Sciencing my way to the perfect notebook system @modularity-writing-lab - Tumblr Blog

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Hello! I'm on a mission to find, or create, the perfect notebook system. This includes both physical and digital systems, and ways to link them. I post about cool tools I find and the occasional R&D for my own creations.

Useful links

Currently favored setup

Writing utensil: Erasable pens, for everything except art. Currently happiest with Frixion ColorSticks.

For college & internet-learning notes: Physical; Modular. Twist-bound binder on home-punched loose leaf paper, with cardboard covers.

(This is not presently feasible for other people, as my hole punch cost $300 and is for business purposes. I am looking for a more accessible alternative before I preach this to people. But for the cost, this system is nigh-on perfect.)

For journaling and dev logs: Physical; Linear. Different notebook for every project. (Yes, that means I have dozens.) Lined paper, covers with art that matches the mood of the project.

For digitizing: Notion. TinyURL for pages I expect to revisit regularly. CamScanner when I want to take photos of the pages instead of transcribing. Miro for whiteboarding.

For quick notes (digital): Simplenote and UpNote. These notes will eventually be deleted or moved to a paper-and-Notion home.

For jotting by hand: Rekonect. Will also digitize, but if there's enough content to expand beyond a page, the note will get a book.

Making a modular sketchbook from a hardcover novel: process documentation, 2025/07/16

I started by cutting off the covers with a box cutter. I cut a good way into the spine so the covers had a lot of thin material to work with. I saved the thin remaining strip of the spine in case I want to do something with it.

Photos of the book, pages removed but cover (mostly) intact

Next, I put adhesive reinforcement strips onto the newly exposed edge of each cover. This will keep them from fraying, and gives them a little extra width (as well as a do-over in case I botch the hole punching). I don't like the look of them, so I'm looking into alternatives. Maybe that black cloth-textured tape? Matte strips?

Punching went well, though I forgot to pull out the stops for the pre-first and post-last holes. That just creates some half-holes on the top and bottom. Doesn't affect functionality but it isn't attractive. That's fine for this book (proof of concept, for myself), but I'll have to be vigilant about that for any notebook I make for others.

Next, I had to choose my paper. Regular printer paper was slightly too small for these covers, and the design was too fancy for cheap loose leaf. I ended up pulling out several blank pages from this big, awkward coverless sketchbook I've had for years with nothing to do. I cut the pages in half, snipped 3/4 inch off the top, and hole punched those. They fit great, and match the covers well. Because they were all cut and punched by hand, a few at a time, there's an inconsistency to the final stack I really like. When I sell these, I'll make that an option: machined perfection vs human charm.

Finished cover attached to openable spine

Without pages

With pages

That middle one has the original spine acting like a bookmark.

As a final touch, I took the novel's cover page, reinforced & punched, and added it to the front of the sketchbook. I'm quite happy with how this turned out. Now I just have to figure out how to speed up this process so I can price them somewhat reasonably.

Time spent: 1 hour 40 min.

My favorite frustrating heartbreaker

This is one of my favorite notebooks I have ever owned

I got it at an education convention. Someone chopped up the book and made same-size notebook sheets to go between the story pages

I was instantly enamored.

I bought this book on sight (company: Lily Pad Not(e)books). I've always adored Stellaluna and I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for: my Three Goddesses / Skitters storyworld project, which were inspired in part by the story.

Problem was, the book isn't modular. And that fucks with my work style. I wanted to plot and worldbuild, both of which demand a lot of flexibility from my work medium. So while I wrote in fits and starts, tried compromises to make it more modular, for 2 years it has sat, mostly empty, open mouth waiting for the story I ordained for it but unable to receive.

Tonight, I have finally come up with a solution!

It's a solution to the workflow, rather than trying to alter the book. This not(e)book will act as a development journal, housing random ideas & snippets, as well as process journaling. Everything in here will be irl-chronological rather than organized by timeline or topic. Once I fill the whole book (or decide organically I want to move into the Organizing phase of the project), I will go through and photograph every page, digitize them. I will copy the fiction I've written into a digital workspace (likely Notion or Miro or Scrivener), and organize from there.

For now, though, we don't need to worry about that! I won't do any intentional arranging or iterating for a good long while, and not at all inside the book. This notebook is just for logging little ideas & process notes. Entries are dated and chronological, so I have no need to move the pages. No modularity needed!

Kind of silly I didn't come to this earlier. I think I was attached to the idea of diving headfirst into the development / polishing work right at go, when in all reality that's years away. With that mental tangle resolved, I can quite happily add bits and pieces to this notebook for seasons to come.

