Bullet Journal Ideas for Readers and Writers

Wondering what to do with one of your three dozen blank notebooks?

I have been a fan of bullet journals since I was still in school. There’s so much freedom in taking a blank page and designing it to fit your needs, whatever they might be. Of course, that can also be pretty intimidating.

Now, as an avid reader and writer, I’ve been using the back pages in my Passion Planner to bullet journal things other than school work! Some of my favorite spreads are related to the reading and writing habits that I now have. So, if you’re looking for some bullet journal ideas to track your reading or writing goals, here’s a long list of great tips!

Bullet Journal Book & Rating Tracker

If you have the ability to write in straight lines, unlike me, you might just freehand this one! List out the books you’ve read along with the star rating on the lines provided.

The other option is to print out a tracker and paste it into your pages. My favorite free book reading tracker is from Passion Planner, and they even have two options for your taste! This is the option I use because I have a goal to read 100 books a year. It helps manage the space a little better but also keep track of some of my favorite reads.

Book Challenges / Reading Goals for your BuJo

Are you someone who needs to take on a challenge or set reading goals to actually get to those books in your library? Consider writing out a challenge for yourself so you can hit your yearly goals. Here are some examples:

• a book you picked up based on the cover

• booktok / bookstagram made me do it

• a reread

• memoir / nonfiction / fantasy / horror / other genre

• a book in a genre you don’t normally read

• a book suggested by a friend

• a book by your favorite author

• a book that teaches you something new

• a book from your TBR list that you’ve already bought

• a book with more than 600 pages

• a book series of 3+ books

Cover Collections Reading Tracker

Are you someone who loves to pick up books based on their covers? Why don’t you include those covers in your bullet journal? Print out the covers of the books you’ve read and paste them into your bujo… or, if you’re more artistic, draw them yourself!

Reading Habit Bullet Journal Tracker

Are you just wanting to start a reading habit? Consider tracking the pages that you read rather than being worried about how many books you’ve gone through. This is especially helpful if you’re just trying to get into a habit of reading a little bit each day. Track time spent reading or pages using a pixel layout or a general graph. You can get fancy and color code per book or based on the amount of reading you complete that day (ex. blue = less than 30 min or 25 pages, green = 30-59 min or 50 pages, etc.).

Book Review Bullet Journaling

For those avid book reviewers, this is an option for keeping track of your book reviews! You can take notes on each book you’re reading, write your reviews, and even get fancy with printing out and pasting book covers into each section! This is definitely a tracker I want to use in the future so I can manage my thoughts on a book before I post those reviews to Amazon and Goodreads.

Favorite Quotes BuJo Spread

One of my favorite spreads in the back of my planner is writing out the quotes that really inspired me while reading. I have some colored pens that I use to create a rainbow collage of all my favorite quotes. This bujo spread is really easy and it always gives me inspiration when I go back to read through them!

Other Generic BuJo Ideas for Readers

• favorite characters

• artwork

• favorite series

• ARC tracker (books, author, review due, notes, where to post reviews, etc.)

• self care

• doodles

Writing Project Tracker

Hey, writers, are you looking for how to track your writing projects? Track your progress using a bullet journal spread! There are so many options to include in your bujo, but here are a few to get you started:

• Project basics (title, genre, theme, main characters, plot, goals, etc)

• character sheets

• plot outline

• chapter / scene outline

• research

• setting descriptions

• write to publish schedule / timeline

• write to publish to-do list (write, edit, beta readers, revisions, editor, cover design, marketing, etc.)

• word count tracker (consider a pixel layout or your own style)

• blog post list / research

• interview schedule

Writing Inspiration Bullet Journal Page

We all need some outside inspiration when those writing days just aren’t going our way. I have a few pages in my planner that provide just the spark I need.

• favorite quote spread (sometimes my own quotes are included!)

• mood board - think of this like a physical pinterest board for your writing (fan art, photos based on your book, writing quotes that inspire you, etc)

• writing prompts

Writing Production Bullet Journal Spread

For those self published authors out there, keeping track of all the things you need to do for a specific project can get messy. A spread that keeps all your important milestones in one place can be a great way to track your progress on a certain project. Consider the following ideas for what you might include in your process:

• writing (word count, timeline to finish first/second/third draft, title information, genre, theme, etc.)

• editing timeline

• manuscript due to editor

• beta reader tracking (who is beta reading, how far along they are, if they’ve completed what you’ve asked, etc)

• revision tracker (notes from betas, feedback, issues to fix, etc.)

• cover design process

• ARC readers

• marketing (social media, newsletter swaps, advertising, book promotions, group promos, etc.)

• publishing process (submit to Amazon, author profile, final manuscript due, blurb, preorder, page design, paperback and ebook proofs, etc.)

Submission BuJo Tracker

If you’re looking for agents, editors, or publishers for your work (traditional route), you can keep tabs on all the places you submit your work. Track when you sent the submission, what their timeline looks like, the requirements for submission, status of your query, and their response.

New Ideas Bullet Journal Dump Page

Alright, we all know your brain is full of brand new ideas, but maybe it’s not time to work on that project. It’s still important to write those ideas down so they aren’t lost to the wind! My new ideas page is the messiest page in my bujo. It’s just a brain dump, and that’s okay. The organization might look messy to others, but the notes that I fill in for each idea works for my brain. Whenever I need a new project to work on or need some inspiration, I go to this page and see what catches my eye!

Other Generic BuJo Ideas for Writers

• title ideas

• cover sketches

• resources you use often

• NaNoWriMo tracker

• series plot breakdown

• self care

Have any other ideas? Share them in the comments!