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Helloooooo! I've been gone for quite some time, currently studying for an exam I have in just a handful of days, so it was a lovely surprise to log into tumblr on the day that you asked this question! Felt like the universe aligned for just a second, haha. Now that I can respond, thank you so much for taking the time to check out my resource, and thank you for letting me know your thoughts! <3

This is long, so TL;DR: For long-form projects, the most important thing is just having a centralized place to keep all of your work. That could be a (physical or digital) notebook per project, per series, or per genre - but if keeping a notebook/organizer doesn't work for you, you can also get creative with organizing your work. For example, you can have a folder where you keep anything you might want to remember or refer to. Finally, you can also have a notebook that you use for all projects, all at once, too. The most important thing is using the checklist; how to complete the tasks you put on there is completely up to you.

More detail, as well as my own approaches, below.

Notebook per project

I do actually work with physical notebooks more frequently of late, but it looks different for each project, and I do think the notebook itself needs to be the right one for the job. The one that fits most closely with what I recommended in this resource is probably my Zombie March notebook, which I talked about, and here's what that looks like:

As you can see, inside I've got checklists, and based on those checklists all of the other pages were populated. So, I've got brainstorming notes, lists of references, stapled-in resources that I want to refer to, designs for worksheets that I had on my checklists, and so on.

The notebook itself is 190 pages, so it's not big - just large enough for the planning and organizing and breaking down of all the tasks. It's also not big in size, making it easy to put in my bag and take with me wherever I go. When I was stuck in waiting rooms every few days during PT, I would pull it out and work on completing one thing - usually a brainstorming or lesson outline task because they're short activities, and the lessons themselves were done digitally on the course platform. I also hate changing tabs/windows when I'm working, so it was nice to have something I could put beside me and look at while I typed, but that's just personal preference.

In this case, the physical aspect was really helpful for me and made things a lot easier and sweeter. And nothing that I put into the notebook itself took me more than 20 minutes, so it wasn't a distracting and time-consuming organizational method.

Notebook per genre

Because I found that Scareuary aligned nicely with Zombie March, I also used the remaining notebook pages for that, and it has since grown into a horror genre notebook.

I now use the rest of the pages to plan out Scareuary and its resources, to plan out blog posts, to analyze and break down horror media, and so on. There aren't many pages left, and it feels good to actually fill up and finish a notebook!

I did try this with my mystery projects, too, but that didn't go too well, so it may also just depend on the genre and what it calls for. Something about planning and organizing mystery stories just doesn't align with physical notebooks for me, so I'm exploring other alternatives, like using mind-mapping or charting software, or perhaps even Twine.

Notebook per series

This is an approach I use for my fantasy series. You can see a glimpse of my fantasy notebook below (I'm currently reusing all of my old notebooks from school that I never finished, so it's a bit cut-and-paste messy, but it does the trick.)

This just makes sense to me because when the books are set in the same world, and they're in a sort of chronological order, and the same characters will cameo or pop up in other books in the series, then it feels like the best thing to do is have it all in one place. Easy to access, easy to work with. The book itself is a little larger, so not something I'd be able to carry around easily, but I actually prefer working on this in the evenings as a way to unwind, so that doesn't bother me much. There's no deadline for this series, so I don't feel the need to have something that I can have more readily accessible throughout the day. I can take it at a very slow pace.

So, different considerations also come into play, and that's going to be based on your individual situation.

Years ago, I had a digital notebook for the series on OneNote. It still holds all of the excerpts I wrote when I was first exploring the series. It has sections for each book, characters, and worldbuilding. So, I would definitely say that a digital notebook is a great option, too, especially if you can sync it and have it on your phone/tablet/laptop and access as needed, wherever you are, like you said.

I would write things as they came to me during classes alongside class notes, and this was where I'd type it all up to make sure I didn't lose anything. And then I'd keep writing. Suffice it to say, this digital notebook is huge. While I could never put all of this stuff in the physical notebook I'm working on now, it's still a great reference for me to go back to, despite how outdated some of the elements are.

Other kinds of notebooks/organizers

For Murder in Heliopolis and Marie/Elise, I used their printed manuscripts as "notebooks". I didn't get to this point until after flashcarding both of these books and using that to finish them.

I printed single-sided, and I use the blank backs of the pages to write scenes, jot down ideas, talk about worldbuilding and characters, and anything else that needs doing. I'm planning on creating a Final Edits checklist for both of these later on, when I get back to it.

