My first step in pulling the scattered pieces of my story idea together is to gather them into one location. To do this, I use Microsoft OneNote. But not just Microsoft OneNote, oh no, it must be the “OneNote for Windows 10” version. I use a PC, so I’m not sure if this version is available for Apple devices.

What is different about this version of OneNote is that it places the “Section” tabs and the “Pages” to the left, side by side to each other in the window. The newer versions place the “Section” tabs at the top of the window, and the “Pages” for each “Section” are on the right side of the window. I find the newer versions’ layout very annoying. Logically for me, the “OneNote for Windows 10” version makes total sense.

I do not know how long this link, OneNote – Microsoft Store Apps, will work to download the “OneNote for Windows 10” version. Whenever Microsoft updates this link and only allows the latest version to be downloaded, it will allow users to choose which layout they prefer in OneNote. Fingers crossed Microsoft will listen to their customers to include that option.

How I setup my Notebook:

1. Create a personal Notebook with OneNote. You can create multiple notebooks within OneNote, but I’m a simple guy, so I only created one notebook for everything.
2. Create your Sections. I view “Sections” as topics; for example – My Stories, or Writing Contests, or Writing Techniques. A collection of information on a common topic.
3. Now add pages to each “Section” with the information you want to gather on that topic.
   1. For the Section labeled, “My Stories”, I add a page for each of my story ideas or story title if I already know the title.For example, ‘Gate of Torment’ would be the name of one of my pages under the “My Stories” Section. I gather all my brainstorming about the story, plot, subplots, characters, and background information, as well as my research material, and place everything on that page. It’s amazing what you can place on the page: written information, web links, photos, multimedia, etc.
   1. If you are working on a book series.
      1. Create a page for the name of your series.
      1. Create another page under the page you just created, and you can use the title of each book in your series or just call it Book 1. Now, right-click on the new page and select “Subpage”. This will indent that page under the page listed with the book series’ name. You can repeat this step to add the other books in the series, so they are all indented under the main page with the book series name.  

One of the tool’s best features that I love is that it is accessible by any device that has internet access, and you can open a web browser, like your mobile phone, and add your content before you forget it.

Explore OneNote and see if it helps you organize your creative thoughts so you can begin to write your story. We all organize differently, so if this doesn’t work for you, keep searching for a tool that does. You don’t want a tool that frustrates you every time you open it and hinders your creative flow and slows you down.

Microsoft has free training on most of their applications, so check out this link for OneNote training to help you evaluate if this tool works for you:  OneNote video training – Microsoft Support