Author: Nicole Luttrell

I'm a speculative fiction writer. That means I write about dragons, ghosts and spaceships. Sometimes I write about the ghosts of dragons on spaceships.

My Fall reading list

I used to do this every season, posting a list of books I planned to read. I got away from it because I’m as fickle as the wind and more rebellious against myself than anyone else. Putting a book on a reading list seemed to be a sure sign that I’d be reading anything except that book including the backs of Monster drink cans. 

But I really want to give it a try again. Maybe because Fall feels like back to school, and I love a good reading list. 

Also, there are some events in Fall that will dictate my reading to a point. Banned Books Week is in October, so I want to read certain things for that. Then there’s Halloween and Nanowrimo. As such, much of what I read for the rest of the year will be horror and writing related.

Oh darn, my two favorite things. 

So here’s what I plan to read this Fall. The list might be a bit aspirational, since we just got a new family member who’s taking up an awful lot of my time and attention.

I’m not including my holiday books, because that’s just five books I read every year. Some of these books are new, some are new to me. Some are old favorites. And of course, if something comes out or I get offered an ARC this might get adjusted. But as of right now, here’s the plan for Fall reading.

The Roots Grow Into The Earth by Bert S. Lechner 

I should already have finished this book by the time you’re reading this. I should in fact have a review of it up on Haunted MTL. It’s a pretty chilling read so far. 

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This is a no-brainer. I might not have loved Daughter of Dr. Moreau, but I have adored every other one of her books I’ve gotten my hands on. 

Holly by Stephen King

Dad wrote another book, of course I’m gonna read it. And, it’s about my favorite character from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider. It’s like this book was made for me. 

The ruin of all witches by Malcom Gaskill

This is a nonfiction book about a witch hunt in Springfield Massachusetts in 1651. I don’t think I need to explain why I want to read this one.

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

I just thought this would be a really fun book to read for Halloween. I’m a sucker for a good historical ghost story. 

Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou

I really love reading a Maya Angelou book for Banned Books Week. Which is in October this year, by the way. No idea why they moved it, except the current state of banned books in America is scary. 

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

I read this every year for Halloween. It’s cute, the artwork is delightful, and it doesn’t feel like Halloween without it. If you’ve never read it yourself, I cannot suggest it enough. 

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

I am a sucker for a good horror comedy. This book is basically about a haunted Ikea. I am stoked to read this one by the fireplace with some apple cider. 

Wild Mind and Thunder and Lighting by Natalie Goldberg

In November I crave inspiration from my favorite writers. Rereading some of my favorite Natalie Goldberg books will help me get inspired for Nanowrimo. 

The Magical Writing Grimoire by Lisa Marie Basile

Lisa Marie Basile is easily my favorite witchy writer. And this book has so many great practices for writers and witches. I plan to work through it in November and December. 

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

We’ll finish up November with Christmas and Yule, which means I’ll be starting with my favorite Christmas book of all time. 

If you don’t already read this book every holiday season, I cannot suggest it enough. It’s the best way for a literary lover to get into the holiday spirit. 

So that’s it. I’ll be checking back in December to see how many of these books I actually read. And now it’s your turn! What do you plan to read this Fall? Let us know in the comments below. 

My Preptober planner is available now! And it’s full of new pages for character creation and world building. Check it out in my Ko-fi store.

 

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Prose poetry in genre fiction

Writing is a beautiful art that comes in as many forms as the people who do it. Novels, music, script writing, poetry. Within each are myriad genres and subgenres, themes and structures.

I write speculative fiction, for the most part. Horror, science fiction and fantasy stories. I do not write poetry. At least, not any that I’d consider publishing.

And yet learning about poetry has been a cornerstone of my writing education. It’s something that I love, and something that I think improves my writing every day. Even my horror writing. Especially my horror writing.

The reason for this is that I practice prose poetry. This is a piece of writing that has a prose structure, but with an emphasis on poetic elements. Word usage, pacing, sentence structure. These are the elements that I focus on to make my writing read more like a poem. 

It just doesn’t normally rhyme. 

I use prose poetry in my writing for several reasons. The first is that I enjoy it and I like writing it.

The second is that it’s the best way I’ve found to write descriptions in a meaningful and entertaining way. 

Consider a scene in which a character is introduced to a haunted house. We could simply describe the place. We could write about the broken front steps, the peeling paint on the front door, the cracks in the windows. That’s fine, it gets the job done.

