#notion for writers

[just-a-local-dreamer]

Notion is the answer!!

It's like making a webpage for your wips but you don't have to code anything (!) And it's free (!)

It combines note-taking, databases, calendars, and to-do lists. You can build exactly what you need—a writing hub, a plotting database, a journal, or a complex project tracker. You can add text and images and playlists and videos, embed pages within pages, and make custom databases for all sorts of things. It's rather great, really (i am biased)

The only shortcoming with Notion is that you start with a blank canvas, and have to build everything yourself. The learning curve can be steep, so I suggest you find some templates to start with.

Talking of which, may i interest you in:

A dark academia project template

The same but in a different font, and a bit neater

A master page, a writing hub where you can develop multiple books at once

(Did you notice I made a gradient?)

[solveprogrammingproblems]

Notion Template for Psychologists ( Anxiety Management Plan )

[ceriashward]

Screenshots of my notion for my character Madison Winters for Cityscape Chronicles. I ran into a problem with the gallery for Aesthetics, as you can't nest images and have them be side by side as far as I can tell with toggled headings; so instead I made a gallery database for aesthetic images and things that help build her character out.

Interesting themes right? Especially with the images i've shared so far of her...

[dreamwatch]

Writers, do you use Notion for plotting and planning? If you use any templates let me know - I’ve been looking and looking and some seem cool but… I just don’t know. And I don’t mind paying for the perfect one. Would be interested to know what other people are using. I’m a notion novice and not really up to creating anything from scratch.

[needanaccount2readarcaneposts]

like you guys know warwick is supposed to be a metaphor, right?

and by 'you guys' I am talking to the writers of Arcane S2 (2024), who appear to have forgotten this.

like warwick, in a strictly plot sense, is something that is done to vander. but warwick, in a narrative sense, is supposed to be a metaphor. you understand that, right?

it's a metaphor for the monster within the man?

the hound of the underground?

the way suffering breeds cruelty breeds monsters - the uncaged wrath of zaun?

the sins of his past come back to haunt him?

the violence he tried to leave behind, but never could?

"i knew you still had it in you."?

Sometimes, as he fed in dark alleys on stray gangers, the flash of knives would remind him of an old blade covered in blood. Blood passing from the blade to his hands. From his hands, to everything he touched. Sometimes, he remembered the girl again. And still there was blood. It had always been there, he realized, his entire life, and nothing he did could wash it off. He'd left so many scars that even if he didn't remember his past, the city would. When he peered into the eyes of Zaun's criminals - the gang bosses, murderers, and thieves - he saw himself.

that's the warwick we should have gotten in S2. vander the grey, not vander the unproblematically whitewashed. vander the revolutionary who brought his gauntlets to that bridge to fight for a future; the base violence necessary for change. vander with blood on his hands, just as much as the partner he scapegoated for it; tried to bury in the pilt along with his own guilt; not just vander who felt aw shucks real sorry about the attempted murder that one time. vander the complex. vander who sold out zaun's resistance to ease his own shame. vander the reckoning with his own complicity; his own violence; his own original sin. vander whose murkiness helps vi unpack her black and white worldview, and let go of the rose-tinted past to which she clings; understand jinx, even understand silco; understand that it's not just about Individual Bad People doing Individual Bad Things to Individual Good People, and Individual Good People who have to defeat the Individual Bad People, but that this is something far bigger and far older than any of them, a whole rotten system of misery and oppression that turns people into monsters. that the thing that turned vander into a monster, METAPHORICALLY, happened long before he met singed.

vander the monster, as well as vander the man.

instead, we got whatever this shit is:

[archaeren]

Hello!! I hope you're having a good day ^^ I came across your post about writing non-linearly on Notion and I'm excited to try it out because the advice resonated with me! Though, I'm really new to using the app and, if possible, need help with how to do this part: 'where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry.' ;v;

Hello! Thank you so much for messaging!!! Since that post about writing non-linearly (linked for context) blew up roughly ten thousand times as much as anything I've ever posted, I've been kind of meaning to make a followup post explaining more about how I use Notion for writing non-linearly, but, you know, ADHD, so I haven't done it yet. XD In the meantime, I'll post a couple screenshots of my current long fic with some explanations! I'd make this post shorter, but I'm unable to not be Chatty. XD (just ask my poor readers how long my author notes are...) (There is a phone app as well which syncs with the desktop/browser versions, but I work predominantly in the desktop app so that's what I'm gonna be showing)

