Bullet Journaling for Writers

From "The Craziness of Moriah Snell"

Okay, can we all just take a minute to appreciate the truth of this? Raise your hand if you've ever bought any of the things listed above, thinking "now I can get organized". Personally, my hand is way up.

From "Life Truths"

But my bullet journal makes it easier.

I bought my bullet journal (or bujo) about eight months ago, I think. I admit, I didn't really know much about them at the time. At first, it was mostly to-do lists and that kind of thing. But in October, I watched a few videos on how others use their bujos. Now mine is one of the greatest things in my day-to-day life as a writer.

From "Bullet Journal Inspiration"

So the core of most bujos is the monthly spread - basically a calendar that tracks that month's events and responsibilities. How do I use that as a writer?

When I set up my monthly spread, I purposely include days for writing and days for platform building. That probably sounds really small and simple, but in reality, it commits me to these things weeks in advance.

What does that do?

Well, it does a couple things. One: I then can't say "I don't have time" or "I didn't think about it". For platform building, it causes me to actually work on it. I'm really bad about thinking "I'll do it later" and never doing it. If it's in the bujo, I'm more likely to spend at least a few minutes on it.

Two: Just the act of jotting down "write" recommits me to my goals and dreams. And that's always good for me. I find that the more I recommit, the better and harder I work. That's a Weird Writer's Thing of mine, and one I'm living by right now.

From "Bullet Journal Inspiration"

Besides monthly spreads, I also use weekly spreads. These serve the same purpose as a monthly spread but allow me to be a little more detailed. For example, Wednesday may be assigned "Laundry" and "Clean Bathroom". Friday may be assigned "Write The Dragon's Skin".

It just is a closer, more precise look at the day to day stuff. But as a writer, it allows me to say "I have these responsibilities, but I also am going to write." So it helps me be responsible and productive in more areas of my life.

BUT! But my favorite part of weekly spreads is my original reason for starting them. Sometimes, I plan days in the monthly spread, and when that day actually rolls around, I'm swamped. And often that means no writing time. So the weekly spread lets me rearrange and WRITE!!!

From "Bullet Journal Inspiration"

And that's how/why I use my bullet journal as a writer. Hope you enjoy it and were maybe inspired to see if bujo might help you. Let me know if you it is or if you already keep one. Anybody else buy sooo many pens and things for it?

From "The Craziness of Moriah Snell"