Why Writers Need to be Organized

We produce. 

We produce. 

And we produce some more. 

We get inspired and write; 

some things get finished, most do not. 

We set pieces aside with the intention to return to them, 

but often, 

when we try to go back, we can’t find them.

There are journals and stories and poems and growing piles of great ideas. Before we even realize what is happening, we suddenly find ourselves in a tangle of storylines, as if being choked by weeds.

Yes, weeds. 

All those things we write, no matter how great they are, become weeds when they turn into piles that cannot be deciphered. Eventually they grow up around us like an untamed garden. The very life of our work can be choked by the sheer volume of our wonderful productions. Where is that masterpiece I was working on two years ago? Where are my roses??

Let’s run with this garden and weeds imagery here for a moment – would you ever plant a tomato and a rose seed in the same hole? No. And yet, we write grocery lists and poetry in the same notebook. That’s OK, but only for a short time being. We have to maintain our garden – pull out the weeds, throw them away, and prune our vines. We have to because that is the only way visitors will want to come. And let’s be honest, don’t we ultimately want to attract “visitors” (readers)?

So rip out those old “to do” lists and throw away the ramblings that once helped to clear your head. Put finished stories in labeled folders, works in progress in easy-to-reach files, works ready to submit on top of your desk to serve as nagging reminders to send them out. Put poetry in folders categorized by themes and ideas in a special “IDEA” container.

Spend the time to do this and keep up with it regularly so your mind can be supple and sponge-like to absorb new ideas. Free up your physical space so you can free up your mind because 

a writer with a free mind is most productive!

Getting my House in Order

My sister is really good at organizing and decorating rooms. She is an expert. She has training. But beyond that, or rather, before that, she has natural talent. Connie has this amazing ability to blend practical with creative expression. That just flabbergasts me because I tend to think of those two as oil and water, and personally, I find it difficult to think of those two words in the same day, let alone the same concept!

I am always impressed when I see her work, but the last time I saw her in action, I had an epiphany. You see, she is creative; she breathes and bleeds creative ideas. You can’t look at her without seeing the features of her physical being in the same way that she can’t look at space without seeing a kaleidoscope of colors and images and all that magic. The creative stuff just happens simply because she is who she is. I get that because that’s how writing is for me.

The last time I witnessed her at work, I saw those two parts of her as separate components: the creative juices that lubricate and fuel the engine, her methodical thinking, and the engine that makes her excel in her work. It was like suddenly seeing the red and blue that make purple.

The epiphany I got was that I can do that, too! Hell, no, I can’t choose colors and I can’t arrange my furniture so that is actually usable. I can’t even alphabetize my files. But I can bring my methodical thinking skills to the forefront of my work because the creative stuff is just who I am. It just happens.

So I started thinking that if I consider my career as my house full of rooms – projects – I can tackle each one like Connie does rooms. There is the “kitchen”, the room where I create the products that provide my income, the fuel for living. And then there is the “garage” where I keep my tools. The “family room” is for all those family projects and the “living room” is for personal writing. The “guest room” is where I focus on marketing and promotion to get new clients. And the “bathroom”, well, I have to have a place to eliminate waste and keep myself clean and presentable.

My career has a house but it doesn’t have a “home”, my stuff is everywhere and it isn’t very inviting. Watching Connie work made me realize that I need to first do some basic house cleaning – put things where they belong. Then I need to employ the methodical thinking skills to 1) identify problems; 2) identify how I work and what I really need; 3) purge the junk; 4) brainstorm for solutions; and 5) organize instinctively. Then I need to live in it for a few months and then reevaluate to see what still needs to be changed. (I added that last step because I have a hard time with final conclusions.)

OK. I need to go work in the “kitchen” now for awhile.

The Writing Process - organized

I’ve never been diagnosed with ADD, but I definitely don’t have a long attention span. I know this about myself and so I have learned to focus my concentration for the duration of its limit and then welcome a productive break. The trick is to be able to get back to the work after the break!

For years I suffered with the clutter of unfinished projects until I finally figured out how to utilize the stops to my advantage and restart in a timely manner. The first step (after lovingly recognizing my own personal limitations) is to see projects as geometrically shaped pieces that when fit together, make my completed project.

I know that I can work really well for about an hour and fifteen minutes to two hours. After that I’m just dilly-dallying around and wasting time. I find that what gets done in each hour or so of quality time is a big enough chunk of material to qualify as one of the shapes in the end product.

The second step is to have all my materials organized, easily accessible, and easily transportable. What works for me is to have what I call a “portable office” or my “office in a bag”. I have a simple bag that is big enough to hold manila folders and my hard-backed journal, but not so big that things get swallowed up inside it. The bag opens out completely – this is an important feature), and has individual pockets for the following: 1) pens/pencils; 2) reading glasses; 3) postit notes; 4) paper clips; 5) thumb drives. These items need to be separated for me so that I don’t waste time or mental energy digging through one big generic pocket to find what I need. A cluttered bag leads to a cluttered mind and this is way more distracting than most of us will admit.
And distraction is defeating.
I usually work on several projects at a time, so I keep everything related to one project is a separate manila folder. Inside each folder the papers are grouped and paper-clipped together in the following manner: a) the original assignment and notes from the client; b) the original draft; c) research, resources and references. Note: in order to keep from cluttering my mind, I never keep more than 5 project manila folders at a time in my “portable office”.
For each chunk of concentrated time, I aim to work on only one project. Which project gets my attention is determined first by deadline, and second by inspiration. Inspiration always takes precedence however, whenever it gets a whirlwind of energy, and just between you and me, this is the real gem of a writer’s life – the exhilarating high is magnified by it spontaneous and unexpected arrival. You absolutely must honor inspiration!
So back to organization: I believe that because of the power of inspiration, and because of its unpredictability, you’ve got to be highly organized so you can work under the shelter of discipline in a steady manner. This way, when inspiration sweeps down and takes you on a flight, you are free to go without missing any important deadlines.
One more note about the manila folders: I mentioned that I never keep more than 5 project folders in my bag at a time. The word “project” is underlined to differentiate it from the other 3 folders that go everywhere with me: 1) Planning; 2) Inspiration; and 3) scrap paper.
The Planning Folder is where I keep my lists. I list what I have to do each day; I list what I intend to do; I list what I hope to do eventually; and I list all the things I simply want to remember, at least for awhile. For all you perfectionists out there, I have to warn you, as soon as you start doing something on your list, you will realized there are many more steps involved in that one task than you originally thought, so your lists will grow, often in sloppy, eclectic ways: that’s OK!
The Inspiration Folder is full of words, phrases, images, paragraphs and snippets of stuff that have no particular beginning, middle or end. There is no pressure attached to the things in the Inspiration Folder. These are like pretty shells you pick up on the beach – maybe I’ll do something with them and maybe I won’t, but they are my treasures.
The scrap paper folder is, well, I think this is self explanatory. A writer would rather be caught dead without her underwear on before being caught anywhere in the world without some paper!
So think about this stuff when you are doing other things this week. Give yourself about an hour at a time over the duration of several days and get your writing bag in order. Believe me, its well worth your time!