How to Magically Transform Your Writer’s Notebook into a Secret Weapon

Let’s Have a Quick Chat About “Collections”:

Before we get into these awesome ideas for your writer’s notebook, you should have a good understanding of the idea of notebook collections. There are bullet journal collection pages. Then there are just general collections placed randomly in a notebook or spread across several notebooks.

These writer’s notebook ideas are all about creating collections: groups of thoughts, ideas, and goals that are organized into specific systems. Having this organization is key to staying focused and achieving your goals this year.

I recommend using the bullet journal method to create these collections. This will help you develop a notebook that is organized and information that’s simple to locate when you need it. Really all you need to create collections in your notebook are numbered pages and an index. That’s it.

You can create one in a notebook you already have, or you can purchase a fresh notebook that has one built-in. The choice is yours. If you want to purchase a good bullet journal, check out these options.

Writer’s Notebook Tools You Need to Jumpstart Your Goals

1. SMART Goals for This Year

SMART Goals come up often on InkWell Spills. That’s because this method is the best way to create goals that you will actually achieve. Learn more about developing SMART Goals for your writing projects here. A good writer’s notebook should begin with all of your goals. This sets the tone for the entire year. Know what you want out of life this time around the sun. The simple act of writing down your goals can be surprisingly motivating.

A Quick Overview of the SMART Goal Development Method

S – Specific

Be as specific as possible when defining your goals. Use the categories below to make a simple goal more specific. Pro Tip – By the time you’re done, your goal should look more like a paragraph than a single sentence.

M – Measurable

How will you measure your progress? Do you want to write a novel? A word count tracker will help you see your progress. Writing habit trackers also work well. If you want to read more books this year, how many and which ones? Assign a numeric value to your goal in whatever way makes sense. Then keep track of your progress. This way you’ll know if you’re falling behind or ahead of the game.

A – Attainable / Achievable

There’s a lot of different ways the letter “A” in SMART goals gets defined. However you define “A,” make sure your goal is something you can actually attain or achieve. For example, don’t set your sights on making time slow down. You probably won’t be successful. Set the bar high, but not so high you fall on your face when trying to reach it. A solid writing goal might be to write a novel in a year or to increase your blog posts to two per week.

R – Relevant / Reasonable

Why is this goal important to you? What are your reasons for wanting to accomplish this particular thing? You might want to have a page in your notebook titled “Reasons Why.” It’s a general list for motivation purposes. Take each goal you have for the year and create a “Reasons Why” section for it. Not only will you get a better understanding of yourself and your goal, but you can also look back on this and remind yourself why it’s so important to you.

T – Time Bound / Time Sensitive

This is so important! Put a deadline on your goal. Time constraints can be extremely motivating. It’s also important to hold yourself accountable. For example, I set a deadline of December 10th, 2020 for this post. I have procrastinated on it a lot. But that timestamp kept me motivated to achieve this goal.

Set a reasonable deadline for yourself. You know your schedule. You know yourself and your level of motivation. Create realistic deadlines for each of your goals. Even if you don’t make the deadline, keep going until you’ve accomplished your goal. Think of that deadline as a promise to yourself. Do you break promises you make to other people? Doubt it. So don’t break promises you make to yourself either.

2. SMART Goal Action Plans – How Will You Achieve Your Goals?

It’s not enough to have well-defined goals. You need to put a plan in place to take the steps necessary to accomplish those goals. A common method for creating an action plan is by largest to smallest:

• The largest part is your end result – what you want to achieve.
• Break that goal down into smaller steps or projects.
• Then break any projects down into individual steps.
• For every step, make a list of smaller tasks that need to be done to finish that step.
• Focus your time and energy only on your tasks until each step, project, and goal have been accomplished.

So you work your way back up the ladder. Complete simple, meaningful tasks as often as you think you need to. Eventually, you’ll have steps completed. Projects finished. And voila! your goal has been crushed.

3. Story Ideas – Keep a Collection of All Your Story Ideas in One Place

This is a major struggle for a lot of writers. Too many ideas, not enough time. So, create a collection of your ideas. Instead of scribbling them down wherever you find paper, organize them.

Sometimes, ideas come to us when we least expect them. Record your idea at the moment it occurs in whatever way you can. But make sure your transfer it to your Story Ideas Collection as soon as possible. This keeps everything together and serves as a reminder of your brilliant idea that may have otherwise been lost. It’s also something you can draw on for both inspiration and motivation.

