Going Paperless with my Research

Sunday, July 11, 2010

At work we've been progressively going paperless.  When an article was passed around on an attorney's journey of going paperless, he mentioned electronic notebooks for trial and in particular the One Notebook. I realized One Notebook was included in programs on my laptop. 

With great trepidation since I am sooo not a techie, I tried it out.  When I packed away my notes and research material on my last proposal, I realized how little physical material I had.  Typically I have several expandos filling a shelf.  Although the research on the latest had taken months and was expansive, it barely made the folder expand.

The reason was the electronic notebook.  I had copied and pasted most of the internet articles and photos into the notebook. 

I still don't understand all the functions, but for my new book the first thing I did was set up the notebook with sections for characters, settings, plot, timeline, etc.  This time around I drew a table for my plotboard and a triangle that I've always used to follow the push-pull dynamics among the principal characters [i.e. if villain does this, how will it impact on the heroine or the romance].  I've also set up a page to keep track on my writing progress.  

I will automatically save the notebook on a thumb drive along with the wip, but to have the notebook at hand on my laptop is amazing.

Best yet, I'm saving trees.  :) Carol