But what if instead we talked about steps that sang a funeral march when mounted? Windows that looked out over the street with nothing but darkness and madness beyond them? What if we talked about the paint that peeled off like flesh seared by unfriendly flames? 

Isn’t that more interesting? 

Many genre authors use this method to their advantage. One fantastic example is the book This is How You Lose The Time War. It’s a fantastic science fiction love story that reads like a poem. Another example that’s a little more classic is the Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury. These books are lyrical, and a treat to read.

Which isn’t to say that you’ve got to write your whole book like that. If the front steps have already sang a mourning song to us, we don’t need each hallway to howl like bitter wolves. I mean, they can. But a little bit of this style can go a long way. 

I highly suggest giving prose poetry a try in your writing. Here’s an exercise to get you started. 

Take a scene from your work in progress that’s heavy on description. Maybe a fight scene, or the first introduction of an important character or setting. Write your description of this battle, person or place. Then, write it like a poem. Here are some tips.

-Play with word usage. We all know that some words mean the same thing with completely different interpretations. 

-Don’t discount sentence and paragraph structure. Sometimes simply moving to the next line can have an impact. Consider this example. 

She ran through the field and up the stairs. Her brother didn’t follow. 

She ran through the field and up the stairs.

Her brother didn’t follow. 

The second example feels more ominous. It feels more like we should have some concerns regarding why her brother didn’t follow. 

– Metaphors and similes are your friends. Especially in horror, this can be fun. Blood blooms like a rose around a bullet hole. Bones crack like kindling. Wind gnaws at the door and windowpanes with ice teeth. No, ice fingers. 

Take some time with this, and have fun. Because of course, writing should be fun. And I’d love to know if you try this technique. Let us know in the comments how it goes. 

Don’t forget, my Preptober Planner is updated for 2023 with new character creation and world building pages. You can get it now on my ko-fi store.

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It’s not important until you make it important

There’s a person I follow on all social media. Her name is Molly, the art witch. I love her. I want her to be my auntie. 

I’ve learned so many wonderful things from her about art, expression, finding joy in life, and witchcraft. One of the best things I’ve learned from Molly is this. Nothing is sacred until we say it is. 

Now, she was talking about grimoires and other magical tools. And this was great news for me as a beginner witch who was being far to methodical about my grimoire. It was incredibly freeing, realizing I could have a grimoire that didn’t look anything like the books I grew up seeing on Charmed. I’ve since crafted three full grimoires, and have two active ones for my continued learning.

But I didn’t come here today to talk about grimoires. I can if you want me to. Let me know in the comments.

Today, though, I want to talk about something else. Tuesday was the ninth anniversary of Paper Beats World. It was a terribly important day for me, filled with big positive emotions. Do you know what I did?

I went to work, because I had to work that day. 

I have launched ten books and three seasons of podcasts. I’ve had a handful of mini milestones in my writing career aside from those. And on most of those days, I have done just about the same thing.

I’ve taken some pictures, posted them on social media, and gone to work. 

What in the hell am I doing? 

I think for the longest time, I’ve been expecting other people to make a big deal out of these days, these milestones and achievements. But that’s a lot to put on anyone. My darling husband is as supportive as they come, and even he didn’t do much more than congratulate me. But really, what else was there for him to say? 

Especially as indie writers, our successes seem lackuster. Our books come out to little fan-fair. Instagram didn’t turn pink when AA came out. No one was waiting outside a book store to snag a copy of Quiet Apocalypse before they went to work. 

Please understand that this isn’t a pity party. Nor is it me talking down about myself or other indie authors. Most of the content I was most excited for this year didn’t have a massive party when it launched. Silver Nitrate came out, no one was dressing up as film monsters and waiting in line to get their copy. Old Gods Of Appalachia is about to start season four. We aren’t seeing a bunch of stoked fans dressed up as dead miners. Instead fans of these things, myself included, simply got the book. We listened to the podcast. We celebrate the stories that we love by consuming them, then posting pictures of the covers on social media and raving about how cool the story was. Quietly.

The point is that no one is going to celebrate your successes as much as you do. These days don’t have meaning, unless we make them have meaning. And yeah, it’s kind of hard to make them have meaning, even if it’s something you’ve waited years for. 

