#i have been doing illustrations for my dnd campaign my b

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investigate!

[papermonkeyism]

Hey Paper! Happy summer! I have a weird question: do you know how to not feel bad about neglecting your note/sketchbooks? I'm writing and planning ideas for a novel (illustrated, and in general pictures help flesh out stuff) as well as plan a D&D campaign, I have a handful of different empty books for these projects but I only manage to fill out a few spreads before sort of freezing. I look at months long gaps and want to rip my books to tiny shreds! Any advice for getting over this? :(

Not sure, I personally just dump everything into the same sketchbook (and then might go back to mark specific pages with book marks or post it bits so I can find stuff like comic scripts and important world building notes later)

Uh, wall-of-text warning. This got kinda long.

I once tried having a separate book for the dinosaur project thingy, but I think I maxed out at, like, eight pages, and the rest is now in the main sketchbook series.

I do however, have a specific tiny pocket sketchbook dedicated for my dragonborn ranger's DnD campaign notes!

So, question: where do you use your sketchbooks?

The main reason my dinosaur book failed was that sometimes I wanted to draw dinosaurs at school, or at a cafe, or at my parents' place, but I had left my dino specific book at home. My imagination doesn't only work at home, I'm always doing something. And sometimes ideas and inspiration just strike, and I have two options: A, doodle them on the general sketchbook then and there and then move on to draw whatever else I might want to doodle after, or B, NOT draw that idea in the general book, and instead wait untill I get back to the specific book, and often end up drawing nothing at all because this specific idea needs to be drawn first, and also risk forgetting the idea or losing inspiration by the time I get back. This can also lead to an art block, when you're only allowing yourself to do this one, specific thing on this one specific book, when your brain might want to sparkle other ideas elsewhere.

The DnD ranger's book, on the other hand, I keep in the same pile with the character's sheet and her spell card deck. So whenever I get out to go roleplaying, the tiny sketchbook comes with me, and it'll always be at hand when I need to take notes, because that's its main function. (I have taken roleplaying notes on the general sketchbook too, like my monk and warlock are both on the main books, but since the campaigns have been so long, I'd now need to bring two or even three separate sketchbooks to keep all my notes at hand and it's a hassle) But I know I need this specific book when I'm at this specific place, so it's easier to keep consistent.

It is also perfectly normal (for me) to get obsessed by a certain headworld or project for extended periods of time, but also to switch on the fly when a random idea strikes me. My sketchbook's have like archaeological layers. Like "here's a dinosaur era, here's an entire period dominated by Wurr, here's a single drawing of a completely unrelated project, another dinosaur phase, and here's now half a sketchbook of Entica with some random pokemon occasionally sprinkled in". So I can't really predict what I'll feel like drawing at any given time. What if I'm at my parents' place, and have sketchbooks for some of my different projects, but then I see some new discovery on the internet, and I'm suddenly on a dinosaur phase again? Do I need to keep ALL the specific sketchbooks at hand wherever I go? That could make multiple kilograms by now. I might be really into a world for a long while, and then neglect it for another headworld for months, sometimes even years before circling back. That happens.

Maybe there's pressure to create pretty, concise and consistent content, but that can also turn into a block. If you only allow yourself to do Pretty and Perfect, you might never get anything done. (this is why my sketchbooks have pages of experimental messes and outright ruined pages. Sometimes you just need to splatter coffee all over a page to make it less intentionally pretty, so there's less things to worry about. Sketchbooks are sllowed to be messy)

One of my DnD buddies makes messy notes on scrap paper during sessions, but collects them in this pretty, hand made book afterwards. Maybe that's an option too? Collect notes from general sketchbook, if you have one, into the specific ones by copying them? Or maybe even scrapbook them instead? Like you could make your notes in a general book whenever you think them up, maybe even use a sketchbook with tearable pages, and then cut and paste pages on their designated project books later?

If you have a specific place where you work, like a specific desk, maybe have a little book case on it with all the sketchbooks, so you have them at hand and can switch books depending on what you're working on at any given moment.

Or if you have specific places to get into mood (DnD campaign planning always happen on this specific chair, or at a coffee shop, but novel writing at the library? So today you know you're gonna go to a library, so you know in advance you'll be working on a novel and need the novel note sketchbook. Back before my Brainstorm Buddy moved out of town, I knew whenever I was visiting, we'd be working on comics (or pretended to be working on comics) , so I had my comic folder with me whenever I went to see her. I sometimes still get into Wurr mode whenever I walk this specific road to where she used to live)

(or just dump everything into the same book and bookmarking the heck out of it with color coded post it bits like some dumbass, a.k.a me.)

Any helpful?