Tools That Almost Work

I'm always looking for new things to try when it comes to writing. New ways to keep track of things, new ways to think about a story, new software.

A few months ago, I was looking for a lost file (not story related). It was a template for logging word count, and while I had a copy that I was using, I didn't know where the original was. I ended up doing a search in File Explorer and it was in a weird folder that must have made sense to me at the time.

High Priority To Be Printed.

I don't know why I thought I wanted to print a spreadsheet, but I also found some other tools and templates that I'd purchased to try with writing. One of them had promise.

I've blogged about the Twelve Box Comic Panel that I use (when I remember) to keep track of scenes in my book. It's helpful to glance and know whose Point of View I was in, a sentence or two about what happened in the scene, and where it took place. I even laminated these sheets so that I could use them with wet erase markers. I don't need to keep these pages once the book is finished, only while I'm writing.

But one of the tools I bought had a four column list of things to keep track of. The items were: The chapter (I divided the circle in half to keep track of scene, too. Like Ch 1/Sc 2), external conflict, plot point, day/time, internal conflict, setting, and characters. (No pictures to share since I purchased this template and it wouldn't be fair to the creator.)

I liked this layout. It does the same thing as my Twelve Box Comic Panel, but things are separated out instead of lumped into one box.

Since it seemed like something that would work for me, I started to use it and I liked it. Mostly. I discovered that I don't want to keep track of the external and internal conflict chapter by chapter. I also discovered that it did not give me enough room to record my plot points and there were times the box for characters was too small, too. 

I tried to create my own template based on this form, but gave up pretty quickly. Sadly, my graphic design skills are poor. Very poor. And while I probably could eventually come up with something I liked, it felt like a lot of time where I wouldn't be writing.

Then I had another idea. I have all these stencils I have to use in my planner. What if I used them in my series notebook to draw the boxes in the sizes I want/need?

I did a trial run last night after I was done working for the day and it seems it might work out.

When I talked about creating my own writing planner, I think I mentioned that I tried planners created by other authors that just didn't work for me. Some of it was because of how my brain works and some of it was because they wanted to keep track of things I didn't and there was a lot of wasted real estate. When I bought a dashboard planner and altered it to work the way I needed it to, it was a revelation.

This template/form is kind of the same thing. Once I get it to work for me, it will be fabulous. I just need to do some resizing and relabeling first. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving for my American friends!

 

Backwards Momentum

Over the weekend, I reached a point where I only have about a dozen chapters left to write in the first draft of Wicked Temptation. It's not quite my favorite place in writing a book, but it's in the top 5.

Only twelve chapters left means it's time to backward plan.

I do this every book. I pull out my series notebook, number out the remaining chapters, and starting from the end of the book, I write down what I think will happen and in which chapter it will occur. If I'm not sure, I leave the line blank with the idea of adding to it later.

Why is this one of my favorite parts of writing? It means I'm close enough to the end that I not only know what needs to happen, I now need to make sure I have room for it. It's like a reverse engineered blueprint for the remainder of the book.

Along with this backwards momentum plotting also comes a moment of panic. I have so much story left to tell. How can I hope to fit it all in the chapters I have remaining?

This happens every book, and somehow it all always fits. That allows me to relax a little because been there, done that is reassuring.

Once I mapped out this loose map, and identified the chapters where I know certain things will happen, I can write forward more confidently.

I love it when a plan comes together. ;-) 

Daily Snapshot

I saw a stamp set for "Currently" and missed out on it because it was for subscribers and the kit was sold out. I was disappointed because it seemed like such a fun way to do a daily snapshot.

As it turned out, I found another Currently stamp set and this one offered more than the four options of the stamp set I couldn't get my hands on.

I tested it out in my planner, which might not have been my best choice. The image is at the left. This was a couple of months ago, and I think I mentioned, I'm stamping challenged. I'm still stamping challenged. I thought I was improving. Then I did the stamping for this month in my notebook and it was like, um, yeah. Not so much.

Here is my November notebook.

