My Five Necessities:

There are a gazillion programs and items that a writer can purchase. Many of them are helpful. Most of them are not completely necessary. To me, many of them are a little too ‘extra’, as the kids say.

For instance, there’s a program called Scrivener. It is like Word on steroids. If you know how to use it, you can organize all your writing perfectly in the program. I honestly don’t need all those bells and whistles. I also didn’t want to take the time to learn it. I bought a Scrivener for Dummies book a mile thick, then trashed said book.

If you need to keep track of multiple writing projects at once, then it’s probably worth it. It was a LOT to learn and I wasn’t up for it. I use Word documents. They are awesome for the job.

Here is my list of 5 essentials to get your writing off the ground:

Feel free to do the same or use this list as a guideline to help you find what works best for you.

1. A stack (yes, a whole stack) of notebooks: I, honest to goodness, cleared out every CVS in a 20 mile radius of their five pack notebooks. I’m glad I did, because they no longer make the ones I love. I’m a lefty and hate notebooks that have spirals or don’t open flat. Amazon has notebooks that come in packs that will save you money. Also, don’t rule out the dollar store. I use, at any given time:

• One for ideas
• One for outlining and character development
• One for writing short stories
• And several to write the actual novel Some people type everything. I LOVE to hand write.

By writing, then typing, you begin to see mistakes or changes you want to make as you type up your written work. To me, it’s like a mini, first edit.

Every scene I finish, which then becomes a chapter, I type up in a word document (Times New Roman, 12pt.) within a free app called OneDrive. OneDrive you can install on every device you have. That way, when you’re done typing, as long as you have autosave turned on, it will save on every device. You’ll never have to worry about losing your work. Pretty nifty!

HELPFUL HINT: ALWAYS carry a notebook with you. You never know when or where inspiration will strike!

2. Your favorite pen. Come on! We all have a favorite pen.

3. A laptop or desktop computer with Word documents and OneDrive: I have a touch screen ASUS Zen book laptop, which I love. I’m not a fan of typing. My work, of course needs to be typed, so I use a new Word document for each scene (chapter) I write. I open a Word document in OneDrive and type up my work there. That way, the work will never be lost.

4. Index Cards: I buy packs of these from the dollar store. They’re great to jot down ideas and content before you’re ready to write in your notebooks or type a document. I keep a stack with me along with a notebook & pens–ALWAYS.

5. Foam poster board (dollar store): This is how I create a plot board for my novels. I use the index cards to create this as well. I cut them in half, jot down what I want on each one and tape them to the correct location on the plot board.

How to create a plot board will be a whole separate post. It’s detailed and needs it’s own show.

And there you have it! That’s basically all I need to plan and write my novels.

As always…..if you need additional help, go to my Contact page and reach out for a one on one Life Coaching session. Let’s write that book.

Happy writing!!!

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