necessary for me to have a strong discipline when it comes to tidiness around my work station.
Today, I organize my notes and relevant material for my writer´s notebook. This has to do with my work with word counting. It has disciplined me to write every day and to be more careful with my material.
There is a long path yet to walk, before both my writer´s notebook and my novel to be are structured and filled the way I plan to. At current moment, I´m working on the sections Character development and Point of view so that I can begin character sketching and outlining my novel.
Right now I have an idea to my novel, some of the characters, and something about setting, too. It is mostly brainstorming and note-taking. I have bought a cork board to use as my story board later on. And I´m preparing myself for the next couple of months, where I will be working with dialog.
It looks and feels so easy to do. But on the contrary, it can be tricky as hell to work with. Writing is never easy. It is easy to love to write, because of the kick of the spark of inspiration that last long after a creative writing session.
But easy, it is not.
If it were, I probably would not love it so much. With practice comes inspiration from out of nowhere, and all of a sudden it is easier, still not easy, to write and learn something new every day.
And so I hope it will be too for dialog. My characters depend on it, and my mood and tone should be mirrored in it.
With character development, I have come to the point where you take a piece of paper/open a document and write down the first sketch of characters for my novel. I can vaguely feel them, I can almost touch them in my dreams, and I can no longer wait to describe them, so that I one day can present them to my readers.
I have been studying character traits all my life, because I have always found it interesting to learn about other people´s ways of behavior and to try to understand myself better. And I have had an enriching and at times tougher than necessary life, where I have met many different kinds of people.
I also work with point of view concepts and am contemplating alternating perspectives, because it would be intriguing to try to work out a story, where all or some of the characters somehow were connected before the story takes place without letting my reader know it, before long into the story.
I want the basics to be balanced with my desire to write a novel. Therefore, I spend the next 4-5 months preparing myself to write the first draft.
I have set aside a year to accomplish my goal. The first half year I will be reading a lot about writing techniques and American English grammar, and I will be writing on the synopsis and the outline of my novel. The last part is also the scariest part, but I believe I can do the actual writing, when time comes for that.
And I believe, too, that my writer´s notebook will be full and longing for replacements soon.
Right now, as I´m writing this, I´m studying some of the methods used by famous stage masters, like Konstantin Stanislavskij and Lee Strasberg, to get some good ideas and to work with the many aspects of writing a novel.
I like to try to make my writing feel as if following a motion picture camera. So I study techniques from the theater and the movies to write more vivid and flexible. I also like to do more than one thing at the same time.
So as usual, the TV is on – my husband watches The Walking Dead, I have ear plugs in with heavy bass riffs and forceful drums on full volume, there is a cup of warm chai tea next to me, and it is October chilly.
Today, I´m rewriting some of my old notes, and I can conclude that they are in dire need for attention. So today I have dedicated myself to the difficult task to sort out irrelevant material and the rewrite the rest into something useful for my current projects.
This is another way of working with writing. It is much more disciplined than I expected, but in return is it both easier and funnier to work.
It is a creative process, no matter what subject is on the menu for today. It almost has a life of its own, this writing journey that I have embarked on. And it feels as the most natural thing in the world to do.
To sit here behind the screen and do my finger dance across the keyboard, listening to great music and feeling happy. To play with those words, these ups and downs in a controlled roller coaster, in control with deadlines and the balance with the mundane world and my second love, witchcraft.
My first and only love sits happily next to me with a smile on his lips, because he can see, feel, that I´m happy doing something I love. He is also my second worst critic, only second to me as my own worst enemy. When he says something, I listen. And try it out. He is usually right.
It is also inspiring in itself to work with a writer´s notebook. There are always new perspectives, new ideas, and new notes, when I have been working with it. It sometimes becomes the work of the day, where the writing then mostly consists of notes and references.
I have already many plans going on, so the structure in my writer´s notebook is for now permanent. There are countless hours yet to travel through this thought flight of mine. But I will recommend any aspiring writer to get familiar with the idea of a writer´s notebook.
I am also pleased to learn that my number of followers have gone up from myself to now several followers. Thank you for following and for reading.
Next Monday I´ll be back with something about a novel to write during a year. I´ll let you follow my journey from small idea to written novel like I let you follow my journey as a witch on Fridays.
This structure is also more or less permanent for the remains of 2019. What happens on January 1st is yet to be seen. I am used to write on a blog twice a week, and it is just my pace, just my rhythm. Slow, but steady, to grow my blog is also to write about it from time to time.
Right now, I´m intrigued by the many different aspects of the writing process that need to be put together like a game of puzzles. I am a puzzle person.
I like to collect materials and from those make something original, useful and beautiful.
For that reason I created a writer´s notebook from scratch, except for some old notes and life experiences, and I will use it for my novel and for this blog.
The blog process, however, has to wait a little longer, because I´m in absolutely no hurry with this blog. It is a direct and brutally honest view into my life, as it is. No more, no less.
But less is always more, so I´ll cut the crap and speak my mind :
I´m evolving my writing voice, I´m not in this world to play copycat or ghost writer.
This is me, as those who know me offline, will be able to confirm.
As above, so below, as it is said in witchcraft.
So I take all the advice I can get, but I still have my own distinct writing voice, and that is the way forward for me.
It is everywhere in my life right now, this voice. I have truly found a passion for the rest of my life. To write something worth reading is a goal to strive for. And the only way to achieve that is hard work and discipline.
That is possible without a writer´s notebook. But it keeps me organized, and therefore it is a big blessing in my everyday as a writer.
The Northern Witch' s Blog 