Before any rise n’ grinders find this post, even though I do have two jobs right now, this sort of crunch only happens once or twice a year. If you’re expecting a long term solution to time management when you’ve given half of it to the corporate machine, you won’t find it here.
What I do have however, is a way to keep my fleeting creative thoughts organized until I can address them. It’s a two-notebook system that’s similar to the more popular bullet-journaling and commonplacing but with enough changes that I can’t neatly fit into either method.
I refer to the notebooks as Left and Right Brain, which will likely come up several times throughout this blog, especially as I begin to gain speed on projects.
(Photo of both books: It also refers to how I place them when I’m about to start a brain dump)
Notebook Junkie
To understand how this method came to be, you must first understand that I am a certified notebook junkie. I will spend hours in a stationery shop assessing every minor detail of a notebook from the way it’s bound to the exact grey of the lines and tooth of the paper. I’m especially guilty of this when it comes to sketchbooks – but that’s a story for another post.
Many systems work to reduce the number of accessories in use but after decades of the less-is-more path, I found that having multiple notebooks suits me better. I guess that makes me some sort of renounced minimalist.
This process took decades to determine. As a child I wrote stories in cheap spiral notebooks, one for each. They were cheaper than candy and available at all of the same places. This is perhaps where my multi-note habit started.
In middle and high school the now-ubiquitous Moleskine was just starting to stock on American shelves. They were fancy and expensive but the pocket-size version really appealed to me as someone who’s parents read their diary on a few occasions.
Ever since, it’s become a habit to have a Moleskine with me wherever I go, and only a Moleskine. Whether journal, planner or sketchbook, I always had one in my bookbag or purse for twenty years.
A one-journal system was perfectly reasonable during school. Books and homework were heavy, and massive Texas schools meant hauling across large swathes of land at a fast clip. Four extra notebooks just-in-case I had a good idea didn’t make sense.
Now I work from home and have for years. Specifically, I work in a sector that was remote before it was cool and will remain remote for…ever? So without the practical need for minimalism I started testing.
The Right-Left Brain System
This system did not sprout fully formed overnight. I did a lot of things that didn’t work. I did a lot of things that seemed like they worked but couldn’t be sustained. I did some things that ended with a frustrated bout of slicing out pages and recycling the whole set.
I say this to say that if you choose to make your own system, don’t get frustrated if the first few tries fail. Figuring out a creative system that suits you is a lot of figuring out yourself.
In the end, I came up with this three-notebook system.
- (Right) Braindumping
- (Left) Braindeveloping
- Project Work
Just like how our left and right brains are cooperative despite the hemispheric separation, my notebooks aren’t separate holy grounds. They’re just in charge of different parts of my process.
Step One: Get It All Out
Once a journal – always a journal. I have been journaling (specifically with this kind of Moleskine) for two-thirds of my life. It’s a habit I’ve had since childhood and will likely have until old age.
It’s also a very fast, low effort habit. I keep my journal within arms reach, even at home. I can uncap a pen and scratch out an idea faster than opening an app to leave a voice note. A quick doodle, a note about inspiration, a name I like, a plot twist can all be put down in a matter of seconds. No analysis, all creativity. That’s why I call this my right-brain.
Even if it’s a busy day at work, there’s enough space between report loads and phone calls to drop in a few notes. If I’m having a dedicated brain-dumping session I can pump out pages and pages of concepts and walkthroughs.
But once I get them down and move on to other things, it becomes harder to pick them back up. The are scattered and disorganized across several pages-often months, even years apart. When I am ready to pick up a project, finding all of the bits and pieces and remembering what I meant becomes a hellish task.
Where is the line between shopping lists and project plans? What year did I come up with this idea? What the hell did I mean by “dead butterfly”? I needed a more efficient way of gathering my creative thoughts.
Enter the left-brain notebook.
Step Two: Filter and File
What I now consider my left-brain did not begin as such an all-encompassing project. I learned about commonplace books through curiously clicking a suggested video on YouTube. The original intention was to keep my book notes organized for the book clubs I’m in. Most of the how-to literature on commonplacing has this sort of notetaking in mind.
As I began using it I found myself falling back on tactics I used in college to keep track of my research. It snowballed very quickly from there to include little bits of project management, key notes to investigate later and so on until it became a catch-all for any idea I want to return to later.
Admittedly, the structure is still under construction. There are still a lot of note types I have not yet encountered, but for now it is a very effective quick reference. It’s especially handy in the calm after the storm of work deadlines.
This week I pulled four all-nighters in a row to get a fix out in time for a meeting -that was cancelled. I’d also spent the weekend before gathering all of my library holds that had suddenly come in, so I was flush with ideas and connections for my various stories- with no time to develop.
Enter the left brain, specifically the parking lot pages. Yes, just like the ones used in corporate meetings. This is where I store the names of books that pop up in reference when researching a topic, scientific concepts I need to explore for Future Recurrence, art safety processes I need to document, restaurants I want to review, and recipes I need to research for Wonder Diner. It’s a to-do list with purpose.
Once the crunch is over I can dedicate time to one of my many projects. I’m not beholden to any particular deadline when I’m developing ideas. I’ll simply pursue the one my heart desires at any given time. This is when the parking lot comes in handy.
All I have to do is pick a topic and continue where I left off. Once I do complete the topic, the lettered pages of the notebook allow me to annotate where I addressed that question. I keep this notebook open when working in one of my project notebooks.
Step Three: Project Notebooks
Not all of my projects are large or complex enough to warrant their own notebook. Those projects are also the ones that don’t really require any research or cross referencing for continuity. For these projects a stream of consciousness filtered into a to-do list is enough.
But for my historical and science fiction ideas I keep them in dedicated notebooks. This is an evolution of the spiral notebooks I kept as a child. School paper is not archival and by the time I graduated high school, many of my middle school writings were falling off the spiral. I purchased a perfect-bound dot grid notebook from Michael’s-now discontinued- and used it to keep notes for the comic idea I’ve worked on since high school (I think this counts as a coping mechanism more than a publishing project now, half a lifetime later. )
Project notebooks are where the work actually gets done. This is where I scope out the plot, plan maps and encounters, count out how many character designs I need to make, and doodle scene thumbnails to get the feel right. Of course the paper quality means that I can’t go through the full gamut of development, some things must be done on paper that can handle ink loads. But the vast bulk of actual story crafting happens here.
Future Finetuning
This system is still relatively new, so there’s still a long list of things to try and optimize. Once I have spent more time and filled up a left-brain or two I might make a more in-depth walkthrough so that others can try the system for themselves.
For now however, I’m happy with how easy it has become to pick up where I left off! It feels good to be able to connect my inspirations at the turn of a page without forgetting what I meant.
fatcr0w is a hobbyist artist with a passion for comics and illustration. They take on too many projects and don’t know when to shut up. It is with great optimism that they believe one day this blurb will be more interesting.
fatcr0w 