I write, or at least I claim to do so, and there are many writing tools I use, but I will save that for another post. What I wanted to share in this post is my Notion writing log template.
What Is Notion?
Notion is a multi-purpose tool that seeks to organize information. Think of it as Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Trello all in one. You have a single workspace to create pages, databases, calendars, and kanban boards. There is a lot that you can do, and it can be overwhelming in starting out.
How Do I Use Notion?
I use Notion to track many things. I store quick ideas and links to resources as a way of creating a second brain. I use it to document all things with my publishing imprint ApexThis, my community organization Austin Podcasters, and many things within my personal life such as writing.
The Writing Log
After adopting the P.A.R.A. Method, I restructured Notion and one of the top pages in my structure is called Areas. This will contain all the things that I would like to focus on in my life, such as health, or in this case writing. I then created a Writing Log. The primary purpose was to track my writing sessions; what was I writing, for what project, and how many words did I write?
Through multiple iterations, I expanded out the writing log database to link to project pages, calculate word counts and time. I’ve added sections for big writing projects for my imprint, and to-do’s that focus on writing.
This has been a great addition for me as I get more data on my writing that I did not have before.
What Does This Template Provide?
This template provides a To-Do List, Writing Projects, and Writing Log section.
To-Do List
This is pretty simple and straightforward. Put big long-term items here to advance your writing.
Writing Projects
List any big writing projects. Is it for your blog, a website, or a newspaper article? Are you writing a book? This section is for you. It includes:
- Writing Project Template – a basic template to get you started
- List View and table view – change how you view the data
- Tags – some initial tags to get you started, such as an e-book.
Writing Log
The meat of this template. Enter your writing session and associated details. This section includes:
- Writing Log Template – a template to help you outline the writing session if needed
- Default View and Calendar view – dual use as a writing calendar
- Calculators – Diff and Hours are automatically calculated on other field data.
Code
# Diff Formula
prop("End") - prop("Start")# Hours Formula
format(round(toNumber(prop("Time In Minutes") / 60)))In Closing
Like it? Be sure to check out the Writing Log Template and use it for your tracking. If you use Notion, just hit the Duplicate button in the top right copy to your space.