You know that feeling when you start writing an epic novel and you can’t find any of the information you had jotted down. Maybe you can’t find it because it was on loose leaf paper? Or on scrap paper that you accidently threw it out. Well there went those amazing ideas and important facts for your characters and story. How do we start to organize and keep it all together in a cohesive manner? A book bible is a good start. Let me explain what it is and why you should hop onto this fantastic organizing system for your epic novel.

First let’s start with what a book bible is and what you actually do with one. Well a book bible is an information keeper for your current novel you are writing. You can either keep it in a digital app or in a binder. For this article we will being talking about using a binder for your book bible. What you do with it is keep all of the information you need for your book in there. From the story plot, character profiles, pictures that inspire your setting, and anything else that is important to your story. Just remember no book bible will be like someone else’s, so be creative and think outside of the box!

The three things you should have in your book bible though would be a story outline, character profiles, and any notes that are important. Some other fun things you can put in your book bible are as follows; pictures of any scenery that has inspired your book, mood boards for your characters and settings, drawings of symbols if that’s something important or is prominent in your story, quotes that helps jog ideas, and any and all drafts (you’ll be able to go back and look at how you improved your book this way).

What I have in my binder is a list of keywords for publishing, story outline, a beat sheet of how long each act should roughly be, note pages, character profiles. I am planning on also adding mood boards for characters and important places and scenery that has inspired me. Use your imagination and add whatever feels right to your book bible.

What is the point of creating a book bible? It’s to help you stay organized and to keep everything in one place so it’s easy to find the information for your story. When things are made easier to access then we are more likely to complete it or keep it up long term. Also, it helps with keeping the creative flow going. Who knows what will be inspired when you start and continue to work on your book bible?

What you will need:

• A binder
• Page protectors (for keeping those ideas safe)
• Dividers (to divide up the sections)
• Paper to take notes (either loos lined paper or a notebook)
• Character sheets
• Story outline (remember to change your story outline if your story ideas change. Also remember that it’s okay to change your outline it’s not set in stone)
• And anything else you think will be needed (REMINDER: use your creativity when adding pages to you book bible)

Now you just organize and place the sections in whatever order you think is best suited for you. You can also move things around until you find it exactly how you like it. I suggest starting with the story outline and it you included a beat sheet then go from there.

Now you know why it can be a good idea to keep a book bible, what it is used for, and how to create one. Now all you need to do is gather up your stuff, dig deep into your creative flow, and create a masterpiece! Good luck on your writing journey.