What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers. ~Logan Pearsall Smith, “All Trivia,” Afterthoughts, 1931
Since I’ve been reading so many writing/poetry craft books lately it’s hard to keep track of all the good information I found. On average this semester I read 5 books a week which drumroll please is…..approximately 75 books I’ve read and referenced in my first semester. WOW. Even for a voracious reader that’s a lot.
I originally was using index cards to write down book recommendations, or websites to go back to, or quotes I loved but that got a little out of hand, I was finding little index card notes everywhere and I’m sure I left a few of them in library books. I think I’m going to use the summer break to get my stuff more organized. I could have a file for quotes, a file for books to read and a file for further study.
Today think about the way you organize your writing life. Is is chaotic and hit or miss? Or do you have an organized system in getting your reference work done. Can you find the notes about the article you were going to write immediately or do you have to take more time to do more research because you misplaced all of your reference work? Comment on your writing organizational system and I’ll write a new post on the top 7 comments with a link to your site. Creative writing sites only please.Now get back to work!
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag
I still haven’t figure out how to organize a novel. There’s so many things to keep track of, tension, character growth, subplots, symbolism, time.
I do however have a great way to manage my word processing files. I tend to be working on a lot at once. And I may not work on something for years, but I don’t want to forget where it’s at. If it’s a short story, then I start the document name with SS. Essays are ES, files for my tutoring program all begin with EDU, blog articles began with BLOG, files for my children began with their names, then a description of the document. Any files to do with a particular novel all start with the same first word of the title, then have a description like setting notes, character notes, revision #, etc. Since all the doc titles are in alphabetical order this system helps me find things when I need them.