Keeping Organized

Happy Monday everyone! Today we're talking about how to keep your ideas organized. It's pretty easy to go off on an idea, write it down on a napkin, and then lose that napkin which might have been your best selling novel.  I get it and have lost ideas in similar ways, but we're going to see if some tips would work for you.  There are going to be links off to Amazon and other websites, but I am not being paid to put said links in this post.  I am also not responsible for you spending a lot of money on said suggestion or you wandering off and buying a bunch of Kindle books.

Hey, it's been done.  Anyways, let's get to ideas and start with the nice and free ones.

The one that I use is Google Docs.  I have my ideas set up by project they'll go if there's a project started.  It's simple folder titles, like Mystery Novel, and any new idea will go into there.  I usually have my phone with me and it's a Samsung, so I've got an easy app to go into Docs and type up the idea.  Now, this isn't always the best because of fat finger typos.  So I'll go back to the idea and be all "what is this and why did I save it again?".  That's the drawback but, if you don't have the worry of typos, then this is the best option.  Another one is using the document system that you have on your computer through Windows or IOS and use the same idea.  Also, with Google Docs, every time you stop typing, from what I've seen, it saves to your Google account.  So no fear of losing anything and it's nice if you've got a smartphone to use the Google Docs app.

Now, if you want to get fancy and some new software, there's Scrivener.  You'll be able to create a project file, which will then house everything you want to keep in one big folder for you to find when you need it.  You'll need Scrivener to open it, as it'll be a project file as well, but at least you'll know where everything is.  This is more when you're starting to work on a project, either in research or just trying to get your thoughts down, and less for when you just want to jot down a quick note.  There's no mobile version yet but it does back up to Dropbox so there's no fear of losing everything in case of a computer crash.  So that's really nice.

The expensive option that I've been wanting for a while is a smart pen.  It's a pen, where you write on special paper from that company, and then it uploads what you wrote to the cloud.  You can also record and then link and listen to them to what you wrote with the Livescribe.  There's also the Neo Smartpen but these are the pricey end of keeping what you wrote and keeping organized.  You only can use them with the special paper from the company that makes the pen.  So, you're easily around $200 or more with this option but it is nice if you want to invest.  I would recommend researching and finding which smart pen you want to spend money on.  Then, in the software, I would recommend keeping to the idea I put forth above - folder for the project, even if it's unnamed keep it by genre, and put all of your ideas in there.

As always, the low text option of keeping paper and pen on you at all times works too.  It's why I keep a little pad of paper and a pen on me at all times.  My phone might be low, I might be on the phone while getting an idea, or anything else that I can't use my phone at the instance inspiration hits.  You just need to remember to put said idea into whatever you're using, like when I hang up the phone and then the idea gets typed into Google Docs, but you could also file your notebooks if you've got a spare box lying around.  You'll want something on the front or first page to say which notebook it is for which project and you should be all set.

Well, that's it for keeping organized today.  Until next time, keep on writing!