Find a System - Lorrie Orr

"Be regular and orderly in your daily affairs

that you may be violent and original in your work."

Gustave Flaubert

The more I read about writers I admire, the more I realize that each has a system. The particulars of the system may differ, but for all, routine and stick-to-it-iveness makes the difference. The trick, perhaps, is in finding the system that works for you.

Stephen King strives to write 10 pages per day whereas Hemingway's goal was 500 words. Churchill and Nabokov wrote standing up at a lectern. Colette and Truman wrote in bed or on a couch, lying down. Trollope aimed to be at his writing desk by 5:30 am and wrote 2500 words before breakfast. His success was to "allow myself no mercy."

Beyond putting the words on the page, a writer must find a way to organize the business of writing. When I began writing for publication slips of paper flew everywhere - ideas, notes, quotes, snippets I'd overheard. I had to find some way to organize my writing life. But organization needed to flow throughout my entire life, not just the writing time.

I run a fairly well-organized household (although it seems to have been more so when I had three children at home) and I needed something that would suit my entire life, not just the writing portion. Julia Hood's The Sidetracked Writer's Planner works for me. It's full of blank forms to personalize - calendars, query index, income and expense records, idea index, addresses, etc. Best of all, I just print the pages I need (it comes as a PDF) and ignore the rest. I've used that system for nearly 8 years now, while writing for publication, while completing my B.A. in French, and now while working on a non-fiction craft book. I like the flexibility.

Find a system that works for you and stick with it.


Lorrie Orr
fabricpaperthread.blogspot.com

Note: The OrganizedWriter.com website has not been updated for several years, but I believe the materials are still available.

Organizing My Computer by Bryan Norford

I was taught that my desk should show some disorganization. If it was too messy I was not in control of my work, but if it was too tidy, I obviously had nothing to do. Unfortunately, computers do not understand that rule.

Organization is probably the least inspirational part of writing, yet, If we look below the surface, it’s something that still requires inspiration to ensure it works effectively. In fact, inspiration is necessary for every aspect of writing, even the most mundane parts of the work.

To consider that we need not pray about the mundane is to exclude God from the infrastructure of our lives, no more so than in our writing. It’s really pointless praying for inspiration for that perfect piece if it’s lost in a computer maze.

So here are some ideas for organization that I use, and contrary to my previous advice, I spent too little time seeking guidance for—from others or from God!

My Documents library includes many directories, including Articles, Blogs, Books and Diary. Articles is the least organised, simply with all completed articles in alphabetical order. My Diary lists each years’ blogs on Norford’s Ramblings, dating back to 2008, as documents. The Blogs directory list blogs on other sites, including a sub-directory for blogs to Inscribe.

Books is the most comprehensive directory, as that is where most of my time and energy is spent. Each book title naturally has its own sub-directory, but within each of those are the following sub-directories:

0 Original Script: This is kept up to date with the latest revisions.

1 Edited Script: Any scripts edited by others kept for reference.

2 Images: Downloaded images I may use for cover design, and cover design development.

3 Agreements: Publishing or other agreements scanned and kept for reference.

4 Correspondence: Critical letters or emails regarding the book, including endorsements.

5 Published Script: Holds camera ready documents and PDFs of the book for self publishing.

6: and 7: Left free for other directories that may be required for a particular book.

8 Seminars: Holds document and power point presentations for the book.

9 Superseded: Really important: keeps outdated materials separate from current scripts or images, but still available for future reference.

I use numbers for these sub-directories to maintain the order I want, rather than alphabetical order.

Also in the Documents Library I have directories for Invoices, Promotion, and Templates. These are separate from the individual book directories as the contents often include more than one book. At present, I have no sub-directories for these, but as they grow, they may also need subdividing. The Templates directory holds cover or interior templates a publisher may provide or require for processing.

These ideas are, of course, specific to my work, but may be adaptable for your particular needs. If so, I pray that you may be inspired to clean up your computers, and able to access your materials more efficiently—especially that remarkably inspired, but long lost piece!