How do you stay organized while writing your draft on paper instead of typing?
I did one Camp NaNo by hand, and while my hand was dead by the end and I wanted to cry at the amount of crappy handwriting I would have to decipher during revisions, I think I did pretty well. I love writing by hand, and I think I’m going to do it again soon.
These are a few things I learnt from personal experience:
Use pre-punched ruled refill pads. Use reasonably cheap and lined paper you can get in large amounts. If the quality isn’t that great, just write on one side of the paper.
Put everything in a folder after every writing session. Don’t leave it for later or else you will lose a piece of paper. Don’t take anything out unless need to. Try not to touch the folder unless you’re putting stuff in, don’t flip through the pages because you might accidentally tear a page out.
Number every piece of paper you use. I numbed every piece of paper with the chapter, and then which page it was within the chapter. It’ll be much easier to put back together if you drop everything.
Start on a new piece of paper for a new chapter and find a way to separate your chapters. You can use sticky notes, put a piece of coloured paper between chapters, dividers, etc. I used washi tape around the top right corner of the first page of each chapter.
Keep your notes in a separate notebook. Again, so you don’t accidentally mess with your writing folder.
Figure out your writing speed, and the number of words you can fit on a page. For time management and goal setting purposes.
Remember that you will have to read it later. Make sure that the words are easily readable. Write on every second line if you must.
Goodluck and make sure you take care of your hand!