(the table keeps going off the right side of the image but it's a bunch of unimportant stuff tbh) So this is more complicated than what you'll probably start with because I'm Normal and add a bunch of details that you might not need depending on what you're doing. For example, my fic switches POVs so I have a column for tracking that, and my fic follows a canon timeline so I have a column for dates so I can keep track of them, and I also made columns for things like if a scene had spoilers or certain content readers may want to avoid, which they can access in my spoiler and content guide for the fic. (As I said, I'm Normal.) I also do some complicated stuff using Status and estimated wordcount stuff to get an idea of how long I predict the content to be, but again, not necessary. Anyway, you don't need any of that. For the purposes of this explanation, we're just gonna look at the columns I have called Name, Order, and Status. (And one called Part, but we'll get into that later) Columns in Notion have different types, such as Text, Numbers, Select, Date, etc, so make sure to use the type that works best for the purpose of each column! For example, here I'm using Select for Character POVs, Number for Order and WC (wordcount), and Text for the In-Game Date. Okay let's get into it! Name is a column that comes in a Notion table by default, and you can't get rid of it (which drives me up the wall for some purposes but works totally fine for what we're doing here). As you can see on the scene I've labeled 'roll call', if you hover over a Name entry, a little button called 'Open' appears, which you click on to open the document that's inside the table. That's all default, you don't have to set anything up for it. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like when I click the one titled 'I will be anything for you' (I've scrolled down in the screenshot so you can see the text, but all the data fields also appear at the top of the page)

(This view is called 'side peek' meaning the document opens on one side and you can still see the table under it on the left, which is what mine defaults to. But you can set it to 'center peek' or 'full page' as well.) All my scenes have their own entry like this! Note that I've said scenes, not chapters. I decide the chapters later by combining the scenes in whatever combination feels right, which means I can often decide in advance where my chapter endings will be. This helps me consciously give most of my endings more impact than I was usually able to do when I tried to write linearly. So hopefully that gives you an idea of what I mean by writing inside the table and treating the table as a living outline. The 'Status' column is also pretty straightforward, and might require a little setup for whatever your needs are. This is another default column type Notion has which is similar to a Select but has a few more specialized features. This is how mine is set up:

(I don't actually use 'Done', idk why I left it there. Probably I should replace it with 'Posted' and use that instead of the checkmark on the far left? whatever, don't let anyone tell you I'm organized. XDD)

Pretty straightforward, it just lets me see easily what's complete and what still needs work. (You'll notice there's no status for editing, because like I mentioned in my other post, I don't ever sit down to consciously edit, I just let it happen as I reread) Obviously tailor this to your own needs! The Order column is sneakily important, because this is what makes it easy for me to keep the scenes organized. I set the Sort on the table to use the Order to keep the scene ordered chronologically. When I make the initial list of scenes I know the fic will have, I give all of them a whole number to put them in order of events. Then as I write and come up with new scene ideas, the new scenes get a number with a decimal point to put them in the spot they fit in the timeline. (you can't see it here, but some of them have a decimal three or four digits deep, lol). Technically you can drag them to the correct spot manually, but if you ever create another View in your table (you can see I have eight Views in this one, they're right under the title) it won't keep your sorting in the new View and you'll hate yourself when it jumbles all your scenes. XD (And if you get more comfortable with Notion, you probably will at some point desire to make more Views) The Part column isn't necessary, but I found that as the fic grew longer, I was naturally separating the scenes into different points along the timeline by changes in status quo, etc. (ex. "this is before they go overseas" "this is after they speak for the first time", stuff like that) in my mind. To make it easier to decide where to place new scenes in the timeline, I formalized this into Parts, which initially I named with short summaries of the current status quo, and later changed to actual titles because I decided it would be cool to actually use them in the fic itself. Since it's not in the screenshots above, here's what the dropdown for it looks like:

(I've blocked some of the titles out for spoiler reasons)

Basically I only mention the Parts thing because I found it was a useful organizational tool for me and I was naturally doing it in my head anyway. Anyway, I could keep talking about this for a really long time because I love Notion (don't get me started on how I use toggle blocks for hiding content I've edited out without deleting it) but that should be enough to get started and I should really, you know, not make this another insanely long post. XDD And if anybody is curious about how the final results look, the fic can be found here.

