Some of the essential tools that I use are on my computer, while others are not. I'm old school with office supplies. Notebooks, pens, paperclips, binder clips, three-ring binders, and flash drives. I am also extremely picky with my office supplies.
So let's talk about office supplies first…
Notebooks
Don't even think about getting me the cheap, crappy notebooks. My personality type is A, so everything has to be organized and neat. I use Yoobi notebooks from Amazon and label them with my label maker, using either the book title or Book # x if I haven't decided on the title yet. I labeled Book #4, but I'm keeping its title to myself for now, and the notebook is almost full. What do I put in the notebook, you ask? I start with the idea, then I expand on it. Usually the idea is the character. It always starts with the who and the what-the motivation and how the character reacts to it. I jot down character names, setting, and scenes that play through my head, dialogue, research, anything to get a jump on the book.
Pens
My awesome team at TASC (my day job for those who don't know me) bought me a beautifully engraved wooden case containing two top-of-the-line pens (also engraved). Boy, do they know me! Pens are along the same lines as notebooks. Do not even think about getting me the cheap pens that make blots of ink on the page. I'm so type-A that if the pen leaks on the page, I'll rip it out and start again.
Three-ring binders
I use 1/2 inch or 1-..inch binders for two things: Characters and Research. It's helpful to have information readily available while writing. That way, I don't need to look up the information on the computer in the middle of writing. I can just flip through the binder to locate.
Flash Drives
Each book I write has its own flash drive, also purchased from Amazon in 32GB drives. I have a specific folder format I use for each book:
Book Parts for Formal Formatting: This is where I keep the contents of each book. The dedication page, copyright page, acknowledgements, author bio, author's note (if there is one) and I also put my finals in here. The final formatted book (in PDF format and EPUB) and the final book covers.
- Characters: Every character has a profile. Main characters have more in-depth profiles than minor.
- Editing: I keep my developmental edits separate from my proofreading edits.
- Marketing Materials: Sell sheets, etc. Anything that has to do with the specific book marketing.
- Plotting: This may or may have a lot of information. It depends on how much I thought it through. Sometimes I do the plotting (and the plot twists) on the fly as I'm writing.
- Reviews: This is for my professional reviews.
- Research: I put any research I do and keep track of in here.
- Drafts: This is for my rough drafts and is in multiple versions.
- Scenes: I try to organize the scenes with as much information as I can before I start writing.
- Setting: Sometimes I need visuals for my settings, including pictures of houses or floor plans. Anything that helps me keep things straight.
I also back up the flash drive on my computer AND on another flash drive. I can never be too safe just in case I lose the flash drive! What a nightmare that would be to lose everything!
Now let's get to the computer tools I use…
Microsoft Word
I use Microsoft Word for my drafts. This is what I use for my beta readers, submission to my editor, and for my professional reviews. It is not in book format by any means and it does not have all the parts of the formal formatted book. It is only the chapters with page numbers. Nothing fancy.
ProWritingAid
I pay for the ProWritingAid premium program for editing aids; however, after my first book proved it missed a lot of what it should have caught, I do not rely on it as much as I did the first time around. It still has its uses, however. The program is supposed to check grammar, style, proofread and help with rephrasing. It's fantastic with rephrasing suggestions, which is primarily what I use it for. Some suggestions I ignore, and do not rely on it for proofreading at all. Some people use Grammarly, some use Scribner, and there are free versions as well.
Natural Reader
This is a program I don't pay for, but you can pay for a premium membership. It reads whatever you upload into it back to you, which is outstanding to help listen for mistakes and for robot-like dialogue. I still do not rely on it for proofreading. Can you tell that I'm rather picky about proofreading now? LAUGH OUT LOUD. I will not make the same mistake twice.
Movavi Photo Editor
I have found that I can save myself almost $100 on my book covers for a $50 annual membership with Movavi Photo Editor. This photo editing program can help me fit my book cover into templates for Ingram and KDP. I can also add my bar code and a medallion if I get a 5-star book review. If I publish two books a year, this saves me $150! Yes, please.
DocuPub
I use this free program to convert my JPG cover into a PDF. While I use Ingram for my book building tool, it provides me with a PDF file for the interior to upload to KDP, but the cover also needs to be a PDF for upload to KDP. This program converts it into a PDF file for me. For free. I just upload my document and it spits out the PDF.
There are probably several other tools that I use, but these are the major ones that help me stay organized and keep focused. Being disorganized would hinder my progress. As it is, I have three books in different stages of the process–two of them actively being written at the same time. Shocked? Me, too. How I can pull this off amazes even me. Thanks for reading!