Since I first began scribbling in notebooks, I fell in love with storytelling. I went from writing among friends, sharing notebooks as we each added our on chapters, to posting under a pseudonym online through DeviantArt and later on posting fanfics to different sites like Tumblr and Ao3. There’s no denying I have a passion for writing. But writing a story, whether its a novella or novel, from start to finish has always been my biggest problem.
Routines and Energy
Last year, after my son was born, I went through the cycles of routine with him. We would wake up early, eat breakfast (he would drink milk, obviously), he would take a nap and as desperately as I wanted to nap with him, I couldn’t. My brain slipped into my personal fantasy worlds where I could lose myself on adventures, solve mysteries, and unravel the truth behind empires.
His nap times soon became my designated writing times. My son’s routine pushed me to take writing more seriously and finish not one but two of the books I had been working on for years. I was astonished to say the least.
I began Lattes with Starlight back in 2021 during my time working in the countryside in Japan. I passed by beautiful fields and enjoyed plenty of sunrises. I got the chance to admire soft pink cherry blossoms in spring and vivid yellow gingko leaves in autumn. These gentle quiet moments and the quiet community I lived in brought about Cassie’s story. And as passionate as I was about the book I was beginning to unfold, I never had a proper routine to push me to plot everything out and breakdown my character’s motivations.
The harsh reality in our everyday lives is that we aren’t often afforded routines. Our day jobs can get in the way, the stress of working overtime or family drama can leave us drained, and at the end of the day we don’t have anything in our reserves to put into our writing. I was lucky that my son took naps during the day and was given that time in the mornings and afternoon to write when I had the most energy.
Amping up My Organization Skills
I love storytelling. I love digging into my characters and seeing how their minds work. I absolutely loathe having to keep track of all the details, writing down the different plots points, and remembering what character’s said in chapter one so that I don’t contradict myself in chapter ten.
That’s when I stumbled upon Notion. (I’m not sponsored, by the way. I just love when a product is free and actually works really well!) It’s a major learning curve the first time you use it but if I can figure it out then so can you. Plus there are plenty of free templates you can use and customize to make your own. I’ll had a free template so you can make your own.
The most helpful tool by far was being able to put in each chapter for my book, the important main scene, the characters who were involved, the location(s) it took place in, and whether it was finished or needed revisions.
There were times when I would remember a certain scene but couldn’t remember details or the chapter number. I would open up my personal Notion, find the chapter I was looking for, and be able to quickly recheck the details of the scene. This makes it so much easier to include those details later in the story or even to see what a certain character said or did.
I did this with multiple aspect of my story from plotting out the main story arc to breaking down characters and their motivations. I could also double check a character’s past events if they did something ten years ago or fifty years ago. Anytime I referenced something in the book, I made sure to put it in Notion in case I needed to remember it later on.
I even added information about every location or setting in the book. If the cafe had red walls, I wanted to remember that for later (especially when I start book 2 after taking a break from the world). If Akira wore purple shoes but later on in the chapter he wears green, it could throw the reader out of the story.
I know this is something that a beta reader or ARC reader might catch but mistakes like that make it through multiple rounds of editing. It’s always good to give ourselves a boost when we need it.
And to also give us more confidence as we go through and write our book. Imposter syndrome and anxiety constantly plague me and with my new found organization skills, I have way less mental stress bogging me down. The words flow more easily because I can continue the story without worrying incessantly whether or not Cassie made someone a milk tea or chai.
To Internet or Not to Internet
This is the hardest by far. I love being able to look up a quick fact about something to add to my story. The problem is one ‘quick’ fact leads to another until I’m spiraling down a rabbit hole centered on how people bathed in ancient Rome and did they have different kinds of oils and scrubbers.
Worst of all, social media and the never-ending marketing carousel can distract me from actually getting any writing done. The fine line between using the internet to inspire my story and using it to market previous books can be an impossible balancing act.
In a perfect world, I would have limited internet access that grants me the ability to do all the research I want but keeps me away from social media platforms and marketing tools. It would also block me from looking at anything sales related or else the imposter syndrome would kick in, preventing me from writing.
Until next time, stay safe~
a.t.kumagai
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