#3 New Year, Notion and the Motivational Wisdom of Cormac McCarthy

In which I tell you how I [try to] organize my workday. There's also a video of a Floofy Fox hanging out at the cabin, and I announce the winner of the giveaway!

• Out this last week

• “How do you organize your time and projects?”

• Do you want CARNAGE #1? Let me know. I have comps!

• Skade the cat

• Trail cam Fox

• Other things

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Out this last week: Carnage #2 and Red Sonja #6

Carnage #2 contains the page that made Marvel go, “Ehh, we need to up the age rating.” And we still had to remove an errant piece of intestine!

Red Sonja #6! In which we get both an ending and a beginning.

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“How do you organize your time and projects?”

I’ve gotten this question a few times, and as I just set up my 2024 planner, I figured it would be a good opportunity [to attempt] to answer it. (Disclaimer: This is just what I do to cling on to a semblance of control and combat my dwindling memory. Not saying it will work for everyone.)

The short answer is that I use Teuxdeux for to-do lists, Notion for the big-picture stuff and a bullet journal to organize my week. For ideas and story-related things, I use Apple Notes or a small physical notebook for notes on the go, and then move everything into a project binder.

The long answer:

Journal(s)

I have a pocket-size leather journal from Paper Republic. It’s a traveler’s notebook-style system, and I usually have three inserts in it:

1. A bullet journal (I use the dotted book insert.)

2. A smaller, yearly book with trackers (like, habits, pages written, etc) and lists I add to throughout the year (like book recommendations, a general packing list I use before travel, etc.)

3. A small notebook for ideas, doodles, whatever. Replaced every few weeks.

This goes everywhere with me.

The beautiful notebook is from Alison Sampson. I bought all her remaining stock, though, because I love them so much and use them constantly.

Bullet Journal weekly spread.

The only reason I use a BJ (uhm) is for the flexibility. I try to keep everything minimal and doable. That includes:

• A yearly calendar (or, future log.)

• A travel plans spread.

• Monthly spreads (I write down all the days, mark off when I have plans or any special occasions, and track how much I’ve written that month.)

• Weekly spreads (Usually contains a list of planned activities, any meetings or events, a list of deadlines, and a general “remember to” list.

• Work only – I don’t do goals, affirmations or any other wank.

• I only make “spreads” when I find that I need them.

• I keep everything black and white, so I never need more than one pen, and I’m not tempted to buy all the stationery stuff in the world. [because I would.]

For the wank, I have two personal diaries, one for stream-of-consciousness writing that I only do when I absolutely need it, and a dated Moleskin planner where I write a few lines about what I did that day, because I’m apparently at that age where remembering what happened last Tuesday is a struggle.

Personal journals.

Notion and TeuxDeux

You can use Notion in endless ways, and the databases allow you to tag and cross-reference and do a bunch of neat stuff. I mostly use it for:

1. Project database with all past, current and future projects. The project file contains all relevant information about the project, and I tag them by status, so I always know what I’m supposed to be working on. (This is inspired by the job sheets from The Organised Writer by brilliant writer and lovely human being, Antony Johnston.)

2. Braindump database, where I collect things like title ideas, potential character names, ideas for paintings, etc. So, if I hear a cool name but I don’t have a character for it, I’ll add it to the brain dump for later. It is shockingly useful.

3. I don’t like to use Notion for to-do’s (don’t know why), so I use TeuxDeux.

Quick view of my Project Database and Braindump

Ideas and story development

Collecting ideas:

When I get an idea for something – anything – it usually goes into either Apple Notes on my phone or the notebook in my journal. These “ideas” are more often than not an obscure sentence or two, rarely categorized or tagged, and then future me will have the pleasure of figuring out what the hell I meant by it. It can be anything from dialogue for a specific script I’m working on to an idea for a future epic. (My physical notebook looks much the same, just with less legible writing.)

Profound stuff there, past me. I have no idea what this is.

Organizing ideas:

The ideas collected above will ideally be moved into either a script, my project binder or the Notion brain dump.

When I’m actively working on books, I have a current projects binder where I keep notes and plan out issues. For the latter, I use post-it notes, one per page, and plan out the issue before I get to writing. This way, I can move the pages around and get a sense of the pacing.

A5-binder with all current projects. When I’m done with something, I archive the pages worth keeping (of which there are few) and throw away the rest.

This is how I plotted out Carnage #5 and Venom #31. That’s right, we’re crossing over! (I blurred the text because SPOILERS.) 50x50 mm sticky notes that can be moved around easily.

Then comes the hard part. You know, ze writing. I’ll do a separate post about the writing process if you’re interested, but in short – I use Scrivener for scripts and, sadly, Word for revisions. Oh, how I hate word.

The Motivational Wisdom of Cormac McCarthy

The McCarthy quotes started as a joke, as bullet journal spreads are often filled with motivational quotes along the lines of YOU GOT THIS and MAKE THE DAY SHINE, whatever the fuck that means, and I despise them. And I thought the idea of Cormac McCarthy motivational quotes would be delightful, and it turns out it is. I’ve done this for years now, but after I got a small thermal printer, it did rather get out of hand.

It’s funny because it’s true

I also get a tremendous amount of glorious art every week, and I can’t share it with anyone, so I use the aforementioned thermal printer, print out some panels and use them as decorations. See also procrastination.

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Carnage #1

I just got my comps for Carnage #1! I love this issue. If you want one, say so in the comments below, and I’ll pick out a couple, sign them and send them back out into the world.

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‘Tis the season of Skade

“We who are about to die salute you” – The ornaments/tributes

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Cabin cam

Fluffy visitor at the cabin. Look at that tail!

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Other things

• I was on Ideas Don’t Bleed a few weeks ago – it is my favorite comics podcast, and it was a joy. You should listen!

• I talked about the upcoming VENOM/CARNAGE crossover at This Week In Marvel.

• I spoke to AIPT about the PSI JUDGE ANDERSON short I wrote for the 2000 AD Christmas Special.

• The AllFather Odin painting was won by Graham Vingoe. (Send me a message, Graham!)

• Amy Chase just started her newsletter, and as she is brilliant and will take over the world, you might as well subscribe now and get in her good graces when you have the chance.

How are you? Did you get something nice for Christmas? What are you reading? Watching? Tell me everything.

I’ve spent my break painting, reading (currently, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, and it is weird and wonderful), watching movies, and outlining an exceptionally exciting book that’ll hopefully be out in 2024. I cannot wait.

Happy New Year! I hope you are enjoying a break from the world, wherever you are.