Clearing the Decks! (I mean desk...)

Okay, I admit it, I'm not super great at organisation. I like to think I am, I do sticky notes really well, but sometimes my desk area gets a little scary. See evidence here:

It's not ideal, but sometimes life has a way of getting ahead of my good intentions, like in recent months, when I have had to polish my fifth book for a submission deadline, edit my sixth book for beta-readers, work on marketing for book 4, and prepare for the upcoming launch of my third book, with all the elements of marketing that involves. Oh, and prepare for several conferences. AND be mum to four and wife to one (😀) and all the other things life throws at me.

I get messy, and a bit disorganised, which tends to lead to stress. Trying to write or edit is a challenge when my notes are several stratum beneath the surface, and where I need them.

Clearing the decks/desk really helps me stay less stressed. Here's some things I've been learning to help in this department:

* Work ahead of schedule - procrastination only leads to pain. (It's a bit like that random sock that stays in the hall for days while people walk past it. Pick it up the first time and it won't bother you.) When you have a spare few hours (ha ha!), use them to get up to date with blog posts or those looming deadlines (you know, the ones that wake you up in the middle of the night as another thing 'to do' on that never-ending 'to-do' list). To quote a famous sportswear company: 'Just do it.'

* Sticky notes are my friend - yes, I have a lot, but having them in eye level helps me stay focused so I'm working to schedule and making sure I'm doing what needs to be done. And there's nothing like crossing another task off the list!

* Wall planners are cool - helpful for book deadlines but also for making off holidays, conferences, birthdays, etc. Again, one glance and I know where I'm at.

* Priority Placement - I keep the resources I use most on my desk, everything else lives (or is supposed to) in my not-so-little bookshelf of writing and Regency resources, or in the filing drawers assigned to each book.

* Clutter is the enemy - which is hard, as I have hoarding-type tendencies. Blank walls make me feel calmer, despite my love for inspirational grand English estate postcards. Sometimes I just have to put the loud music on and sort the treasure from the trash, then toss the latter into the circular file.

I'm still a work in progress (aren't we all?), but I'm finding these tools help me clear the decks, physical and mentally.

What works for you?

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked part-time as a public high school English and Learning and Support teacher.A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her Regency novels include The Elusive Miss Ellison, The Captivating Lady Charlotte, and the upcoming release The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey, published by Kregel, and available from Koorong, Amazon, Book Depository etc

Connect with her:  www.carolynmillerauthor.com    pinterest  facebook twitter

What to Do with All That Research?

By Morgan Tarpley

The other day I was thinking about all the research and idea notes for my current novel and their various forms of organization. I will admit that I’m easily overwhelmed when it comes to all the methods that are out there to utilize. I’ve tried many of them.

There are so many ways to organize research and ideas for a project that I thought I’d go through some of the ones that I’ve tried over the years on the path to the perfect combination for me. I still haven’t gotten it just right yet, but I feel I’m close.

My current manuscript is my guinea pig, and by the time I start my next novel I hope to have narrowed the methods down some more. I would love to hear if any of these particular ideas work for you.

The first method involves collecting digital research material on my Kindle Fire. I’ve created a host of collections for each of my upcoming novels that contain both non-fiction and fiction books which I will use for research.

The next methods of research/idea organization are creating folders through email and Dropbox. Before I got Dropbox, I started creating a folder for each upcoming novel and if I found items of interest online I would email them to myself and save the emails in a folder. I guess I was pretty much doing a makeshift Dropbox. I still use my email folders, but I’ve expanded to Dropbox to directly upload documents and images, etc. for my research. It’s very handy.

Another method of mine is one that I’ve borrowed from the late great Michael Crichton using notecards and a shoebox. I actually wrote a blog post about it and more here last year. I write down ideas and tidbits of information on notecards and toss them in a shoebox for that certain future novel. I have to say it’s been a really great system.

The methods I started when I began novel writing and that I still use involve a simple binder system with tabs for different research topics and a notebook/journal that I take notes in and explore ideas, etc. I’m a total visual person so actually writing and doodling help my creative process.

The newest method I’ve explored is the use of Evernote to collect information through a partial screenshot, etc. straight to my account online. It’s really a smart way to organize information, but I haven’t gotten the exact hang of it yet. It’s definitely work checking out. Another method I’ve used a little bit that I know many writers love is Scrivener. I got the program last year, but unfortunately haven’t really explored it much yet either.

Well, these are the methods I’ve entertained so far on my writing journey. I would love to hear from you what you use and if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

Morgan Tarpley

Morgan Tarpley is an award-winning newspaper reporter and photographer in Louisiana. She is also a novelist currently seeking representation. Besides writing and traveling to over a dozen countries, her interests include acting in her local theater, genealogy, photography, and singing. She resides in Louisiana with her husband.

For more information about Morgan, visit her website (www.morgantarpley.com). You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.