I had to go to work on Tuesday. I actually got sick and had to leave work, spend the rest of the day on the couch on Tuesday. But most launch days, the world just has no intention of stopping. There’s still pets that need cared for. Laundry, dishes, day jobs. These things do not and will not go away. 

But we are achieving things, damn it! We are launching books, we are signing contracts. We are getting our first good reviews and holding the copies of our books for the first time. We as indie writers are winning all the time. And damn it, I’m going to take more time to celebrate those wins. 

So sometime soon I’m taking myself to my favorite coffee shop. I’m getting a Fall coffee, and sitting down with my laptop to look over my own site. To revisit the memories, advice, lamentations and everything else I’ve poured nine years of work into. After all, I start this blog while I was still working on Broken Patterns. It is a very real documentation of my entire writing career. 

This is how I’m making this anniversary sacred, how I’m making it special. And I’m vowing now to never pass up another opportunity to celebrate a writing win again. 

So how about you? What do you do to celebrate your writing milestones? Let us know in the comments. And I’ll see you again next week. 

Don’t forget, Preptober is officially just a month away. I have a brand new updated for 2023 version of my Preptober Planner available now on my Ko-fi shop.

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Nine years of Paper Beats World

There are moments in our lives that we should pause for. Life is so incredibly fast, and it just feels like it’s getting faster every year. Holidays, anniversaries, birthdays. These are the times we want to slow down, and just see how far we’ve come. 

Today is one of those days for me. Because, as of today, I’ve been writing Paper Beats World for nine years. 

Yup, nine. I kind of can’t believe it either. 

So much has changed since then. As this is technically a blog, I hope you’ll let me indulge in some self reflection. I’ve changed careers, changed faiths, changed my last name. We’ve moved three times. 

The world has changed since I started PBW. A pandemic, a horrible president, a less horrible president, societal shifts for better and worse. And through all of this, I’ve been writing my little stories. 

It’s the only way I know to keep myself sane, really. Creating my little worlds in which things work out well, people make sense, bad guys get what they deserve and good guys win. 

Most of the time.

And through all of these changes, you’ve been here. More of you than I ever thought possible. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to get to talk to you every week. I hope that you find value in what I have to say. Or at least get a chuckle out of it. 

Since I’m assuming most of you are here for the stories, I wanted to give you an idea of what you can expect in the next year. While life changes and these plans might go awry, this is at least what I have planned right now. 

Woven, my first series about a boy who weaves visions and a girl who spins light, is out of print right now. I am planning a relaunch of the whole series in 2024, maybe starting in May. But I want to make sure I do it right this time. I’m blessed with a second change here, and I want to be sure to give the series the time and attention it deserves. And the covers it deserves. 

Station 86 fans, I have better news. I know it’s been a while, and I really want to thank you all for your patience. 

The next Station 86 story will begin in January. It’s significantly longer than any other Station 86 book has been so far. I sincerely hope that it’s worth your wait. 

Finally, we’re in the middle of the second season of AA. It’s a quirky little horror scifi podcast about found families, aliens, and monsters that go bump in the basements of grocery stores. Just in case you haven’t heard it yet. We are blessed to have some terrific voice actors, and it’s a really good time. 

Finally, what can you expect here on Paper Beats World? Well, in a word, you can expect more.

More book reviews, more writing advice, more prose poetry. I want to give you an opportunity to let me know in the comments what you’d like to see more of here. Do you want more poetry content, more political rants, more reviews? Do you have writing questions? Do you want to hear more about the business side, the creative side or the lifestyle side of writing? Let me know. 

Finally, to thank you all for sticking with me for nine years, I’m doing something a little extra special today. Right now, today only, (Today being August 30, 20230) all of my books available on Smashwords are free. 

This includes Twelve Little Christmas Stories, Quiet Apocalypse, and all four Station 86 books.

Thank you again for being here. And rest assured I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

After all, I’m still too young to take up stamp collecting. 

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When and how to update your time management plan

Confession time again. Here’s a big one, folks. 

In the past few months, I have really been struggling with productivity. And I hate it. I hate not being where I want to be for the year. I should have already finished the book I’m writing. I should have done another draft of the nonfiction book. And there’s the book I wrote last year for Nanowrimo that I’d really like to be editing right now. Then, of course, there are all of my other responsibilities that are slacking. 

A recent change in my day job schedule forced me to sit down and look at how I’ve been spending my time. And I realized that I had to make some changes. 