4. Plot Outlines – Develop Your Story in Your Notebook

Before you start this project, check out my How to Plot a Novel Series. It goes over everything you need to create a killer outline for your novel. Start with the basics:

• Premise
• Characters
• World Building
• Point of View
• Tone / Mood
• Theme
• Research

Then choose your plotting method. This post covers five common plotting methods and how to use them:

• The Snowflake Method
• Mind Mapping
• The Sticky Note Outline
• Flow Charts
• Pantsing & Plantsing It

Finally, choose your story structure. There are millions of ways to structure your story. Most follow the Three Act Structure in some variation. This post covers three common story structures:

• The Three Act Story Structure
• The Seven Point Story Structure
• The Hero’s Journey Story Structure

Pro Tip – There are also free printable workbooks available for each type of story structure.

You could do all of these steps right in your notebook. Or you could create a “messy copy.” Then transfer the finalized outline to a specific spot in your notebook. It’s up to you. But it’s definitely helpful to have quick access to that plot/outline when you’re writing.

5. Character Collections – Create One for Each Main Character

There are lots of different ways to do this. There really is no wrong way. But I like to have a main page that lists all of my characters in a hierarchy. It shows the protagonists and antagonists, then the secondary characters, followed by the tertiary characters. This is just a list that you can use to keep track of which characters have been “built,” and which still need work.

You should dedicate one or two pages to each main character (protagonist/antagonist). For the rest, it depends on the story and how much needs to be known about the characters in relation to that story. Some secondary characters need a whole page, some only need one sentence. That will depend on your story and how you want to create your characters.

Not sure how to start a character collection page? You can find a copy of InkWell Spills’ Character Interview Packet in the Resource Vault for some inspiration.

6. World Building

First, I highly recommend you check out my 100% free World Building Workbook. It’s super fun and very useful. Second, here are some world-building elements you might want to include in your notebook:

• Physical Realm
  • Colonized Territories
  • Uncharted Destinations
• World Map
• Ecosystems
  • Environmental Descriptions
  • Flora
  • Fauna
• Government Operations & Structure
• Society / Class System
• Technology
• Religion / Belief Systems
• Magic Systems
  • Humanoids
  • Monsters
  • Mythical Creatures

You could put them all on one or two pages if your world isn’t complicated. Or if you’re creating an entire world from scratch, try using a page or two for each element. Mind mapping each of these segments is a great way to figure them out.

It’s ok to leave your world-building elements as mind maps or use the information to create a more detailed and organized format for each world-building section. To stay super organized, create a title page that lists all the elements you want to include. Go back to it as you build your world to check off things that are done.

7. Setting the Scene

The setting is not the same as World Building. It’s about more than just where and when a story takes place. The setting is made up of specific scenes that touch your reader in some way and weave your story together.

After completing your plotting and story structures, it’s a good idea to move onto your scenes. Some writers just roll with their muse and write scenes as they develop in their minds. Others like to be more organized and jot down notes for each scene.

“I’ve come up with 5 details to enforce the mood for each scene in my first story that hit on sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. It’s pretty challenging but also fun.”

Parker McCoy

You could take it a step further and actually work out exactly what happens in every scene. The Snowflake Method uses this level of detail. But, you alone must choose how to record your scenes in your writer’s notebook. It’s important to have them written down in some form, not only for reference but also to help you gain a clearer sense of your story.

8. Novel Research

This is where things get difficult. Research notes. I have a separate notebook for my research notes because my story is very complex. However, you might only need one page for yours. You might not need to do any research at all.

If you do any research, put it in your writer’s notebook. It’s so easy to print out an article to “read later.” But if you’re diligent about keeping all of your research notes in one place, they will be much easier to sort through when you have the time.

Some more ideas for research information to include:

• Books on Writing
• Books You’ve Read that Inspired You
• Novel Writing Websites
• Authors You Know
• Social Media Connections (Facebook Groups, Virtual Writer’s Groups, etc…)
• Quotes to Include
• Theme & Moral Argument Ideas (also include why sharing this is important to you)
• General Character Archetypes
• Technical Information:
  • Historical facts
  • Foreign language translations
  • Scientific procedures
  • Medical information
  • Financial processes
  • Pirate lore
  • Religious practices

9. Niche Blogs & Helpful Websites

Add inkwellspills.com to your list! A good writer’s notebook should have a reference page with all the websites and blogs you frequent for your writing. That way if you can’t remember that one website with a really good article on character development, it’s right there in your notebook to remind you.