As you can see, the stamping didn't go well this month. It's messy and I ended up changing ink part way through, but it was already too late.

I think this is a nice snapshot of my day.

Currently Reading. I don't always have a book on a day because if I'm doing a lot of writing, I don't feel like reading. Makes it tough with library books.

Currently Listening. I'm in my Moana soundtrack phase. Again. You're Welcome. It's almost time to switch to Christmas music.

Currently Writing. Still working on Wicked Temptation. I have a word count goal, and I'm past the halfway point on that. But the story isn't at the halfway point yet, so this story might be finishing a little long. I usually throw in what chapter I worked on that day.

Currently Loving. I like this category because it can literally be anything.

Currently Watching. This is usually some sort of YouTube video since I don't watch much television.

Today. This box is for a highlight of the day. Again, it can be anything and I like the optionality.

The other thing in this notebook is the Gratitude section. I didn't take a picture of this month's section, but here's a picture from earlier. I think this is October's notebook.

I don't only use stamps in these notebooks. I add stickers and cards and all kinds of decoration. Anything that makes it fun.

This notebook is far from perfect and this sort of bothers me because I am a perfectionist, but I've reached a point where I can tell myself: You'll do better next month. And then move on. Although the fall off from my good October stamping to November is discouraging, but I'm POSITIVE that I'll do great in December. I bought new ink, and since part of my problem was moving on before the stamp was dry, I'll move slower and be more patient.

Not easy for me. I have ADHD and am easily distractable, but maybe I can read while I wait for the ink to dry in December. :-)

Despite all this, it's a nice way to be creative that uses different brain cells than writing, so I get the creativity boost without the drain. The more creativity my brain is exposed to, the easier it is to write. That's my theory anyway.

If December doesn't stink, I'll post pictures of my notebook on Instagram. You can find me there as: @author_pattioshea 

Bye Bye Book Journal

I blogged about my Book Journal Blues back in September, but I never shared my decision or the outcome.

After days and days of consideration, I decided I would recreate my 2025 book journal. I cut out the pages that I thought I could reuse and trimmed them down to put them in an A5 notebook. (I had been using an 8 X 8.)

And of course, cutting out the pages and trimming them down didn't work well. There were issues. Some of it was related to the washi tape, some of it was related to all the Scotch tape I'd used to try and hold the journal pages together, but it was an utter fail.

Then I thought about all the book covers and readathon layouts I would have to reprint on sticker paper and run through my sticker cutting machine.

I had the new journal out on the table. I had washi tape with books on it at the ready. I had decorative papers at my elbow, ready to create a charming title page.

And I couldn't do it.

I couldn't spend the time it would take to redo the journal. I need to be writing, not redoing months of work in a journal that I probably wouldn't look at again. I cut out the used pages and threw the rest of the journal away.

My heart is broken, but the journal was already a loss. I wasn't using it because of the condition it was in. Not only how ugly it was, but that it was also half falling apart because I accidentally sliced the binding strings holding it together. It was a catastrophe.

I have a book tracker sticker (okay, two stickers) in the front of my regular planner and I transferred all the book titles, formats, authors, ratings over there. It nearly filled my two pages, but that's okay. At least it's recorded, and since I archive my planners every year, it will be preserved for posterity.

Now I have a new problem. Do I do a book journal for 2026? Or do I just use the notes pages at the back of my planner to keep track?

There are only 20 extra pages, so I wouldn't be able to do a full journal, only a list like in this year's planner. I'm not sure what to do. It takes time to find, print, and cut the book cover stickers for the journal. On the other hand, I really liked keeping track of my readathons in there and I'll lose that if I don't have a book journal.

The wrench in the gears? When I'm writing, I don't feel like reading. The only reason I did so well on the May readathon this year was because Wicked Ambition was in edits multiple times that month. The year-long readathons? I'm failing miserably at them because it's taking me two weeks to read a book.

Right now, I'm leaning toward just keeping a list of books at the back of my 2026 planner, but I'm still mulling. Stay tuned.