One thing I find fascinating is project notebooks. I love seeing how others organize their book projects — some of mine is super organized and other pages (most of the pages) look more like a complete brain dump.
This is the project notebook for my project All the Lies You Cannot Know. There is so much brain dumping and randomness that has been dumped into this little notebook in the past five years. (Note: I’m feeling free to share this because … so. much. has. changed. … so much — so just know. What you are reading here isn’t necessarily giving anything away at all.)
I first started using this Moleskine, and I just always come back to them anytime I start a new project — they are small, but I like this size because it makes it easier to transport.
When I first started out, I had no title on the front. Now that I have a couple projects going, I’ve “tag” each Moleskine with some washi tape and the project title.
Once upon a time, I thought this was going to be a trilogy. Nope, just a duology (and I’m super cool with that) This is basically a start of project brain dump. Places I thought the book was going to go. Things I needed to remember. On the left (inside the front cover) I had started keeping track of words written per writing session/day.
On the left is a map of what the current US looks like (has since changed) and color codes for what each territory is. On the right are my character profiles dumps (as I’m writing if I write a certain quirk, I’ll write it on their character page). I also love to pull images off Pinterest and tack them in my notebook for inspiration on how the characters look (this particular character … has changed — told you not much is the same in this book!)
More character profiles and dumps.
Random sketches of character’s home.
This is a brain dump — also, trying to come up with a new name for one of my territories.
…there’s also many many other pages of brain dump that got a little too close to the truths, so … I didn’t share those pages.
At the back of the notebook is extra character pictures, post-it notes with things I need to remember to change or ad, plus a whole bunch of random scenes written out longhand — so many times do I get stuck and have to hash it out with paper and pen.
It’s always like a trip back in time whenever I start to flip through an old project notebook — and I love seeing how this novel has grown and changed since it’s inception. I’ve filled up the entire Moleskine with this one-book project. I like being able to keep everything project related in one notebook. Should I get a three-ringed notebook and make more of an organized series bible? Most likely, but this is the process that works for me. I’ll probably just grab a second Moleskine for book two and carry the pair together.
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Just in case you’re curious, these are the Moleskines that I love for each project — yes, they are on the smaller size (about 1/2 the size of a piece of paper), but they make it easier for me to carry around — which I do … a lot. And that link is an affiliate link which means I’ll get a little commission if you purchase from that link. If you’d rather not do that, just click away and type in the retailer you’d like to purchase from!
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