You Know You're a Disorganized Writer When . . .

[gothrockrulz]

you search frantically through four or five half-filled notebooks, to find the one with a specific passage. I'm beginning to think I dreamed about writing this one. Luckily, it's just in the beginning stages, so most of the stuff is still fresh in mind.

You'd think writers would be smart and stick to just one notebook for every idea. But, no, that would be way too sensible and easy. *headdesk*

Here, have some Epica!

Comments

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I used to be so disorganized with my notes. Sometimes you get inspiration, and you just grab the nearest notebook, piece of paper, napkin, etc. to write it down. Then you spent another couple hours, days later, trying to track down this AMAZING IDEA. (When I worked retail, Post-Its were the big thing because they were everywhere in the store, and I'd just jot down a quick note to fuss with when I got home. Inevitably, you'd get the "WTF am I talking about here?" note.)

I'm better now and stick to ONE notebook per WiP idea. For The Book, I have two notebooks--one for research notes, the other for jotting down notes, working out plot details--a folder stuffed with maps, another folder stuffed with print-out notes, a binder that has notes on loose leaf paper. Not to mention the images and other inspiration stuff saved on my computer. Jeez. . .I sound a little nuts. I should probably take a picture of all my crap.

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Oooo, I like your idea of having one notebook for research and one for plot details. That is awesome!

And you don't sound nuts at all. Big ideas call for lots of "containers." The trouble is keeping all those things in one spot. I wish I could stay glued to my laptop, but sadly, I can't.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Guilty of the same thing over here. I have SO MANY notebooks, it's ridiculous. People buy them for me every birthday and Christmas. Which is great, because no matter how long it takes me to fill them up, I always have a backup.

Then they gave me two more at work.

I have one that's specifically for dreams, but everything else, it's whatever within easy reach, or whatever's small to fit in my purse and therefore with me when I get an Idea while out and about.

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Which is great, because no matter how long it takes me to fill them up, I always have a backup.

Oh, yes. Backups are life, are they not? Every time I can't remember if I have more than two empty notebooks lying around somewhere, I end up buying more. XD And I keep a mini one in my purse as well. Some people like to use their phones, but that's a last resort for me. (I'm actually more likely to forget my phone rather than a notebook. XD)

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaha I'm sure your notebook will reappear just as soon as you've finished re-writing the parts you need to :P

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. Notebooks are temperamental that way. :D

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried Scrivener? I just downloaded it and haven't had the chance to use it much yet, but it is a nice online option for narrowing down and collecting all those notebooks!

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

I haven't, though the name sounds familiar. I may try it sometime, though I always end up gravitating towards paper notebooks, being easier on the eyes and all. Is it basically like Microsoft Word, only in a cloud format?

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

It makes Word look like a kid's toy, haha. It's rather hard to explain, but you can chapters or different volumes into separate areas, but still in the same document, and when you're done you can print them as one complete novel. You can add notes, tags of all kinds, easily go into screenwriting mode, use clever research pages, and much more, all in one convenient place so you can search the entire thing and jump from one section to another.

Here's a link: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php
I think there are better descriptions there :)

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

O.O
*breathes into a paper bag*
Ohmygoodnesswow.

I . . . think I'm *defiitely* going to try that. :D

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

That was pretty much my reaction too, haha. I still haven't used it properly because I keep getting overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of it all!

Good luck, I hope you enjoy it and it works well for you! :)

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[csg-dear4life.livejournal.com]

Whatever happens to be around when you have the idea. Can't forget it.:)

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Yep, ideas are too precious to let slip through the cracks. :D