We’re getting close to the time of year when everyone starts to get as excited as me about NaNoWriMo. I love this time of year!
Today I’m thinking about my planning supplies. I’m a huge fan of Scrivener, but I still do some of my planning by hand. Some ideas just come easier when written by hand.
That’s why I usually have a designated journal for a serious project. Once I have one selected I’ll sift through my ideas journal and pull out all of the tidbits I’ve written down that I want to use in this year’s NaNo.
This is my current project’s journal.
My available options for NaNoWriMo’s idea journal. Photo is a little dark because my cats were trying to help a little bit too much and this was the only one that came out tail and paw free.
It’s hard to pick a journal! I have options available, but I’m still wondering if I should see what else is out there. There’s something really special about a journal with a purpose. I’m not looking for a perfect match. I think that the journal will grow to match the story, or maybe the story grows to match the journal.
Maybe I just put too much importance on the looks of the journal, but it’s nice to have something special.
Are you gathering up planning and plotting supplies for NaNoWriMo? Are you so far ahead of me that you have journals and notebooks filled to the brim already? Let me know in the comments!
Fantasy Novels By Bridgett 
I feel better now because you’ve got a worse notebook habit than I have! 😉
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They are all lovely though…
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Thank you!
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Your journals are so pretty! I’d have a hard time deciding too… and I’ve always liked the idea of dedicating one journal to every big writing project. Unfortunately I think it’ll just be a waste of paper as I won’t be able to fill it. I type most of my planning and research into the computer directly, if I jot something down manually, it’s only so that I don’t forget, in whatever journal I’m using for everything at the time.
But there’s still time until November arrives! I’ll probably continue with the story I’m writing now, so I already got most of the planning done.
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Thanks!
I put a lot of notes from books I read as research in my journals. If the project goes on long enough to get rewrites I put notes from when I read through a draft in the journal as well. The journals are usually pretty empty until I start to tackle later drafts.
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I’ve tried dedicating journals/notebooks for serious projects before, but the last time I did that was about…10 years ago? I’ll really have to try it again sometime.
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It can be really useful even if you do most of your planning and writing digitally. Sometimes using a different medium untangles problems that previously seemed impossible.
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I have a journal I could use, but I think my project this year is going to be a rewrite of my novel from last year. I have new characters and new world building elements that I want to work in, and I think it will end up being a vastly different draft.
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Sometimes I think rewrites are the way to go for NaNoWriMo because that’s the only time I have a really solid idea of where a story is going and who my characters are. No matter how much I plan with a fresh idea I’ll still get lost before the month is out.
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