As for the flashcards, while I don't have the hand-made M/E ones on hand, I do have the typed and printed Murder in Heliopolis cards, which I never bothered to cut out:

Last but not least, there are a bunch of non-notebook approaches that I take when notebooks aren't cutting it for me. I've gotten folders to hold loose-leaf papers, posters, diagrams, webs, maps, and even random notes and scribbles here and there, and that also works pretty well. Folders or binders are easy to organize, you only add to them what you have/need, and you generally don't have to worry about running out of space. It's also a great way to use up loose-leaf/scrap paper lying around the house.

If you're working with something that's big, like a large poster of the plot sequence or something like that, then having an envelope folder is helpful because you can just fold those things up and put them away, but you could also just use plastic pockets in a binder to hold all the large-scale things.

There are a lot of different solutions. Like I said earlier, I've even been exploring the use of software like Twine for organizing my projects, and everyone in my house knows I love making big posters.

Notebook for all projects

I've done this one too, where I get a nice chunky diary book of about 300-400 pages, and use it for whatever project, whatever idea, whatever I need in that moment. When one journal finishes, I get a new one, and keep going.

The upside: everything in one place, and you can write about or work on anything that strikes your fancy.

The downside: when you collect enough of them, finding that one specific page can be a little bit of a drag, and despite their generally small size, their chunkiness can make them harder to carry around form place to place.

A final note on notebooks

One thing that I will note is that even if you do have a notebook per project, you don't need to limit or over-structure how you use that notebook. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. The point is using them as needed, so it's not like a pretty bujo or something like that that needs spreads and a lot of attention and time and perfection.

Another thing to keep in mind: what you use the notebook for is also important. My Zombie March notebook is just for planning and design. I don't try to overload it with actual lesson scripts, or blog post drafting, or so on. The notebook I use for my podcast episodes is also just a half-page bullet-point thing for each episode; scripts are written on the computer. I'm also experimenting with one notebook where I keep ALL checklists, for all projects, but don't actually do anything in that notebook apart from updating the checklists. It's a work in progress, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

Most important thing: use your checklist. As to the how of getting the tasks on that checklist done, that's up to you and whatever you feel best works for you.

I hope this helps! I kept getting a little distracted and going off on side-tangents, so do let me know if I didn't really answer your Q. <3

Just a reminder for my newsletter subscribers that you should have last month's newsletter in your inboxes! It includes:

The Checklisting Method for Eating Elephants

A short guide on the benefits of checklists for the schedule-averse like myself.

Works great when used alongside all of the previous resources, like Book in a Year, the Flashcarding Method, and Hindsight is 20/20.

If you're not on the newsletter yet, sign up to access this.

Murder in Heliopolis, v2, Chapter 1

Yep, the second draft of Murder in Heliopolis is chugging along, and to celebrate officially being back on the wagon with this book, I'm sharing the first chapter of the current second draft.

Read that over on the newsletter.

I hope you enjoy the goodies ^^

There's also a link to my website (wip) and most importantly, the page where beta readers/testers can sign up.

[hyba]

july spread ♡

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A little more horror analysis, this time focused on the symbol of water in horror.

[hyba]

Just shared a comparative study of irrational & intentional evil in horror storytelling over on my blog. If you write horror, this might be an interesting read for you!

As always, let me know your thoughts. I love discussing horror ^^

[hyba]

If you haven't already, you should check out this subscriber-exclusive preview of Kane's Route from my fantasy noir adventure wip, The Black Hare.

[hyba]

Just a reminder for my newsletter subscribers that you should have last month's newsletter in your inboxes! It includes:

The Checklisting Method for Eating Elephants

A short guide on the benefits of checklists for the schedule-averse like myself.

Works great when used alongside all of the previous resources, like Book in a Year, the Flashcarding Method, and Hindsight is 20/20.

If you're not on the newsletter yet, sign up to access this.

Murder in Heliopolis, v2, Chapter 1

Yep, the second draft of Murder in Heliopolis is chugging along, and to celebrate officially being back on the wagon with this book, I'm sharing the first chapter of the current second draft.

Read that over on the newsletter.

I hope you enjoy the goodies ^^

There's also a link to my website (wip) and most importantly, the page where beta readers/testers can sign up.

