its kind of a little complicated but i can try my best to explain!!! i first set the page setup to portrait, i also usually use the letter size (8.5'' x 11''). but you can make it work with most of the other document sizes aswell. i choose my palette and fonts/font sizes that i want to use for the doc, which can be anything you find pleasing to look at. this menu:

is where i add features like the color blocks and separate tables.

you can add different "shapes" for the blocks. if you right click on the color blocks you can change how it interacts with the text. (size, behind/infront of text, wrap around text ect) i use a couple emoticon carrds for the other "text" shapes. if you just search for emoticon resource carrds you'll find a ton of them.

i don't have an actual ref for my oc (file got lost 😔) but i have a picrew of her ?

also THANK YOU :3 your art is so tasty