NaNoWrimo 2018 is just around the corner, guys. How is your writer’s notebook coming along? If you haven’t started filling in the information for your story’s settings, then I hope this blog post is what you’re looking for. (But even if you’re not doing NaNo, I hope these articles will prove to be useful to anyone who’s planning to work on a novel project.)

Previously, we have covered how I set up my project statistics, plotting, and character sheets in my writer’s notebook. I’ll leave the relevant links down below, in case you’ve missed some of them:

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 1 (Project Statistics)

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 2 (Plotting)

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 3 (Character Sheets)

When you work on your plotting, you are defining “what happens with your story” and “how does it happen”. Similarly, when you work on your character sheets, you are defining the “who is involved” and “why are they involved”. Settings, on the other hand, is simply defining “where does the story take place” and “when is this happening”.

A good story doesn’t only need to have a solid plot and characters, but it also needs enough information about the when and where the story takes place. Imagine watching a stage play; settings are the backdrops behind the characters; the ambiance and lightings. They never take center stage, but they are important nonetheless.

Personally, my golden rule with having a “good enough” settings information for my novel project is to have just enough information so I can imagine being in the story with no problem.

It sounds rather vague, I know. But I will elaborate this in more details below. Continue reading →

It’s the third week of Preptober, and NaNoWriMo 2018 is just around the corner, everyone! Now that we have our project statistics and plot established, we’re going to move on to perhaps the most exciting bits to write in your writer’s notebook: characters!

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 1 (Project Statistics)

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 2 (Plotting)

It is no secret that what I love the most about writing a book is the characters. After all, they’re the ones keeping me awake at night, pleading to me so I could stay up for a couple more hours and write the continuation of their stories. Most of the time, this means pulling an all-nighter just to get the story written.

And although it means me catching a cold, familiarizing myself with my characters allow me to write my stories faster.

Disclaimer: As my previous post, unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to disclose the characters of my upcoming project, since:

1. They are still very confidential—I haven’t written the manuscript yet!
2. They are mostly incomplete, as I tend to add more information as I draft my manuscript.

With that said, here is how I record information about my characters inside my writer’s notebook. Continue reading →

We’re less than a month away from NaNoWriMo, everyone! In the last post, I’ve talked quite extensively about how I set up my writer’s notebook in preparation of NaNoWriMo—especially in defining the project statistics and brainstorming for the story. This week, we’re going to tackle the heart of any novel: the plot.

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 1

The plot is what makes your story. It is what happens to your characters, and also what happens after it happens. It is the action and reaction, the cause and consequence of everything that transpires inside your fictional realm. It could be the most exciting part of writing a book, as well as the most frustrating.

 

Personally, I’ve never been a good match with plotting. More often than not, I would know all about my characters, locations, and even wrap up my research for the project—but still, have no clue about what happens inside my book. Sounds crazy, I know, but it happens all the time. Continue reading →

Happy Preptober, everyone! In this week’s post, I’m going to share with you how I set up my writer’s notebook for my NaNoWriMo project.

Yes, I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2018.

In case you didn’t know what I was talking about, which I highly doubt, especially if you’re reading my blog, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a global event in which many writers from all over the globe take on the challenge to write an entire novel of 50,000 words within the month of November. Preptober, on the other hand, is what NaNoWriMo veterans use to call the month leading towards NaNoWriMo—October.

Now I’ve talked quite extensively about how I used a Midori Style Traveler’s Notebook as my writer’s notebook last year, but I’ve decided to shake things up a little bit for this year’s challenge. Don’t worry—I still use my Midori Style Traveler’s Notebook regularly. I just thought that for NaNoWriMo 2018, I would need a separate system to organize my thoughts about the writing project.

And since I am planning to start a new project, I thought that I could use the occasion to share with you guys a more in-depth look at how I build my personal writer’s notebook. Continue reading →