[hyba]

Just shared a comparative study of irrational & intentional evil in horror storytelling over on my blog. If you write horror, this might be an interesting read for you!

As always, let me know your thoughts. I love discussing horror ^^

[hyba]

Just shared a comparative study of irrational & intentional evil in horror storytelling over on my blog. If you write horror, this might be an interesting read for you!

As always, let me know your thoughts. I love discussing horror ^^

[hyba]

Woah, this is so cool! You're so creative and I love the goodies you're making for Runaways! Yes, please do go ahead and add me to the tag list!!

So I haven't posted any updates on Kofi recently but only because I've been working on something cool!

In my YA fantasy novel, Runaways, the main character Hannah has a special interest in identifying the plants and animals she finds by their scientific names. So I designed a STEM themed study guide that educates readers about some of the creatures that are named in the book by sharing their scientific and common names, photographs, their habitat range, and fun facts! It also includes activities you can do at home to get out in nature or get hands-on with crafts. It's somewhat aimed for younger readers (being a YA book) but it could also be used as a teaching tool if you're an educator, librarian, parent, etc.

There are 21 pages and 12 different species featured!

Here's a sample page of our favorite animal companion, Kit-Kat. Hannah befriends this least weasel early in her journey and he becomes a huge helper to her!

Each page features an excerpt from the book and there's even a fun code that's featured in the story:

If you want to get a copy, it's available (at a discount) to Ko-Fi members on the $3 tier along with other exclusive Runaways content, or you can get it on my shop as a digital download for $5.

I'll be talking about this more in the coming weeks but I wanted to let people get it early if they wanted!

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If you’ve tried to reach out to me in the last 7-8 years and I didn’t get back to you I’m medicated now and I’ll be reaching out to you shortly

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the sacrificial lamb 🐑

[hyba]

Just a reminder for my newsletter subscribers that you should have last month's newsletter in your inboxes! It includes:

The Checklisting Method for Eating Elephants

A short guide on the benefits of checklists for the schedule-averse like myself.

Works great when used alongside all of the previous resources, like Book in a Year, the Flashcarding Method, and Hindsight is 20/20.

If you're not on the newsletter yet, sign up to access this.

Murder in Heliopolis, v2, Chapter 1

Yep, the second draft of Murder in Heliopolis is chugging along, and to celebrate officially being back on the wagon with this book, I'm sharing the first chapter of the current second draft.

Read that over on the newsletter.

I hope you enjoy the goodies ^^

There's also a link to my website (wip) and most importantly, the page where beta readers/testers can sign up.

[hyba]

Fixed up my website. Now includes embedded pages for my blog, my newsletter, and my Payhip. I also included an "Early Access" page, which is essentially a place for beta readers/playtesters and course evaluators to sign up.

Still want to do more with the home page, so it's a work in progress.

[hyba]

You’ve Entered the Terminal

The glass doors hiss open. Fluorescent lights flicker overhead. Somewhere, a loudspeaker calls for a passenger who doesn’t exist.

Welcome to Terminal 2025, where every gate leads to a different story. Some flights go to heartbreak. Some to haunted islands. Some never land at all.

This August, the Writeblr Summerfest turns your dash into an airport of creativity. Stay tuned for:

Weird overheard conversations

Luggage packed with secrets

Gates that open into entirely new genres

Prepare for takeoff. Reblog to get your boarding pass.

Follow @writeblrsummerfest to listen out for your flight announcement!

[hyba]

A little Murder in Heliopolis update...

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What's inside my May 2025 Newsletter?

This month's newsletter is only a few days away, and as always, I've got a reader goodie and a writer goodie for you!

Murder in Heliopolis, Chapter 1: The new (and hopefully improved) Chapter 1 from the latest draft of my futuristic thriller Murder in Heliopolis, to celebrate finally getting some more work done on this fun solarpunk-themed murder mystery.

Checklisting Method to Eating Elephants: A writing guide that teaches the art of breaking down major projects into their smallest components. Best used with the Book in a Year, The Flashcarding Method, and Hindsight is 20/20 methods for consistent progress that's easy to keep up with.

You can get both of these in a few days by joining my newsletter group here. You'll also immediately get access to all previous goodies, including Book in a Year, The Flashcarding Method, and Hindsight is 20/20.

[hyba]

If you haven't already, you should check out this subscriber-exclusive preview of Kane's Route from my fantasy noir adventure wip, The Black Hare.