Now, what do I mean by a time management plan? This is the way you schedule your time and the tasks you need to accomplish. 

My time management plan worked for a long time. These days, it’s not. So it’s time to make a new one. 

There are a lot of reasons why your time management plan might not be working for you anymore. So it’s a good idea to consider how you’re doing things every six months or so. Here are some reasons your time management plans might have to change. 

Your priorities will change

Life changes. You change. Your priorities are going to change. Maybe you’ll get a new job or promotion. Maybe you’ll be inspired by a new life path. Maybe your family grows. Maybe you feel like you’re being called to do a different kind of work. 

Whatever the reason, your goals are going to change. your priorities will change. And that’s good. 

Your obligations will change

Some changes to your life are ones you cause intentionally. Some changes are totally out of your control, but now you’ve got to deal with it. 

Maybe your family grew in a way you weren’t expecting. Or you have a loved one dealing with an illness. Maybe you yourself have fallen ill. 

There are any number of ways life can start asking more of you than it did before. Some are blessings. Some aren’t. All need to be taken into account. 

Your goals will change

When I started working on AA, my goals changed. My workload changed. When I decided to drop everything last year and write a completely standalone novel for Nanowrimo, my goals changed. When I realized I had three novels and a podcast season sitting unfinished on my desk, my goals changed again. (To finishing them!) 

When I realized that I was miserable most of the time, as I did recently, my goals changed as well. 

As your goals change, what you do to meet those goals will have to change. 

Your energy level will change

This is the one that’s really been getting me. I just don’t seem to have the energy I used to. I don’t have the patience I used to. Part of that’s getting older, I’m sure. Part of it’s being angry at the world and majority of politicians. 

But this, honestly, has been what’s dragging me down. And I’m sorry to say, it’ll probably happen to all of us eventually. And while that sucks, it’s just part of getting older. 

When you’re rethinking your time management style, it’s important to be realistic. Consider not just how many hours you have in the day, but when your good hours are going to be. 

Here’s what I did when I realized I wanted to redo my time management. 

Step one: Pull out a planner or a virtual planner. Start by filling out out all of the requirement on your time that you can’t change. For most of us, this starts with our day jobs. School and work obligations are usually not something we control. So that goes in first.

Next, consider when you need to rest and commit time to self care. You need to sleep. You need time to cook meals and make sure you have clean clothes. You need time to play, to have completely unstructured time. Even if it’s just taking thirty minutes during a day off work and not planning anything for that time, that is so important. 

Now you have a better idea of how much time you have to focus on your passion projects. And yes, even after all this time, writing is still my passion. So, when are you going to work on your passion? 

I take an hour of writing time in the morning before work. This is pure creating time, not time spent on social media or other business writing work. 

I spend the evenings with my husband and pets, caring for our home and each other. 

So, when does the writing business work happen? Well, I’m blessed with two days off a week, so I spend one day working on that. Social media graphics, marketing, submitting, all those good things. I do try to get some writing done that day, but I try to keep everything at no more than five hours. 

The final day of the week is spent taking care of my home, spending time doing fun things with my family and running errands. 

This is all a lot slower than it used to be. I need time to write for pleasure and therapy. I need time to read for pleasure too. Hell, I’m a witch. I need time to contemplate the moon. I need to take my dog to get his nails clipped and stop for coffee after. In short, I need to plan my life so that I have time to live it. And when I take some time to update my time management, I allow myself to keep living well. 

Don’t forget, I just updated my Preptober Planner for the new year! Check it out now on my Ko-fi shop.

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Preptober Planner 2023

A few months ago, I was talking with a writer friend of mine. Camp Nano was coming up, and so our discussion turned to the big event in November. Eventually the discussion came to the Preptober Planner that I created last year. She mentioned something about the character creation page.

Those of you who bought last years Preptober Planner might remember that there wasn’t a character creation page included. Which of course got me thinking. Why wasn’t there a character creation page? Or a world building page? 

Since I overdo things, this line of questions made me rethink my entire outlook on Preptober. And thus, the planner as well. 

I am thrilled to announce today the new and improved 2023 Preptober Planner. And with it, a completely new Preptober game plan that will go into more detail than ever before. 

I’ll also be doing some extra posts in October, to walk you through the new program week by week. As I intend to start a new Station 86 novel this November, we’ll all be working through it together. 

