Never let it be said that lack of a beautiful home office begets writers block, but let's be honest: it's delightful when the space we work in, be it portable or stationary, sparks the creative fire, isn't it? And while there are some gorgeous home decor makeovers out there, sometimes all you need is a bit of innovation, encouraged by creations or creators you love.
Today we're bringing nature to the forefront for a workspace inspired by Beatrix Potter.
How well do you know the program you use to write?
Microsoft Word has been my go-to for nearly two decades, and my love grew tenfold when I learned how to use Styles and create a table of contents.
Knowing how to use these tools allows you to do things like:
When you're ready to follow this quick tutorial, you'll emerge on the other side with a document that's set up to hold whatever you can throw at it, one that can be traversed in a flash, and you can apply it in areas other than writing, as well! You'll be creating a document from scratch here, but once you understand each of the steps, you can apply the same principles to any documents already on the go for your stories.
This tutorial assumes a basic knowledge level of how to use Microsoft Word. You should know how to create a new document, the difference between "Save" and "Save As", and be able to find your way to the various tabs and their associated groups (e.g. the Font and Paragraph groups can be found in the Home tab).
Nearly everything we do in this tutorial can be found in the Home tab.
I'm currently using the latest version of Microsoft Word through Microsoft 365, but this tutorial doesn't dive into any advanced features, so the steps should be nearly identical or at least similar for many older versions of Microsoft Word, as well.
With all that being said, let's style some text and table some contents! 😉
The last time I spoke about decluttering and organizing, I shared what inspired the process and said "your decluttering success story can be a story of coming home. Coming home to yourself, to your creativity, and to what makes you happiest."
What I haven't shared until now is exactly how I did it; how I transformed a mess of old notes and drafts, scattered this way and that, into an inspiring, organized system that sparks creativity.
It’s no secret that character development is one of my all-time favourite parts of writing a novel. I’m also all too aware of the creative paralysis that takes over when you look at all your notes and think, “What the heck do I do with this? Does this character even make sense?”
The process can be a little slippery, it’s true, but you can make sense of all those notes with a bit of time and focussed thinking. Let’s find out how to weave all the wayward pieces into a cohesive whole!
Bullet journalling can be both a tantalizing and an overwhelming prospect. You might love the idea of using it to store notes on your characters but have nary a clue where to begin. Today we're going to break down collections I've used in my own bullet journal (and a few other ideas, too) to keep track of all the information you gather during character creation.
When I was growing up, the visions of writers floating around in my mind were full of glorious chaos. They wrote notes on whatever paper/napkin/skin/piece of furniture was handy, had a pen in every room except the one they were in at the time, and were surrounded by precarious stacks of books.
As I got a little older and became a writer myself, I realized that … well … it’s not necessarily that far off from the truth. We’re a little more careful with our books, precious goods such as they are, but for many writers, chaos feels inextricably linked with creativity.
Picture this: a magical notebook that collects your lists of character names, rough draft progress meters, and memorable feedback from readers all in one place. Imagine being able to organize it and add new things as you go, without needing to allocate perfectly spaced sections ahead of time. There’s even a special page that helps you find whatever you’re looking for in seconds.
This, my writerly friend, is the magic of a bullet journal.