A lot of writing websites also have resource vaults or freebie libraries with “secret” passwords. Include these with the reference page or create a separate collection for them. Your list might get overwhelming, and who wants to go digging through their email just to find a really old newsletter with the password on it? Not me.

10. Editing Phases & Notes

Having a revisions page is such a great idea for anyone working on a major writing project, from novels to blogs. There are multiple methods to utilize for your Editing Collection:

• Plot out your editing plan
• Keep track of your editing progress
• Create a checklist of what needs to be edited
• Record notes about major edits
• Keep a diary of all your editing notes
• Track your editing word count per day if you’re on a deadline

How you transform this idea depends on your story and your editing style. There are several reasons to keep track of your editing. It’s motivating. You can see your progress. It also provides a clear understanding of how you’ve grown your story from a work in progress to a finished product.

You could try to edit like a pantser. Just edit your work without notes or a plan. But chances are if you’re reading this article, you’re into the details. These details will keep you organized and help you achieve your goals.

11. Publishing Steps

I don’t know if you’ve ever published a book before. But it’s not “edit then publish” unless you’re self-publishing. Even then, there are steps that need to be taken before a book can be published.

First, you will need to decide if you want to go with self-publishing or traditional publishing. There are four different methods of self-publishing. So if you’re going down that road, that’s something you’ll need to think about too. Whichever you end up choosing, there are things you’ll need to do before your book can be published. Save some pages in your writer’s notebook to keep track of everything that goes into publishing a book.

It’s a vastly complicated field. So, use these articles on the process of publishing a book to create a plan of action for your writing project:

• Jerry Jenkins: How To Publish a Book: My Ultimate Guide From 40+ Years of Experience
• Self Publishing School: How to Publish a Book in 2020: A Step-by-Step Guide for First-Timers
• Writer’s Digest: How To Publish a Book: An Overview of Traditional & Self-Publishing

12. Marketing Ideas & Strategies

Marketing is a major part of writing. It’s also an element that a lot of writers dread. Writers tend to be introverted, quiet, and humble artistic souls. So, screaming at strangers to buy your book might not be your strongest talent. That’s where strategy comes in.

Create a plan for your marketing. Whether you’re self or traditionally published, working on a blog, or just want to share your poetry, you have to find a way to let people know it’s there. Then you have to convince them to look at your stuff over every other thing on the internet.

Use a few pages in your writer’s notebook to come up with marketing ideas. Social media is a great place to start. Once you have some ideas, take a little time to develop a strategy for implementing each idea. For example, you could Tweet about your book three times per week, using a different format each time. Check out this post to learn how to boost your Twitter engagement as a writer.

13. Social Media Content Creation & Schedules

Social media is not a requirement for writers. But it definitely helps. Most people use social media. So it’s a good way to reach a vast and ever-increasing audience. However, it can be very overwhelming to try to interact on social media. Where do you start? How many platforms should you be on? What do you say?

Here Are Some Tips:

• Stick with 2-3 social media platforms, anything more will be too much.
• Create a page for each platform. Research the best times to post on your platforms.
• Develop your content as far in advance as you can.
• Create a schedule of your content releases for each social media platform.
• Post a behind the scenes story at least once a month. (People like to know there’s a human behind the screen.)
• Create a schedule of promotions to be released.
• Dedicate some time every week to interact with people on your social media platforms,

Ignore the trolls. There are always going to be haters. Don’t buy into them. Keep your record clean and post regularly to grow your audience. Plan your content, track your progress, and improve your growth by keeping everything in your writer’s notebook.

14. Books to Read & Review

Notice that says, “and review.” This matters a great deal to a lot of people. Please review any books you read. Even if you hated it. Amazon ranks books in part by the number of reviews they have. So review that book!

Keep a list of the books you’re reading, the books you want to read, and the books you’ve already read. Place a checkmark next to the ones you’ve reviewed. Create a wish list of books you’d like to read and use them as rewards for achieving goals or completing projects.

15. Awesome Author Lists

This is a good way to keep track of your books as well. Categorize your reading list by author. This helps you track what you’ve read by that particular author and when their next book is coming out. Yay! It’s good to have this list for when you run out of books to read, too. Pick an author and see if they have any older books you haven’t read yet.

Use this collection as a role model inspiration page. Write down your favorite authors. Don’t forget your writing community friends. Do some research on them when you’re feeling down. Not every author makes it big. The ones who do all have tons of failures under their belts. Reading about your favorite author’s journey to success might show you that you’re not that different after all.