Yes, this will be book six. Yes, book five will be launching soon. Thank you all for your patience. I’m hoping the space between book five and book six won’t be as bloody long. 

The path to success is planning. Writing a novel takes a lot of planning. Let’s do it together. 

Click here to get your copy of the 2023 Preptober Planner

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Protect your local library

I’m going to assume something about you now. If you’re reading this, I bet you enjoy stories. At least I hope so. My whole life’s work is dedicated to stories. So I can’t imagine you’re reading a post on my blog if you don’t as well like stories. 

Because I can assume you like stories, I bet you have some terrific memories of a library. Maybe a school library, or the local library in your hometown. I certainly do. One of the good things about living in my hometown is that I’ve been able to visit the same library for most of my life. My entire life is peppered with days of reading and writing in the quiet spaces tucked into this lovely building. Surrounded by the scent of old books, in the company of other people who are close but not speaking with me. Whatever has happened in my life, I’ve had this refuge to escape to.

In elementary school, my favorite day was always library day. I loved the time spent there, and getting to leave with two whole books that I’d picked out myself. I picked out books that mattered to me. I discovered Avalon, the Salem Witch Trials and a love of all things spooky. 

Libraries, in short, are great. The world is quiet there. 

That might not be the case for long if we don’t do something. More on that later. 

As a child I found libraries to be a source of stories and peace. As an adult, I rely on my local library for so many reasons. I like to go write there so I can’t hear the dishes in the kitchen. I print things there, at a much better price than anywhere else in town. I often ask the librarians for advice. For instance, when I co-hosted a young adult book podcast called Byte Sized Horror, I got a lot of the ideas for books to include by talking with the librarian in the kids section. Then, of course, there’s the fact that most of the books I read come from the library. Books are expensive. I can’t afford to buy as many as I want to read. In short, I don’t know if I could do what I do without my library. 

In one visit to the library, I can get work done, print out a draft to red pen and pick up a Silvia Moreno-Garcia book to relax with. 

So, I told you all that to tell you this. Libraries are in trouble right now. And so are our librarians. 

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, librarians have been under attack during the recent influx of ghoulish book bans. 

Please understand that I am not being dramatic. I am not using a metaphor. I mean that librarians have been physically threatened because their libraries refused to remove books that some people didn’t like. 

Some books have been the target of censorship attacks for years. These are book I consider to be required reading, like Maus, The Diary of Ann Frank, The Color Purple, and To Kill a Mockingbird. But things have gotten so bad in some places (Cough cough, Florida, cough, cough) that they’ve just given a list of books that are allowed because it’s shorter. 

I’d like to point out that I don’t think any book should be banned. And that includes in school libraries. I’ll be generous and suggest maybe some books should require parental approval, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. 

Books are one way that we can experience the world through the eyes of people who haven’t lived the kinds of lives we lived. For someone like me, who grew up in a little town with almost no diversity, it might be the only bloody way aside from television. And we all know how sanitized tv is. I sure wasn’t learning anything the experience of being black in America by watching Family Matters, though it was a fun show. I learned some of what that feels like from Maya Angelou, who I love. It’s not enough to really understand, but it’s a better start. It got me asking the right questions.

This is, I think, what those who seek to ban books want to avoid. They don’t want their children asking questions. Are black people treated badly in America? Is it okay for two girls to like each other? Is there maybe something terribly wrong with how Native tribes have been treated? Is there maybe nothing wrong at all with transgender people? These are questions that make, well, a certain kind of person very uncomfortable. 

Good. We should be a little uncomfortable. That’s how we know what we need to fix. 

But I’ve told you all that to tell you this. Public librarians are being attacked. They’re being threatened. They’re being physically attacked. And I will not stand for it. 

Now, fortunately my library hasn’t been under attack yet. And I hope to keep it that way. I will be writing to politicians, asking for protections for our libraries and against censorship. I will be voting for politicians who follow through with those protections. But I’ll also be watching. So far, there hasn’t been any protests or performances that censors plan at my library. I’m ready to counter protest. I’m ready to be counted, and stand up for my librarians. 

Are you? 

AA season two is out now, new episodes every Tuesday. You can listen to the first two episodes now on Haunted MTL.

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AA season two launches today

Today is the day! After weeks (years) of waiting, the season two of AA is now available on Haunted MTL!

Click here to listen now!

