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!

The Art of Chaos

Let's admit it.  We all live in some type of chaos.  I'm not talking about out right mess, but we will get to that in a moment, but I'm talking more about the chaos of everyday life.  The traffic jam that you get stuck in on your way to work that makes it so you barely clock in on time.  The fight that you have with your family member / significant other / best friend that is about nothing yet there's something clearly wrong that neither of you can put your finger on.  The good chaos is there too.  The getting a project done at the last moment that you think is rubbish but your boss or teacher praises to the high heavens.  The making a wrong turn and finding a new way home that takes five minutes less than the route you were taking.  There's good, bad, and neutral chaos, just like there's a load of other things.  What we really need to do is figure out a type of balance to it.

When I think about chaos, I think about messes, so let's go to that example to flesh out what I'm talking about.  I admit that my room is an outright mess.  I have things here and there.  Some are in piles and some things are on a shelf.  Some are on the floor, because there's no other place to put them, and some are just in boxes throughout the room.  However, I know where things are because, to me, it is organized chaos.  I know that the pile to the right side of my desk has planner stickers that I use in a pinch when I'm done with the current stack of them.  I know the second pile, more in the middle of the desk, is a mix of a chapter I printed to edit and a bunch of journals.  The pile that's on my three drawer file cabinet has two books that are for research and a pouch that's filled with important mail that I need to file.  I can go on, but I think you get the idea.  Some people just see and think about the mess versus the fact that, if I clean up the mess, I have no idea where anything is.  I'll put everything away just to get it all out again when I need it.  So the chaos stays so I don't go insane trying to figure out where the hell I put the chapter I'm editing or the planner stickers I need.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with writing.  Well, to me, it has less to do with writing and more to do with how you plan to write.  Some people use software, such as Scrivener, and everything's in a proper file.  Everything has a place and you can just open it and go exactly to where you want.  I'm glad that works for some people but I have a hard time with it.  For me, it is easier to open up Google Documents and work there to outline my novel.  I have different starter documents - ones that could probably easily transfer over to Scrivener, and in different file folders once I create them that go to what project they're for.  Yet, there are times when I'll create a basic stats document for my novel - title, genre, summery, basic characters - and then I don't organize it.  But I can find it, just as easily as I find the journal that's buried under several different papers in my room, because it is organized to what I need.

That's the art of chaos.  When you bend it to your rules and make it your own.  That's when you can own your chaos and make it work with you to whatever you want to do.  If that's plotting a novel, then you can do that.  If it's making sure that you get from point A to point B quicker, you can do that too.  The point I'm trying to make, if you've gotten this far dear reader, is that chaos is not as random as we think.  Chaos is organized and organized is chaos if you know how to work both.  If you find that, then you have balance.

The question I leave you with is how do you live your life?  Does it seem like chaos to an outsider but completely organized to you?  Or is it just chaos and you need to be organized to get anything done?  I know I fall under the first question but I can't wait to hear what you think, dear readers.

Until next time, have a wonderful day.