Excited!

(Was this whole post an excuse to show off my sick book notebook? That definitely inspired this game box nb I just made? You can be the judge of that >:)

modularity-writing-lab

Modular binding test: post-it glue

Tonight is a quick test for a potential binding material I already have: post-it glue. These sticks have intentionally weak glue that allow you to turn any piece of paper into a post-it note that you can later remove and (at least sometimes) stick somewhere else.

How does it fare on page edges? Could I use this to hold together a dozen-page notebook and rearrange the leaves?

Experiment begins -- 2024/10/26, 23:00

Results:

Success!

The papers stick, and they stick again once I rub the spine edge to get them back together. It will probably require pretty frequent regluing to keep it adhesive, and the glue doesn't work at all on the plastic report cover. Both are fine! The report cover was just to make it easier to keep the paper flush. We'll give the real notebook a paper or cardboard cover.

It's lovely to finally have a solution to a long-held problem. And I already had the stuff!

modularity-writing-lab

Minor update months later: upon quick check, the edges still cohere enough to hold the pages' weight. I'll have to come back and see how they cope with a pull-apart-and-restick.

One day I want to finally learn how to make a 3D print file so I can print a notebook cover with 3:1 holes. Want to see how thin we can go and still be hardcover.

#3D printing #hardcover notebooks #future projects

Fractal Notes: begin test

One of my mental hangups is the need to be able to go back and add things to my notes, and tables of contents. Today I got an idea to try something I'm now calling fractal notes; essentially, I take my initial notes with enough space in between them to come back later and add more. For now, that's one blank line between each written one, and writtens don't take up the full vertical space of the line. In theory, this should give me the freedom to add the same amount of "big-line" content and twice as much "half-line" stuff in between. If I'm very mindful, I may even be able to keep space for quarter height writing. We'll see.

Beginning the test, somewhat arbitrarily, with some Intro to Law course notes in the board game notebook I just made. Will update if and when there is interesting/notable progress.

Board game notebook

Needed a new hardcover nb and wanted the cover to sit flush with the pages (standard loose leaf notebook paper), so I cut up the box for a Betrayal at House on the Hill my roommate was throwing away. Here's how it looks so far.

I really dig this. Messed up the front: the punch holes are off and I scruffed up the edge while shortening the front. Overall, though, I'm happy with the turnout. I quite like the minor bits of damage: the wear and the whites.

I will use this guy for a bit, take home notes, and if it seems functional, I'll think on ways to finish the cover. I'll likely replace the binding with a black Proclick spine cut down to the right number of rings.

I want to make more of these! Could even see myself selling a few. Will be on the lookout for good candidate games -- both box and board -- next time I'm at Goodwill or wherever.

#custom notebook

Modular binding test: post-it glue

Tonight is a quick test for a potential binding material I already have: post-it glue. These sticks have intentionally weak glue that allow you to turn any piece of paper into a post-it note that you can later remove and (at least sometimes) stick somewhere else.

How does it fare on page edges? Could I use this to hold together a dozen-page notebook and rearrange the leaves?

Experiment begins -- 2024/10/26, 23:00

Results:

Success!

The papers stick, and they stick again once I rub the spine edge to get them back together. It will probably require pretty frequent regluing to keep it adhesive, and the glue doesn't work at all on the plastic report cover. Both are fine! The report cover was just to make it easier to keep the paper flush. We'll give the real notebook a paper or cardboard cover.

It's lovely to finally have a solution to a long-held problem. And I already had the stuff!

#notebooks #paper notebooks #making #R&D

I've long been looking for a kind of modular notebook that didn't require a bulky spine, some substance that can stick to itself so I can put paper back in and it'll stay -- that isn't magnets.

A few nights ago, it finally occurred to me: wax.

Wax might be my answer.

I was thinking about those wraps people make out of it, which have the perfect level of stick-together. I could dip the edge of my paper in melted wax, and if we're lucky, they'll be able to bind while letting me remove them!

Between research and the money needed to buy it, it's probably going to be a while before I can do much with this wax idea.

If and when I execute, I'll make an update!

btw I HAVE been working behind the scenes this whole time. I don't know how often I'm going to be posting hereon, but it's going to be more often than "once in three years"!

I recently learned Rekonect's website is gone, and presumably the business. I'm gonna miss them. Hoping I can fill that empty niche with my own magnetic notebook someday

The notebook problem has gotten worse

This time I have an excuse: I'm mining components to remix & iterate on modular notebook prototypes

And now I have a stack as tall as me

Rebrand! lol