Evernote for writing

Someone asked me how I use Evernote when I write fiction. Here's what I do.

I keep one notebook for all of my fiction, and then I have a note for each story or idea. Each note basically looks like an outline and I have sections for characters, locations, and plot ideas. I add to notes as I write stories so that I have a quick reference. That way, for example, I don’t have to skim the whole story to find the name of the cafe where a minor character works. I make these kinds of notes in Evernote so that it’s faster for me to check details as I’m writing.

One fiction notebook works for me because I use it as a reference, but if I used Evernote for planning, organizing, and even drafting a story, then I would use one notebook for each story and have notes for characters, research, plot, and ideas.

I would do something like this:

Create a new notebook and name it the title of the story (or a working title…I always use working titles because I never know what to call something until it’s finished).

Then create notes.

One for the plot outline. I don't like planning out every detail beforehand, so my outlines are basic bullet points about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. If you like more detail, your outline might go chapter by chapter. If you want to set yourself on a schedule, include deadlines to complete each part.

I like making my outlines manually, but there are outline and number list buttons in the toolbar that you can use.



There is also a to do list button that you can use to make lists (maybe for things you need to research) and then you can check off items as you complete them.



Characters. This note includes physical descriptions of the characters (and possibly photos of what they look like) and comments about their personality, past, friends, family, goals, motivations, and anything else that’s important.

Locations. I don’t know about other people, but I like keeping track of characters and the plot by what happens where. I list and describe the major locations/settings for the story. Maybe the main character’s house, school/job, friend’s house…wherever things are happening in your story. Include photos if that’s helpful.

Progress. If you like keeping track of your writing progress, you can make a table directly in Evernote.



Make columns for the information you want to keep track of. Date, Number of words written, Chapters completed, Time spent writing…whatever you want. Here’s an example.

Click to embiggen

Ideas. I use this note to write ideas about the plot, characters, dialogue…anything that I want to work into the story.

Two other things. You can tag your notes by typing in tags in the top toolbar.



I don’t use tags in Evernote, but it might be useful for you, depending on how you set up your notebooks and notes. For example, you could tag all of your character-related notes “characters” and then if you wanted to see them all together (even across notebooks), they would be linked together with the tag.

Also, you can email notes by clicking on the gray arrow at the top right.



That’s helpful if you want to email a copy of a note to yourself (as a backup) or to someone else.

If you use Evernote to draft a story (one note for Chapter 1, another note for Chapter 2), I strongly recommend that you email yourself copies of the notes or copy and paste them into a word processing document. Back up your writing in at least one place outside Evernote, just in case anything happens to your notebooks.

That's how I use Evernote to help me write fiction. What do you do with Evernote?