Life itself demands so much from us. We only have twenty-four hours in a day, and there are dozens of tasks to accomplish. Every writer faces this problem. This is why I have created not just a writing planner or bullet journal, but a real system I can reuse forever and ever without it becoming obsolete or irrelevant.
Are you intrigued? You can read below or follow along on the YouTube video at Writer’s Atelier TV to see how I set mine up and find inspiration for your own perennial writing planner.
PICK A SPECIAL NOTEBOOK AND CRAFT SUPPLIES
Your first step is to select a notebook. I’m using a yellow Moleskine a friend of mine gave me for my birthday. It’s my favorite color, hardback, perfect bound, and just the right size for my needs. Some things to consider when selecting your notebook:
● Color and design—pick something you know you’ll love for a long time
● Page thickness—you wouldn’t want your favorite pen’s ink to bleed through
● Page number—truthfully, hundreds of pages aren’t necessary, but you don’t want to run out of room either
● Page design—I like lines for keeping my writing neat, but you may want dots to simplify making boxes, or blank pages to let your creativity soar
● Durability—an important factor since you’ll be carrying it around quite a lot
● Size—too small and it’s uncomfortable to write in, too big and it won’t fit into a bag
TABLE OF CONTENTS AND NUMBERED PAGES
Before you do anything, skip a couple of pages, and then start numbering if the pages aren’t already numbered in your notebook. Where you number them doesn’t matter—just make them easy to read and easy to find.
When you’re finished numbering all of the pages, go back and set up a table of contents. This will make navigating your writing planner—and finding that one piece of information you need right this second—a thousand times easier.
GET YOUR ESSENTIAL PAGES IN THERE
Now for the essential pages. You may want to use your writing planner for jotting down notes on projects to come, but your essential pages are going to be the ones you refer back to a thousand and one times. They put the perennial in perennial writing planner.
Your essential pages will be different from mine, but here are some ideas to get you started. You can safely start jotting the ideas you like into your table of contents, but don’t assign page numbers until after you’ve already designed them.
● Weekly Writing Schedule
● Monthly Writing Schedule
● This Year’s Writing Schedule
● Writing Career Goals
● Five-year Plan
● Mission and/or Vision Statements
● Financial Goals and Milestones
● Vision Board
● To Do List
● WIP/Project Tracker
● Submission Tracker
● Important Publishing Information
● Resources for Current WIP
START USING IT
It’s the design of the pages that make this writing planner set-up so valuable to present and future you. Title every page or spread of pages and set up templates that you can reuse over and over by writing in pencil, applying sticky notes, or taping in notes.
The best part about this is that your planner changes with you. If you find that some pages no longer work, you can tape in inspirational quotes and photos on top and cross it off your table of contents.
Please see my video up above for examples and ideas for how you can customize your perennial writing planner. Of course, we’ll want to see pictures of yours as well in the comments!
Megan Fuentes is an educator, freelance writer, author-to-be, and Writer’s Atelier’s administrative assistant. Her short stories have been published in Likely Red Lit Mag and a small handful of anthologies, among other places. Her passion lies in writing short stories and historical fiction because she believes the best way to prepare ourselves for the future is to examine the past. She’s also known for dabbling in other genres and even other mediums. Currently, she’s hard at work revising her first-ish novel, Earhart & Noonan’s Last Grand Adventure. Megan’s website is forthcoming, but for now, you can find her on Instagram and Twitter as @fuentespens. You can also reach her at megan@writersatelier.com.
