Hello Novelists & Novelists-to-Be:
I'd love to have a conversation with you all to hear how your organize your works-in-progress. I am just about to embark upon writing my second novel and hope to avoid the heaps of pages, countless computer files, etc. etc. that characterized writing my first novel.
Please share how you keep your draft(s) organized. File folders? Everything on the computer? A wall-sized bulletin board? I used to know a writer who hung a clothesline over his desk and pinned scenes to it.
So let's hear it. What's your method? Any tips or secrets (or cautious anecdotes) to pass on?
Tags: novel, organization, plot, software, structure
Permalink Reply by Janet McAdams on Well, I love Scrivener--I've been using it for not quite a month. Still in the very early stages of this novel, but I can already see that the things that drove me crazy with the first novel--organizing large pieces of text, trying to keep my files & outlines consistent--won't happen this time around.
I think software like this may be especially useful for folks who write with lots of interruptions (in my case, often very long interruptions).
I also really like the typing mode where you just keep going, nothing else on the page but a scrolling window of text. Very de-cluttered.
Permalink Reply by Catrina Barton on I've just recently started using scrivner and have kicked myself in the butt for giving away my half off code after Nov 2011 Nano. I won, butt didn't have the money to use the code. Live and learn. XD
My writing goes so much faster now that I have my notes at the tips of my fingers, instead of digging through pc files, or notebooks. :P
Permalink Reply by Dariel Raye on Hi everyone! I'm new here. Thought I'd jump right in since organization is so important. I'm using Scrivener, too. I noticed a few other writers are using it and I haven't heard any complaints about it yet. Relatively inexpensive ($40 full price) and mimics index cards, corkboards, outlines, etc. all in one place - like Catrina says, at your fingertips. For my blog posts I still use excel. Scrivener allows you to keep character sketches, shift scenes around, highlight POV, etc. I just got it this year, but really enjoying it. I'm also a queen of OCD to-do-lists that I keep in excel. I blogged about it at my blogger spot if you'd like to see my lists. I'm rather proud of them. LOL
Permalink Reply by Kat Asharya on Hello all! From everyone's input, it sounds like I need to check Scrivener out, it sounds really awesome. I used Evernote to help keep my research organized for my novel, but I don't use it at all for my writing. (Alas, for writing I just use a series of folders in a Dropbox account to keep drafts organized, esp. since I work on multiple computers and a tablet -- and, er, an iPod touch sometimes.) Has anyone else used Evernote? I tend to like solutions that sync content on different devices.)
Lately, though, I find myself going back to old-fashioned notebooks for jotting down ideas. There's something about being on too many electronic devices that's driving me nuts these days!
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