My Writing System: My Secret Weapons

In my previous Author Insights on my YouTube Channel, I've explained why A4 folders and notebooks didn't work for me, and why I still do my plotting and workings out in pencil.

So what are my secret weapons for making my writing system work?

There are two.

## Coloured stickers

The first is my collection of coloured stickers.

I use them to flag up characters, names and pieces of research that I know I'll need to find again. That might be a calendar, a tide timetable, or some other piece of information relevant to the story.

The important thing is that I can see them.

My workings out stay on my desk throughout the writing and revision of the novel. So rather than searching through folders or several notebooks trying to remember where I put something, I can usually find the information I need almost instantly.

It may not look particularly elegant or organised, but it works for me.

And that's really the point of my writing system.

It has to work for me.

## The Treasury Tag

My second secret weapon is something wonderfully simple: the Treasury Tag.

I use Treasury Tags to hold my bundles of paper together, but unlike a fixed folder, I can keep changing what's inside them.

I can move pages around.

I can add new pages.

I can add research, character background and clues.

And if the novel takes an unexpected turn, I can change my workings out to accommodate it.

That's important because a crime novel isn't necessarily the same novel at the end as it was when I began.

Characters can change.

Plots can change.

Clues can change.

Even motives and murderers can change.

Crime novels evolve.

So my writing system needs to be flexible enough to allow the novel to evolve with them.

That's why the coloured stickers and Treasury Tags have become such an important part of how I work.

They're simple tools, but together with my pencil workings and my bundles of paper, they give me something I couldn't get from neat folders or notebooks:

a writing system that can change as the novel changes.

And that's what works for me.

Watch the Author Insight: My Writing System — My Secret Weapons

I'll be sharing more about how I write, plot and develop my crime novels in future Author Insights.