Life is made up of little moments, and if we’re not careful, the world will overrun us until we’re stressed out, upset, blind to everything but the next few words, the next diaper, the next meeting…

So steal a moment back here and there. Inhale the rich fragrance of your favorite hazelnut coffee or morning tea before slowly sipping it. After a burning workout lie down and just feel the thrum of your body. Inhale the tasty scents of chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery. Indulge in dipping your feet in a puddle or letting a sprinkler actually hit you once or twice while you’re out walking.

There are many places I’ve never been and will likely never be able to see…so when you sit down and decide to write a novel set in an exotic locale, look around you…to me, it’s exotic. It’s new. It’s refreshing. So why not invite me over and show me around? Make me feel like I belong in your world. Because, in the end, isn’t that what fiction is all about?

Dawn Montgomery, Angel

http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/blog
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I am also a neurotic planner. I storyboard, I write out character sheets for my main characters, I have world notes, etc. This is good UNTIL I need to look up something and I can’t remember which file its in or on which computer. Then I can quickly drive myself to insanity. Okay – MORE insanity. This is even more true right now when my primary writing laptop is awaiting a hardware repair and files are backed up but not in their usual places.

My friend showed me the story binder she keeps for her complex paranormal world and a light went on for me. This is what I need to do.

The binder is divided into a few primary sections:

• Primary Characters
• Secondary Characters
• Villains
• Locations
• World Notes
• Reference and Research Material

She updates the binder when she writes each book. She happens to be a pantser (shhh—she hates that term) so she does it after each book is out of edits.

To me, at least, it makes perfect sense. Here is a home for all the various info I create or collect before I start to write the story. I bet I can even get in the storyboard (or a photo or transcription thereof).

So, since I have three worlds created that need to be tracked, I stopped at the office supply store on the way home and bought a couple of binders and dividers and one of my goals for the times when it’s too busy/noisy for me to concentrate on writing is to set up the binders for my worlds. It’s a great way to keep track of the information and world rules and have it handy to leaf through without hunting through the electronic files for them.