I haven’t written a mystery in a long time now. It’s not my primary genre to read or write. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about the next Joshua Jones book on a nearly daily basis. I’m always coming across interesting bits of information and jotting down notes. Usually those notes are saved online from either stories I’ve visited or research I’ve come across while online. But lately I’ve also started to compile old fashioned paper based notes into notebooks that are primarily used for journals.
For Kill Dash Nine (KD9) I’ve started such a notebook to capture my notes about characters, plot and locations. Anything related to the novel that I don’t want to forget, once I start writing. When I write a novel I usually follow an outline. I create this outline first and having it before me as I write helps keep the story flowing in the right direction and allows me to avoid writer’s block.
I write my novels these days using Google Docs. This allows me to use my primary laptop and a Chromebook backup laptop as needed. All my writing is backed up and in the cloud and updated instantly when online. It’s very convenient for my writing lifestyle. But it’s good to organize things on paper too.
