3 Powerful Post-It Tricks for Your Writing
When is the last time you saw a Post-It note? Or used one yourself? Were you leaving a reminder for someone? Or perhaps a note of encouragement?
Post-Its, and other “sticky notes” as they have come to be known, are incredibly helpful! People have been using them for decades in numerous ways.
Like other creative thinkers, blogger Kami lists 26 unique ways to use Post-Its in her blog NoBiggie. Some of the ideas are simple - such as the DIY travel coloring cases (we don’t have kids yet, but when we do, this idea is perfect for the car!). But some are quite elaborate, like the Color Your Dashboard Lights. Who knew this was even a possibility?!
Reader’s Digest offers a few other creative, and practical, ideas for using Post-Its at home. I would never have thought to use a Post-It to catch sawdust!
As expected, 3M, the company who produces the name brand Post-Its has a trove of really neat ideas for Post-Its. Even academics are studying the effects of these sticky miracles!
So, we know these little guys are super helpful, but what does that have to do with writing?
Much like the Bullet Journal organization method, which you can read more about here, Post-Its are a creative way to help you organize specific pieces of your writing. The most creative among us might even devise a way to write a complete piece of writing ON Post-It notes!
Below are the top 3 ways I love using Post-Its to plan my writing. They are not the be all and end all, but they have been incredibly helpful as I began to work through my novel.
To Do List
This might seem obvious, but in order to make sure all tasks get completed, it’s useful to have an actual to-do list. I like having a physical list because then I can put it somewhere it constantly pops up and I have no choice but to recognize that I haven’t crossed everything off yet. I also can “accidentally” close out of it without saving changes.
The reason Post-Its are a powerful tool here is that they stick to things! I have one on my computer screen. I purposefully put it on the top right hand side for a few reasons.
Green = To Do List
Orange = Encouragment
I have a Mac, so the basic computer information is up in the right corner.
It blocks the time. Nothing is worse than trying to write on a blank page, or even a half-filled page, and looking at the clock every 30 seconds because you’re distracted.
It blocks the charge/power bar that indicates how much battery life I have left in my computer. I leave the note just far enough to the corner to be able to see the numbered percent left. If I’m not all the way on my writing game yet, as you can read about in my blog about excuses, I will literally find any reason to get up and walk around, including a battery life of less than 50%.
It’s front and center, so I can’t pretend it’s not there. It is a reminder that I do have things I need to accomplish for my writing so it doesn’t become “out of sight, out of mind.”
Interactive Timeline
Perhaps a little more writing specific, I create a Post-It note timeline when planning out my novel. I am a visual learner, so this allows me to see when during the plot specific events happen or when specific people come into (and leave) the main character’s life. The interactive parts are the events and people! The set up is really easy.
I started with my base “years,” which are pink, although I rarely determine actual calendar years. For my current novel, I am thinking about from the beginning of high school to the end of college, so I put up my year Post-Its first.
I then added the major romantic relationships - those are in blue when they happen in my main character, Callie’s, life.
Last, I added friend relationships in orange and school/personal events in yellow where they occur.
The best part about all of this is that I can move one of those events to any other time on the timeline or add an event to see how it would vibe with the rest of the story. All I have to do is take the note off the wall and move it to the year I’m thinking about changing it to. I can also see how a romantic relationship overlaps with a specific friendship or life event.
If you don’t have a lot of wall space, or, like me, you have textured walls that reject anything you try to stick to them, a nice big cork board or dry erase board would work well.
Character Web
Another handy visual tool that Post-Its rock at creating is a character web. This tells me who all of the characters are and how they relate to each other. The extent of the web will depend on how many characters are involved in your writing and how complicated things are.
I’m not sure that this would be the best option for someone trying to create the next Game of Thrones, for instance, because there are just so many people who are so complexly interrelated. You can create one like mine with 3 easy steps:
Write each character’s name on a separate Post-It. The main character is in the center with the other characters around. I like a more circular web, but a square would work, too.
Add how each person is connected to the main character. I use hearts for romantic relationships and smiley faces for friendships. I place a smaller Post-It (or cut them in ¼ pieces) with the heart or smiley face in between the main character and the outer character. If there is more than one type of relationship, I put two separate connector notes in between.
Add how other characters are related to each other, if they are. For instance, two of my characters are cousins, so I have a small note with the word cousins pointing out to both characters between their individual notes.
Because I’m so visual, it really helps me to see how all of the character relationships interact with the others. If I had the same characters but more “drama” or intersection between them, I would use string or ribbon to connect them together.
I currently have my character web on a poster board (because of my textured walls) but again, you could effectively use a dry erase or cork board. If you want your web to be mobile, like mine, you can always use a poster board.
BONUS!
Encouragement Notes
I love to write myself notes of encouragement and stick them in places I know I will see them. I usually find them just when I need that extra boost of confidence. I have done uplifting quotes, the whole “You’ve Got This” mantra (currently on my computer), or a funny meme. I am big into puns and word play, so if I find a really good one I love to hang it somewhere I will see it often.
Have you used Post-Its in planning your writing? Do you have other creative ideas about how to use them to best serve your goals? I’d love to hear about it!