classes started again today and I actually managed to do everything I wanted to. Here’s to hoping this sticks, feels good going to sleep and not feeling the “oh shit I have 4 days worth of studying to do tmrw” dread
I would love to know about your bullet journal and writing trackers 👀
I mean… are you ready for some super fussy tiny handwriting? Okaaaaay.
My writing notebook is more of a composite creature than just a bullet journal (bujos in their purest form are great for task management over long periods of time, so the method’s adaptable to long-format fiction or fanfic) but this thing also has my ideation notes, inspo dumps, notes on theory and craft, and serves as a commonplace book. (LORE, y’all. Lore and how I’m adapting it.)
I write almost daily to set word count goals and I’m usually working on multiple projects that exist in various states of in-progress or done, so I’ve got trackers to measure productivity, what I was working on, and how I felt (because self-care is critical and burnout is real, and I’m trying to get better at seeing the wall before I run into it full-tilt.) That’s just me. Some people measure their productivity in terms of time spent, or what hour of the day they found they were most verbose. I like seeing if the stuff I was reading was a direct influence on what I was writing at the time too, so that’s in there too...
But the big important stuff are the story notes that are sometimes open-ended questions, or little bits of images (because I do include pictures), or parts of scenes, or quotes, or a character’s deepest desires. That stuff? That stuff is precious to me. That stuffs puts flesh on bones and makes characters breathe.
The bottom line: you can try to pry this thing from my cold dead hands — if you succeed, I will haunt you.
Tl;dr: The raw stuff lives in this book. It’s a direct channel to my muse; it’s how we communicate.
A couple of organizational notes which are "very bullet journally":
Because multiple projects (especially the multi-year manuscripts — you know the ones that take three rewrites and two revisions? Yeah, those.) will span multiple notebooks, I allow for a chaotic index to let ideas crop up organically (so I don’t set a certain number of pages per project; I just thread them together later by colour coding with little circular stickers: one colour per project. Blue is Crown of Horns, for example.)
I’m a fan of page flags for “active pages/projects” because I’m happiest when I can jump to an in-progress page of notes. then I just move the flag along to the next empty one when that page fills up.
[ID: Open book. Left image: Bullet journal style index with pagination. Right image: Detail of page flags and threading system.]
Dailies/Inspo:
The writing to-do list is kept in this book. I’ve got a separate journal for work/life stuff, but any craft-specific stuff lives here.
I’m a visual person, so printed pics and notes from accumulated web searches wind up in here as well (my citations in this case are in
Pocket and everything’s tagged. Usually if I’ve quoted published work, it’s got an inline citation because I dread mistakenly using a line of published text from someplace else.) The one thing I’ve noticed is that if I treat a page like (Kohlma) here right before I get to work, the prose flows a lot easier. I might be writing on a laptop but having a physical reference next to me definitely helps me see what the character sees.
[ID: Open book. Left: Dailies page with to-do list. Opposite: Example inspo page with four pictures of Kohlma, Star Wars universe, with notes on the setting as it was used in the Star Wars: Bounty Hunter game.]
The Little Tracker of Horrors:
So this is what you asked about, anon, right? This is the scary stuff right here. This is the proof that I'm doing the work, save for the four days where I didn't.
Left: Writing stats from July. Right: Reading stats for July.
I took Stephen King's words to heart: you want to write? You gotta read. And you have to do ample amounts of both to get better at the first.
[ID: Open book. Left page: Writing stats for July. Right page: Reading stats for July.]
One thing that's missing in this thing is a "what did I actually post publicly" because I don't remember what was updated or how big those updates were.
Sometimes posting a chapter is a measure of success, and sometimes doing the work is where it's at so I can get ahead in the draft. I'm definitely hanging out in the latter bucket now.
