Back last summer, I blogged about Writer's Tools That I Like. One of those tools is a free download from printablepaper.net for twelve box comic panel.
I like to use this comic panel printout to write a brief synopsis of each chapter in my book. If I were smart, I would do this as I went along, but I never remember to do it until I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the book.
Well, last February, when I reached that 2/3rds point in Wicked Ambition, Oz and Ayla's story, I had a brainstorm! What if I printed out two of the 12 box comic panel sheets, put them back-to-back, and then laminated them? Instead of printing it out for each book, I could use a wet erase marker and wipe it off when it was time to use it for the next story.
The brainstorm continued. Color coding! I could color code which Point of View (POV) the chapter was in! Hero one color, heroine another, secondary characters get their own colors. Perfect!
I didn't want to buy a laminating machine for one project, so I bought those self-sealing laminating pouch things. I messed up the first one so badly, I had to throw it away (along with the print outs).
The second attempt went better. It helped that I glued my pages back-to-back so they wouldn't move while I was trying to seal the laminating pouch. I found ultra fine line wet erase markers and they were great! The real test will come when I wipe off the laminated pages and try to use them on the next book.
I haven't done that yet.