I can’t wait for you to experience the second season of a podcast that goes so above and beyond what I thought I could ever accomplish. It’s a story about a lost woman who finds a place among a community that’s not her own, but becomes her own. It’s about people who feel like they have to hid in plain sight.

It’s also about a town that’s full of dark and dangerous things. Creatures dwell in grocery store basements. Shadows follow children home. And woods full of monsters move to places they shouldn’t have been.

I also want to take some time here to thank all of the amazing talented actors who participated in bringing AA to life. Their voice acting is exceptional. I cannot thank them enough for the time they took to bring these characters to life.

Please let me know on Instagram, Thredd and Mastadon what you think of the second season of AA. I’m so excited to share this story that means so much of me with all of you.

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The four notebooks that control my life

It’s no surprise to anyone who follows me on Instagram that I’m a bit planner obsessed. I’ve talked before about my love of bullet journals, and Notion. Being highly organized is the only way I can keep up with all my projects and responsibilities, and still keep my plants, pets and darling husband alive. 

It’s been a while since I’ve done an updated walk through of the planners I use. At this point, there are four books that I consider essential. So I thought I’d go through them with you today. 

This is the system that works for me, and it works for me in part because I like planners. I like having all four of these. Honestly, you could probably get your system down to two books. And I will discuss how as well. But for me, this works too well to tinker with it. 

My planner

Let’s start with a good yearly planner. I personally use the Magic of I astrology planner because, well, I’m a witch. I like the planetary information is right there for me to see, and I love that the 12 Sabbats are included with the rest of the holidays. This isn’t a sponsored post, and I’m honestly not even trying to sell you on this specific planner.

The point is that this planner works for me and the way I live my life. There’s lots of space on each day for me to write out everything I need. The pages are thick and take everything but Sharpies without ghosting. And I like that there’s a menstrual cycle tracker built in. 

(As a side note for people who menstrate, you should not be using any sort of period tracker app if you live in America. That information can be accessed and used against you in a court of law. I don’t think I need to go into any more detail as to why.)

Here’s a list of the things I keep track of in my yearly planner.

My work schedule for my day job.

Contest and writing deadlines.

Birthdays and holidays, like a normal person.

Launch dates for tv shows, podcasts, books and other content I review.

Scheduling days off and self care events.

Doctor and vet appointments.

Finally, I write a list of gratitude into the remaining space each day. It’s part of my morning routine, and has been for some time. Starting out each day by reflecting on the good things that happened the day before has helped me through some truly dark times. 

Now some people can, and do, keep all of these things in their bullet journal. But I really like the ability to plan in detail for a full year. I also like the extra room for gratitude journaling. If I had to, I could put those in a bullet journal, though. It would likely mean I go through journals faster, but it could be done. 

My bullet journal

If I had to just have one planner, do away with all others, this would be the one. 

A lot has been said about bullet journaling, both here and on the internet in general. I’m a huge fan of this system. I like that it can be anything I need it to be. It’s held book notes, launch plans, cleaning schedules, plant care notes, holiday plans. Literally anything that can be organized can fit in a bullet journal. 

Personally, I keep the following pages in my bullet journal right now. 

Year at a glance calendar.

A reading log.

Grocery list.

Quarterly, monthly and daily to do lists.

Mood tracker

Habit tracker

Social media tracker

Monthly business tracker

My daily tarot pulls

Monthly memory pages

A list of shows and movies we want to watch

If you want to learn more about bullet journaling, honestly there’s no end to the resources you can find online. 

My sketchbook

This is something I used to keep in my bullet journal. But honestly, I had to move it to its own book. And every creative should have a sketchbook.

This is a book I use for outlining and planning creative content. I write notes on reviews, my morning pages, freewriting, outlining chapters, brainstorming, random thoughts, a haiku about that bird I saw. This is a notebook I reach for several times through my day, and it should be. Any sort of creative project I do starts in this sketchbook. As such, it’s a mess. But a good mess.

Every creative should have a sketchbook. And everybody’s sketchbook is going to look totally different. And that’s beautiful. 

My money bullet journal

This is a recent addition to my collection. Yes, I do keep an entire separate bullet journal for money. Because money is complicated and I’m learning. This isn’t something I’ve done in the past, and it’s not something I’m likely to do forever. But right now, as I’m learning more about money and trying to handle it better, I need this extra space. 

In my money bullet journal I keep the following pages.