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me and my boyfriend went to gamla uppsala högar together earlier this week! it was so cool to see them in real life, especially since theyre mentioned a lot in our course lit. i also infodumped abt the nordic iron age during the whole visit but thats another story
mental health tips i wish i’d been given before starting university
trying is much more important than succeeding
10 minutes of studying > not studying at all
being a college student is more than academics. it’s also learning how to enjoy your own company, learning and occasionally screwing up meals, wandering outside campus like a tourist, questioning your ideals and presuppositions, discovering new talents and skills for the hell of it, and SO much more. if you feel burnt out in one dimension of college life, that’s a sign to spend some time relishing in another dimension.
if you need more time, take a deep breath and shoot that email to your professor/TA asking for an extension. at worst, they say no. and don’t stress over properly explaining yourself/your situation. hell, just email them: “Hi, Professor. I need your help. Sincerely, y/n.” all it takes is that one initial reach out and the rest will follow.
failure does not reflect character. read that again. remind yourself as often as you see fit because at one point or another, you will feel like you’ve failed. it’s growing pains. once you’ve accepted that, learn to view any setbacks as a hint that you need to try a new method/approach. didn’t do well on that math quiz? don’t beat yourself up over it–instead, regroup with yourself and see which metaphorical gear got stuck in your personal learning process machine. for instance, maybe you used flash cards and that wasn’t really your style. act like a detective, not a bully.
THERE IS NO NORMAL TIMELINE FOR YOUR COLLEGE CAREER(!!!!!!). a lot of people need more than 4 years, a lot of people need 4 years, and a lot of people need less than 4 years. and every single one of those timelines are valid. the worst thing you could do is squeeze the living hell out of yourself into some rigid schedule that is incompatible with who you are and how you learn. trust me when i say u will find yourself doing the best work when u do it at YOUR pace.
I genuinely wish I’d been aware of these earlier. I had to figure most of them out on my own my first year at university, and it sucked.
I also wanted to add two slightly more structured email formats for sending difficult emails to professors. I have sent multiple emails following these formats, and they seem to work pretty well. Remember that your professors are human and generally want the best for you and don’t be afraid to get in touch with them.
If you want something specific (i.e. an extension or a meeting):
“Hello,
My name is [y/n] and I am in [class]. Lately, I’ve really been struggling with [assignment/project/keeping up with lectures/etc.] because of [mental health issue/life situation/etc. (be as vague or specific as you want)]. I really want to succeed [in the class/at the project/etc.] despite [the issue again] and so I wanted to reach out and ask if [your request]?
Thank you for your time,
[y/n]”
If you just need help and don’t know what to do:
“Hello,
My name is [y/n] and I am in [class]. Lately, I’ve really been struggling with [assignment/project/keeping up with lectures/etc.] because of [mental health issue (specific or vague)/life situation/etc.]. I really want to succeed in your class despite [the issue again] and so I wanted to reach out and ask what I can do to resolve this issue.
So you just finished a chapter of your work in progress. Congrats! Seems like a good place to stop, right?
But wait! Before you go take that much-needed break, do this: Write three sentences of the next chapter. That’s it. Three sentences. Now you’re done.
It will be much, much easier for you to come back to it when you feel like you’re already in the middle. You just got rid of the most difficult part of doing anything: Starting.
This also works for:
crafts! go sew a few stitches of that next seam before taking a break.
art! go shade in a bit of that next section before you stop.
homework! go do five minutes of that next subject first.
Here also is a peek into my journal, which i am using a hell of a lot more than my planner (as you can see)
I draw out a monthly page in both my planner + my journal so that i can carry one or the other to my preference! I also sometimes write out small daily bujo style pages :-)
There’s something about a day when you start a new notebook that feels so fresh and life-restoring. If you’ve been following me for a while then you know I’m almost exclusively a Moleskine user (soft cover, squared pages, that’s the one). However I recently visited one of my favourite stationers in London and this one caught my eye. I think what drew me to it was the tiny gilded maxim, barely noticeable in the corner: ‘what should have been, is’. Once I saw it was squared paper inside I had to have it. I can’t wait to find a use for this one!
I had a meeting with my dissertation supervisor earlier this week and we’ve agreed that it’s time to start writing, which is terrifying, and I don’t feel ready, but it is also really good to see a plan for the next few months take shape.
dailybridgerton
areudirty
ellievsbear
romaincrisis
gummygunk
snowghoul
germansingergirl
