I found an empty hardback notebook while cleaning out my desk today, and I have decided to use it for writing. However, I haven't found much on Pinterest in the way of writer's journals, and I'm not sure how to start mine. What do you use yours for? You can even post pictures of a page's layout if you want. I'd just like to learn how to properly use my new writer's journal.
I have one, but I'm not sure if it can be called a 'writing journal' since it isn't dedicated specifically for stories. I have character sheets on some pages and on others I have goals of what I want to do in the future, which doesn't really correlate with anything else, but it's a multipurpose kinda thing.
I do have the beginning of a story on some pages (still a work in progress), but I don't do anything fancy with it, really, I just start writing- and put the title at the top.
Also have a food log for the month on two pages but that's besides the point, like I said, kind of a do it all thing.
Sometimes when I start to write stories I'll run out of room because on the next page I'll have some other bullshit, but I just skip those pages and keep writing (making sure to title it the same thing so I don't get confused).
That's pretty much it- not sure if there's a correct or noncorrect way of having a writing journal-
i have a tiny pocket journal that i use to write down story ideas i get or to write a description of something i see that i want to include in a story, if that counts-
when i was still in high school, my creative writing teacher liked the idea of having small lil journals to keep track of details of nature, or just to write down story ideas lol,,, we even had a whole lesson where we went around the school and took note of certain things in the school, then we would write those details down in a way that made the school seem less like a school, and we would be tasked to put those details into a character scene-
idk if there's a specific type of writing journal, but i imagine at least one interpretation of a writing journal could be something like this xd
@ToWorldsUnknown I got into basic "bullet journaling" through the vlog entries and book of Ryder Carroll. Some writers on YouTube showed their own variations.
One I liked was drawing a long and narrow rectangle, whether vertical on the margins or across the top of the page—whichever you're comfortable with—and divide it into five segments labeled: Research, Outline, Draft, Revise, Submit. (For a specific project or title.) As each level is accomplished, you get to shade that segment in or color it in.
Another format I liked had columns under the working title labeled: date, chapter, notes, word count. So, on the date that you sat down to write something you write (humor me on this) the date…and under the chapter column on the same line you write the chapter you're working on…and then in the notes section you might write something like "add more character interactions between the brothers in this scene?" or "add description of the manor" or "too much dialogue; rework later" or something, before jotting down in the word count column how many words you actually wrote out.
There's another one similar to the color-in-the-progress-gauge but instead of gauge segments it's boxes drawn on the page that you move a stickie note around (the stickie note has the working title of your work written on it).
Bullet journaling has also been very helpful in organizing my worldbuilding pen-and-paper notebook (index, collections, threading…) I dedicate one notebook per world. Of course that has different advantages and disadvantages compared to keeping worldbuilding organized online.