16. Self Care Habits

Self-care, self-care, self-care. Take care of yourself, please. We so often get caught up being busy. There’s a subtle, constant pressure to continuously push ourselves closer to our goals. We tend to forget to take care of ourselves. There are multiple methods of incorporating self-care into your writer’s notebook.

You might want to create a self-care habit tracker for each week or month. You could even dedicate a collection page to self-care ideas. Choose an idea from your collection whenever you need a “moment.”

17. Gratitude Log

Gratitude and meditation are two things that have recently grown in popularity. There’s a reason for that. They work. I won’t ask you to meditate, although I do recommend it. But try to keep a gratitude log in your writer’s notebook. Start with this sample page for some ideas:

Your gratitude log doesn’t have to be a daily thing. You might want to designate one or two pages to record things you’re grateful for when the moment is right. Keeping a gratitude log is great for your mental health. Recording what you’re grateful for might relieve some anxiety. It also offers both inspiration and motivation for those days when life seems unfair.

18. Motivation

There are so many ways to include motivation in your writer’s notebook. Check out my post on How to Stay Motivated to learn more about motivation and the writer’s life. Motivation is important. As a writer, you know that sometimes you just don’t want to write. That’s when these collections will come in handy. Turn the page, motivation. Turn the page, motivation. (Any Rocko’s Modern Life fans?)

Your SMART Goals and Action Plans are your first real motivation pages. But there are lots of other ways to create motivational collections. Here are some ideas for how to incorporate motivation in your writer’s notebook:

• Create a list of reasons why – What drives you to achieve your goals?
• Make a vision board – A page that represents everything you want to achieve throughout the year. You could use pictures, words, colors, whatever you find the most motivating.
• Write down the “What if’s?” – Use that dreaded question to give yourself some motivation. You could go for negative: “If I don’t do this, then this will happen,” or positive: “If I do this, then this will happen.”
• Set up a reward system – Create a list of things or activities you really want. For each goal you achieve, choose one of those rewards.
• Set up your writer’s notebook like a quest journal – If you’re a fantasy or video game fan, this makes progress much more interesting. It’s fun to accomplish your goals when you’re viewing it as an epic quest to save the world.
• Develop a list of motivational quotes.

How do you get motivated? Use that to create a motivational collection page in your writer’s notebook. Look back on it when you need an extra push.

19. Inspiration

Inspiration collections are also very versatile. The main idea is to create something that will inspire you when you’re just not feeling it. You could:

• Create a vision board
• Write down some story prompts you love
• Make a list of inspirational quotes
• List some reasons why you want to achieve a particular goal
• Draw something that inspires you
• Create a scrapbook page or pages filled with ideas and other things that inspire you

What inspires you the most? Tell me in the comments. Then go create a collection in your writer’s notebook for it.

20. Accomplishments Collection

Accomplishment lists are another very powerful tool, especially for a writer. Take a page or two to write down all of your accomplishments in life so far. You could include just your writer’s life accomplishments, or bring it all to the table. Warning, this exercise might make you cry.

You’ve done a lot more than you give yourself credit for. I can almost guarantee that. Use this list as motivation for those days when you feel like a failure or you’re suffering from imposter syndrome.

21. A Letter to Your Future Self

This is something new I started in 2021. It goes along with the idea of keeping motivational collections. This is a letter you write to yourself. It should be read on January 1st of whenever the next year is. You can use the present tense and talk about what you hope you’ve achieved. Or use past tense to give yourself that mindset of success by writing about your goals as if they’ve already been achieved.

Think about your future self often. Re-read your letter a year from when you write it. Use it to analyze your life choices. Did you do everything you could to reach your goals? If not, why not? If so, celebrate your success and create your action plan for next year.

More Writer’s Notebook Ideas:

Even more ideas:

• Why Create a Writer’s Notebook
• Writer’s Notebook Ideas for a Successful Year
• Collection Pages Ideas – The Writer’s Bullet Journal
• How to Create a Writer’s Notebook Using the Bullet Journal Method

Use These Writer’s Notebook Tools to Crush Your Goals

Hopefully, these tools help you crush your writing goals for this year and beyond. Be proud of everything you accomplished last year. Look forward to competing with yourself throughout this year. Most of all, enjoy your writing journey. I know you’ll succeed.

Note: This page may contain affiliate links for which, if an item is purchased, I will receive a small commission at absolutely no extra cost to you. I only ever post links for products that I have used, found helpful, and loved. Thank you for supporting my writing journey so I can continue to help you on yours!