Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amanda Pirrung on August 19, 2010 at 6:59pm

I second this! I'm using the notebook system right now but have the same concerns...I'm worried about having to flip back through pages of uncategorized notes when I need something. Organization is not my strong point so I would appreciate any pointers.

Permalink Reply by Rose Deniz on August 19, 2010 at 10:04pm

I'm curious about this, too - at the moment, my notes are kept all over the place (paper, computer), and I don't like using Word for organizing stuff very much. Maybe someone will have a great idea?

Permalink Reply by Beth Winegarner on August 19, 2010 at 10:24pm

I take notes on the computer and organize them by creating a new document for each subject area. Then I type the name of the book, author, etc. and the notes below that. There will be notes from several books or references in one file. It's a little bit of a jumble but not too bad. Then when I'm composing from those notes, I have the document side-by-side with the manuscript I am working on, copying and pasting quotes over as needed.

I also keep a running bibliography as I go, so each time a new research source goes into one of my files, it also goes into the biblio. It's not always formatted correctly but the info I need is there so I can put it in the right format when the time comes.

Permalink Reply by Hallie Sawyer on August 20, 2010 at 6:52am

I am looking into buying a Macbook and there is a wonderful organizer on there call Scrivener. It is an organizer for your novel but I am sure there is an area to store research material. I have heard nothing but great things about it and I am looking forward to checking it out. It is only on Mac's but there might be an equivalent out there for Windows. I have done what you are doing as well. Hard thing is some things work great for others while not working for you. There is a lot of great advice at http://writersunboxed.com. You might see if you can find something there.

Permalink Reply by Hallie Sawyer on August 20, 2010 at 11:20am

Just found a website called http://www.softwareforwriting.com with a product called PageFour that is the closest equivalent to Scrivener that is for Windows. Looked pretty good. Hope it helps!

Permalink Reply by Kelly Coyle DiNorcia on August 21, 2010 at 1:32pm

Thanks - I am a Mac and I downloaded a trial version of Scrivener. I'll let you know how it is - it looks like it just might work!