The free planner I got when I was 12 that changed me forever.

When I was a kid, I went to elementary school from Kindergarten to Grade 7. High school was Grades 8 through 12. I didn't have middle school.

Grade 8 was a big. Stinking. Deal.

I mean, you go from being the oldest kids in elementary school to the youngest kids in a school where the oldest students are practically adults. They're driving, working, and taking care of sick parents.

It was scary.

And also pretty exciting.

Skipping ahead to the best day, which wasn't the first day, but about Day 4.

The day they handed us our student planners.

I didn't know they were coming, and I was so... tickled.

I'd never had a planner before, and I didn't know what I was missing until I opened it up and saw all the space.

All the invitations to write.

All the... possibility.

On a page.

I wrote in everything I could think of. I decorated the Christmas pages and filled in my schedule for the entire year.

I read all the introductory text, including study tips I definitely didn't need. (I was a very good student at the time.)

Then I carefully folded half of each page just... so.

One page this way, the next page that way, arranged so that by Page 4 or 5 it made a neat little "V."

(I'd observed the girl sitting across the row do this, and I've done it ever since. I have no idea who she was, but if you're reading this... thanks!)

You had to be there.

Planners remained a huge part of my school career until I stopped school to become a mom.

Then I transitioned to family calendars, with days sorted by family member.

When I returned to school at age 43, my most important first stop wasn't the classroom.

It was the bookstore.

For a planner. And the new-book smell.

Now in a full circle kind of way, I find myself creating books.

I started with coloring books, then moved to journals and activity books. But I steered clear of planners for one reason.

I need planners that can move around.

I need pages to be movable and customizable. I need to be able to choose what parts to use and what parts to ignore.

As a print-on-demand self-published author, that kind of format isn't really available to me.

I never used printable planners because I was enthralled with the books themselves. (Part of the charm is the binding. Truly.)

But I've found myself in a place where my interest in designing planners has led me to conclude that digital is the way.

And so, friends, soon there will be Drawn By Jewel's Build Your Own Planner.