[lord-fallen]

ALL-IN-ONE NOTION: “WINTER ARC”

a highly customizable, simplistic but fancy notion template for writers. perfect for organizing novels while keeping it aesthetically-pleasing to look at. guaranteed higher muse and motivation to finish works-in-progress.  to download / copy, click “duplicate” top-right to copy it to your notion. works best with DARK MODE*.

features:

visual and simple overview of wips

chart overview categorizing wips

weekly planning section with a simple to-do list

section for intentions and mindset to help motivation

tags system (e.g. completion status, main tropes, and genres)

writing tracker

please like / reblog if you’re using or interested in using it!

*tip: for switching to dark mode, in your notion go Settings > My settings > Appearance > Select Dark

[iteratorsex]

I believe in a world where fp and moon can ascend and not rubicon style no

[sugar-plum-senpai]

Fanfic Writer Notion Template | Notion Template for Fanfiction Writers | Writing Notion Template | WIP Organizer Template

Hello! I'm very excited to finally share the Notion template I've created for fanfic writers!

Admittedly, I am more of a fanfiction reader than a fanfiction writer, but I wanted to try my hand at creating this Notion template. That being said, I'm not sure if I've organized the template in a way that is super helpful or makes sense for a writer, so any advice/suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated! I am definitely planning on revising the template - this is a very early iteration.

Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions! :)

[poppytuft]

trying not to talk too much abt the bear s2 but im Really fuckin frustrated that even with everyone demanding that they’re sooo media literate and sooo smart that no one has talked about claire and the way she sparks audience discomfort. like, she feels out of place within the show because CARMY cannot accept that he is getting this good thing—she feels out of place in HIS life. she’s actually crafted to be the ideal girlfriend, with glowy bokeh lighting in a grocery store and beauty shot close ups and a sweet instrumental leitmotif to show to you, an audience member, that she’s too good to be true in carmys eyes. if you’re an audience member, she raises alarm bells in YOUR head because she raises alarm bells in HIS. he literally tells us that—that’s the crux of his final monologue, that he doesn’t believe he can have the life of food and wines best chef and a life of love and human connection. he doesn’t believe he’s deserving of good things because his family has always been so fucked, because nothing he’s ever tried to hold together has held together—except for his cooking. it’s done this way on purpose, to make you feel that anxiety that he feels around this relationship, and to make you question why you feel it too

[just-a-local-dreamer]

two of my favourite Notion homepages

(made by me?)

Fun fact: both are from my writing templates. You can check out the first one here and the second here!

[solveprogrammingproblems]

Notion Template for Lawyers ( Case Management )

[ceriashward]

Screenshots from my own novel planning template, inspired by Mel Torrefranca and heavily modified. - If you want a better template with more details, information for planning and things like that I highly recommend the version she sells through her storefront on Etsy here!

I have a free Notion template you can duplicate with the information and interior templates that I am using if you are interested.

This template is void of all images, graphics, details, and all of the databases are empty.

[speculativepages]

A cute collection of fantasy icons for writers working on their next fantasy story or anyone who wants a little magic on their notion page. Find it on my etsy shop below!

I have plans to draw icons collections for other story genres too!! Which one should I do next?

[gaefandomlover]

How is it that I can write for almost every WIP in my notion, but I can’t write for the WIP fanfics that people have been waiting on for a year?

[notiongirlie]

Notion Fanfics Writing Planner

This fanfiction writing template is designed to help you stay organized while nurturing creativity. With a vintage-inspired aesthetic, it offers a comprehensive and structured workspace tailored specifically for fanfic writers.

Features:

* Navigation:

- My Fanfics: Keep track of all your stories in one place with an organized table for titles, fandoms, genres, word counts, and more.

- Plot Outline: Plan out your entire story with detailed plot points and scene breakdowns to ensure a cohesive narrative.

- Character Wiki: A dedicated space to flesh out character profiles, relationships, and arcs.

- Chapter Breakdown: Easily outline and manage each chapter, helping you stay on track while writing.

* Other Tools:

- Quick Ideas: Jot down spontaneous ideas or plot twists to revisit later.

- Brain Dump: A space to pour out raw thoughts, concepts, or story developments without pressure.

- Writing Tracker: Track your daily word count, writing sessions, and progress toward your goals.

- Inspirational Board: Collect quotes, images, and links that inspire your writing and creativity.

* Info Section:

- Research: Organize and store all your research notes on topics like worldbuilding, character development, or specific fandom-related elements.

- Sources: Keep track of all your reference materials, whether they are books, articles, or websites.

* Dashboard:

- Posting Calendar: Plan out and track your fanfic posting schedule across various platforms.

- Links: Easily access important websites or references with a designated space for quick links.

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