Back in September (or maybe the very end of August), I finished my second Paladin League notebook. Picture is on the left. You can see the little round markers sticking out of the top. Each color belongs to a different character/book. There's also one color that is for the series as a whole.
The markers semi-transparent round stickers that I picked up for my planner, but never found a way to use there. They do work great, though, in my writing notebook.
I like writing my notes out on paper instead of digitally. There's something about putting pen to paper that makes me think better. And when I brainstorm with my writing buddy, those notes go in here as well.
Sometimes the early notes I add about a future book/hero/heroine end up being completely wrong, but that's okay. Now I know what doesn't fit.
The interesting thing? I rarely go back and look at the early notes, not even when I'm writing that character's story. Maybe just the act of writing them down gets my memory to work better? The character to provide more accurate information? I'm not sure what it is, but I seldom feel the need to go back and reference older notes. This also includes overall series notes, which I probably do need to go back and review.
I do, however, flip through the pages about the current book to reference information. I also will cross out stuff that no longer is accurate. These notes aren't about looking pretty. They're about getting thoughts/ideas/possibilities down before they disappear into the ether of my brain.
There is one other "notebook" I use on occasion. I put notebook in quotes because it's an artist's sketchpad that is quite large. That is where I make notes after I finish a book and before I start the next one. What do I need to accomplish in the book for the Paladin League series? What threads do I need to remember? I might not weave those threads in this particular book, but I want to remember they're there.
The big size of the notebook is for big thoughts. :-) Heh! It's actually kind of a mind map. Because it's a sketchbook, there aren't any lines, and I write wherever I want. I'll circle things and draw lines between items. Something about the freedom is helpful when I'm looking at the big picture on the series.
Now I'm in Notebook Three. I had the cover of that notebook printed with The Paladin League on it just like this green notebook. I like doing that because I can tell at a glance which series it's for. I recently did a search of my office and found one series that had four partial notebooks, some with only a page or two of notes! I definitely need to get more named notebooks.