My monthly budget

My debt payoff plan

My savings plan

A list of minor debts I need to pay off, aside from the big ones

A list of big ticket purchases I want to save for

A page for weekly money checkins

Yearly, quarterly and monthly money goals

A list of things I want to save for eventually

A page to celebrate money wins

A page to keep track of my bill due dates each month.

Notes from the financial books I’m reading

A net worth tracker by month

Finally, a holiday money tracker since I’m starting to make Christmas and Yule gifts this month. 

If you want me to do a full post about how and why I’m using a money bullet journal, let me know in the comments.

So that’s it for my notebooks. Now, it’s your turn. What notebooks and planners do you use? Are you partial to a pre-purchased planner, or a bullet journal fanatic? Let us know in the comments. 

Don’t forget, Season two of AA premiers next Tuesday the 15th with the first two episodes. And you can binge the whole first season now on Haunted MTL. 

And you can check out my Ko-fi shop for writing planners and exclusive short stories. 

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Is my writing getting any better?

Writing is an art. For me, and I imagine for you if you’re reading this, writing is a passion. Writing is also how I pay (some of) the bills. And, like any passion/art/obsession, we want to be good at it. Hell, I want to be the best writer. I want to be a better writer now than I was a year ago, and an even better writer a year from now. But that leads me to a miserable question.

How do I tell if my writing is getting any better? For that matter, how do I tell if my writing is any good at all? 

Writing is subjective.

Writing is not like speaking a second language, baking bread or running. You cannot measure improvement in how many full sentences you can speak, the texture or flavor of the end product, or how far you can sprint before you run out of breath. Writing, like any art, is subjective. You can learn everything about the MICE quotient. You can understand the structure of the hero’s journey. You can read Save The Cat seventeen times over, and who’s to say you’re a better writer? And a fan base isn’t a good measurement. Some amazing writers are putting work out to an audience of zero, while some truly awful drek is hitting Amazon best seller lists. 

So if you’re doing all the things, how can you tell if you’re getting better? Well, again keep in mind that everything is subjective. But here are some ways you can spot improvement in your writing. 

How do you feel when you’re writing?

If you’ve been writing a while, you start to get a feel for when it’s good. When the words are coming alive on the page, instead of laying flat and dead. This is something that cannot be taught any other way but practice. In the words of Stephen King, you’ve got to read a lot and write a lot. 

Oh darn. 

Freewriting will help with this. You start to get familiar with the shape of your words outside of the structure of a story. It allows you to notice your word usage without judgement. Your sentence structure, naming habits, all the things that make up your style. Freewriting is how you figure out if that’s working.

How does your writing feel when you come back to it?

Anytime you write something, it’s best to let it sit for a time before editing or publishing.

Nothing should go out without some editing!

But the distance from the piece allows you to read it as though you didn’t write it. And this is a great time to consider how you’re doing. 

Over time, you learn where your weak points are. I’m bad at writing fight scenes, and physical descriptions. I also have this bad habit of writing dialog in one specific way that’s fine if I don’t overdo it. But I then, of course, overdo it. 

Over time, I find that I’m doing these things less and less. Instead I find new fun things to do that irritate me, but that’s part of growth! 

Reading your own writing as though it’s someone else’s will give you a better understanding of how you’re doing as a writer. 

What kind of feedback are you getting from your beta readers?

I want you to read that question very, very carefully. I did not ask you to consider the feedback of people on the internet. I did not ask you to consider the feedback of your favorite auntie. I want you to think about what your fellow working writers are telling you. 

And even then, keep in mind that art is subjective. 

All that being said, consider the feedback you’re getting. Are you getting the same comments every time? Or, are you getting new comments? 

This is how you know you’re growing as a writer. Not because your fellow writers say your work is perfect. But because you learn from the feedback and fix that part of your writing. 

Now, all of that being said, I do have one word of caution for you. Don’t worry too much about whether your writing is getting better. 

I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to get better. But don’t stress over it. If you’re reading and writing, you’re going to get better. In this way, writing is like learning a language, baking bread or running. If you commit to doing it, and you practice, you can’t help but get better. 

If you’d like to support Paper Beats World, you can do so on Ko-fi

AA season two is coming on August 15th. If you love aliens stuck on Earth, found families, and monsters that go bump in coffee shops, you can catch up on season one now on Haunted MTL.

 

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