Organize Your Writing

I've been wanting to do this one for a little while.  Now that you have your inspiration and ideas, you might what to organize it all.

I don't think there are any rules, but there are several ways to keep your thoughts and ideas in order.

     A) index cards
     B) folders
     C) story boards
     D) spiral notebooks
     E) three ring binders

The following worked best for me.  My three rings binders.  I have all of my books, there are three in the works, in their own binder.

I tried the spiral note book, but my thoughts were all over the place.  Spiral notebooks are great if you are the kind of writer that writes a story from the beginning to end.  However, I do have steno books for notes and ideas for when i am on the run.  I just stick one in my handbag, but my binders are where i keep everything.

All my binders are set up the same way and I am going to tell you how I did it.

When you open the binder, the first thing you find is the list of chapters, each one numbered.  I keep notes on what chapters are done and which ones might be rename.

Next, you will find the list of characters.  They are listed by families with their ages.

You will then find the chapters themselves.  Each chapter has a cover sheet.  The cover sheet has the chapter title, the outline for that chapter and any other notes.  Following the title page I have any added ideas or handwritten parts of the manuscript.  This is also where I keep track of any and all notes and changes to the chapter.  Each title page is also number, this number corresponds with the list of chapters for quick access to any given chapter.

The forth section holds any ideas that I want to sue but not sure where they will be used.  I go to this section often for ideas when I have hit a block when writing.

Then following section is he character bio.  The bio maps out the personality, background and time lines for each character in the book.  Some of this info might not make it in to the book, but it does help me understand the character and why they do the things they do.

Finally the last section is my research.  Any kind of research I have done for anything in the book goes here.

For ease and just to have handy, I have loose lief paper attached to the front cover with a binder clip.  i always have some paper and a hard surface to write on.

If you are like me and don't have an office. the binder works great.  Everything is  kept organized neatly in one place.

If you are not sure what will work for you, experiment, try different things and make it your own.