Day One backs up my brain

I started using Day One a few months ago, but not for journaling. Going by the reviews in the App Store, most people do that. They use Day One as a diary or maybe as a travel journal.

I've been using Day One to write about stuff that I’m reading and watching, and it has been working really well.

Before Day One, I kept a handwritten journal to record my thoughts and ideas related to TV shows, movies, and novels. Positive or negative reactions, why something does (or doesn’t) keep my interest. It's the Media Studies major in me—I can't help it.

I started recording those kinds of thoughts last year after I read Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. He references Michel de Montaigne, who wrote “a short critical judgment” in the back of every book he read so later he could reference what the book was about and what he thought of it. He didn't have to depend on his memory to keep track of everything he read.

I liked that idea, and it works well enough for books, but sometimes I give mine away. Sometimes I borrow books from friends or read e-books, and I can't write in those. I wanted to record my reactions to TV shows and movies too, so I starting writing all of those thoughts in a notebook. Entries in a physical notebook have limitations, though, and I’ve found that Day One remedies all of them.

1. My handwriting gets messy, especially when I’m trying to get my thoughts down quickly. On the plus side, I’m used to my messy writing so I can still read it, but it’s still sloppy on the page. Not really something that’s easy to reference afterwards. I type in Day One. Effortless neatness.

2. I like going back to add things. Writing entries back-to-back in a physical notebook doesn’t allow me to go back and add thoughts, like after the second time I watch a movie. Leaving some blank space between entries doesn’t work well either, because that’s wasted space if I never go back to it. I can edit entries in Day One, even re-write them if I want to, without affecting the rest of the entries.

3. Physical notebooks can be difficult to navigate (unless I make some kind of index). Day One is searchable, and you can tag entries. It’s easy to look for something I wrote before. It’s easy to find related entries.

4. I can’t easily back up a physical notebook. (Photocopying every page is probably my best option.) Day One lets me export my entries as PDFs, so I create back up copies periodically to make sure I don’t lose my writing.

Day One has an easy-to-use, simple interface. It stays out of your way so you can write.

Photo credit: Livro ou TV? by Lubs Mary. via photopin cc

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?

On planning stories

George R.R. Martin says there are two kinds of writers, architects and gardeners:

I've always said there are – to oversimplify it – two kinds of writers. There are architects and gardeners. The architects do blueprints before they drive the first nail, they design the entire house, where the pipes are running, and how many rooms there are going to be, how high the roof will be. But the gardeners just dig a hole and plant the seed and see what comes up. I think all writers are partly architects and partly gardeners, but they tend to one side or another, and I am definitely more of a gardener. (x)

When I'm writing fiction, I like knowing the basic elements beforehand and figuring out everything else in the process of writing. I'm an architect at the beginning but then I take the gardening approach.

I like seeing how other people organize their notes, and maybe you do too, so here are a few ways I have organized story notes.

In my head

When I first have an idea, I keep everything in my head. I've always had a good memory for stories, so it's easy for me to figure out characters, places, plot points, even structure—and keep it in my memory. This method lets me have my "notes" with me all the time and I can work on the story wherever and whenever (nice), but it's also possible I'll think of something and forget it before I fit it into the story information I already worked out (bummer).

Paper

When things get more detailed, I move to paper. I draw diagrams, flow charts, maps, and webs. I use a notebook for this method, so it's portable (nice), but I tend to take notes haphazardly so it can be difficult to search through my notes (bummer).

Evernote

I keep one digital notebook for a story with separate notes for characters, a rough outline, locations, and ideas. I can access Evernote from any internet connection and it's searchable (nice), but digital notes means that I don't see them all the time (bummer). They don't have a physical presence on my desk to remind me that I should be writing (instead of scrolling through Tumblr).

Index cards

Using index cards is a hybrid method of Evernote and physical paper. I just started using these for the story I'm working on. I have cards for characters (one on each card, adding details as I write them into the story), locations, and scenes. I use different colored cards to separate information (character cards are blue and scene cards are white). Hole-punching the cards and keeping them on a ring makes them portable. (So would wrapping a rubber band around the stack, but I like being able to turn through the cards.) I can rearrange the cards however I want, whenever I need to (nice), but card size is a limitation, so I might need a notebook in conjunction with index cards (bummer).

How do you like to organize notes?

Evernote for job searching

One of the ways I use Evernote is to organize my job search.

I dedicate one notebook to track jobs I'm interested in. The first note is Applications In, where I keep a table of the jobs I have applied to, when I follow up, and any additional notes. The top row looks like this:

I keep a list of sites and job search engines on a second note. That way when I'm looking for jobs online, I can simply go down the list to do a thorough search.

The third note has keywords I use. I'm looking for a position in marketing, public relations, or writing, so my keywords include those words as well as "communications specialist," "marketing assistant," "social media," and "media relations." Hiring managers use various job titles and descriptions, so searching several related keywords gives me more relevant leads.

The fourth note has notes about my portfolio: pieces I should edit, pieces that are tailored to a specific job, and notes about presentation.

Using Evernote this way helps me search for jobs efficiently.