Writer's Journal Dimensions

[scribbler1382]

I just read James Scott Bell's book PLOT & STRUCTURE. A lot of it is rudimentary if you've read even one other book on writing, but there are some good parts. The chapter on Structure is excellent. As is Bell's suggestion at the end of keeping a writer's journal, divided into sections such as Plot Ideas, Characters, Research, Plot Summary and Questions.

Now, this is something I've heard suggested before, but here's my problem. If you keep a pen and paper journal (such as a Moleskine or even a Hilroy coiled notebook), what happens if one of the sections gets filled up before the others or before you're done your book?

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but the year's young so I'm allowed. :)

Love to know what anyone thinks on this subject.

[Moon Daughter]

I write in journals for all of my ms's. To be more organized, I have a little heading of what the pages entail because it would be almost impossible to divide a journal into sections, and have them perfectly portioned to what it'll end up as. You might find that you write A LOT more in the plot section than you do in the character development part of the journal. Or, you could get a binder, put some dividers in, label them, and obviously put in as much paper as you need. That way you don't have to worry about having too much or too little.

[Prawn]

I Love that book, but I don't keep a journal, so I am no help there. Still, that is one of two books I tell people about, the other being Self Editing for Fiction Writers.

[ishtar'sgate]

Easy. Keep a different book for each, adding pages as you need to. Who cares if one is thicker than the other. I've never formalized this sort of thing. I keep notes on anything that interests me or I think could add dimension to a current WIP or a story that's merely simmering. I once kept a newspaper clipping for 10 years before I used the idea it suggested to me. Stay flexible. Do what works for you. Don't get too caught up in trying to fit someone else's mold.
Linnea

[dawinsor]

I love Bell's book.

I keep two notebooks running at any time. One is for my current WIP. It's a looseleaf with dividers for sections on plot, character, whatever I need.

The second is a smaller, spiral bound notebook I can carry around all the time. I put notes for my story in there as I think of them, but also for anything else such as ideas for future stories, lines, titles, dialogue, whatever. In that one, I cross off things as I use them and rip out pages as they're used up.

[ClaudiaGray]

In my Moleskine, I simply draw a hash mark when I switch gears, then provide an Underlined Header that clearly says what I'm working on in my next paragraphs. (For instance: Stargazer -- Raquel's story arc.) This isn't quite as organized as having sections, and I do have to do a bit of combing-through to find what I wrote about any given subject -- but hey, anything that forces me to review those notes isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[scribbler1382]

In my Moleskine, I simply draw a hash mark when I switch gears, then provide an Underlined Header that clearly says what I'm working on in my next paragraphs. (For instance: Stargazer -- Raquel's story arc.) This isn't quite as organized as having sections, and I do have to do a bit of combing-through to find what I wrote about any given subject -- but hey, anything that forces me to review those notes isn't necessarily a bad thing.

That's actually the way I work now. I carry one of the thin, soft cover moleskines in my back pocket everywhere I go and a Cross ION pen. I sort of view it as my "capture" notebook. Anything worthy of being processed out into another form can be dealt with when I'm back home. But the main reason I work this way is a) it's always with me and b) I don't have to figure out ahead of time how much of something I'm going to write in a given time period.

I think I'm probably more comfortable putting things like plot summaries and character notes in electronic form, but the notebook is my little lasso that keeps anything from getting away. ;)

[astonwest]

For my short stories, all my notes are on loose leaf paper, which gets stapled together when the story is completed.

For my novels, I have the plot outline on loose leaf paper (printed out) while the notes (and maps and pictures and ideas in general) are all written down in 70-page spiral notebooks. If I run out of room in one, I go to another. I usually buy these things at Wal-Mart in bulk at the end of summer (just after school supply season), when they drop the price to under 10 cents each.

[jenngreenleaf]

For my short stories, all my notes are on loose leaf paper, which gets stapled together when the story is completed.

For my novels, I have the plot outline on loose leaf paper (printed out) while the notes (and maps and pictures and ideas in general) are all written down in 70-page spiral notebooks. If I run out of room in one, I go to another. I usually buy these things at Wal-Mart in bulk at the end of summer (just after school supply season), when they drop the price to under 10 cents each.This is how I work, as well - in binders for all my lengthy projects. I use dividers, page flags, and print-out's. I love being able to take out what I don't need anymore, add pages, and re-arrange things as needed. I used to use spiral bound notebooks for everything, but I found they're too confining for my taste.

[NicoleMD]

I write willy-nilly in 70 page spirals, all over the place without regard for any type of organization, which works fine for me, since I hardly ever return to the notes after I've written them. Just haven written them seems to cement them in my mind well enough. Sometimes when I do need a little extra organization, I'll go through my notes and move all of the good parts to electronic format, organized by the categories you listed.

Nicole