Writing Time Saving Tip

This tip is thanks to The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your Email Before it Manages You–but it’s not a tip about email.

Create a shortcut on your desktop to your writing folder.  I did one for each of my book projects.  Then, all you have to do to get at any of the files is to double-click on the icon and you’re in the folder.  I remember a coworker from several years ago who would do this with files, and she’d have fifty files all over her desktop, making everything hard to find.  This is much simpler because the folder goes to all the files, and the file names can change without impacting the shortcuts.

Taking it a step further, if you don’t like any of the default icons, you can change them to a different image.  IconArchive is a site I found with a lot of nice, free icons.

Organization Revision

Starting out a book project is very different than going into the revision phase.  What I came up with to organize my folders and files worked great during the starting phase, but it’s pretty much fallen apart under the revision.  I realized I wanted to add a couple of scenes back that I’d removed many, many moons again, and I had a lot of trouble figuring out where they were.  I also had to hunt down the first draft to pull a deleted scene from that.  I generally knew where it is, but it was also hard to find.

Problem #1:  I used an Archives file for all the old files, not just for backups.  Thus, to look for the completed First Draft, I had to wade through all the backup files.  So my first step has been to create a Backups folder only for backups of files and one for Archives.  That’s where I’ll put things like extra scene files, notes on research, etc.

Problem #2:  This one’s as little more tricky to work with.  Each day I worked on the book, I resaved the file with the new date: BookTitle_Date.doc.  That’s a lot of files!  It became problematic when I ended up spending half an hour hunting for a scene that didn’t stay long in the book, but I needed again.  The file titles didn’t help at all.  Unfortunately, no matter what, I’m going to end up with a lot of backups.  So I had two thoughts on this:

• When I start a new chapter, resave the file.  Call it something like 2ndRevCh2_date.doc.  That way I can scan the list of files and identify which ones I can probably ignore.
• If I end up on a chapter for several days, I’ll continue using the same file and only resave once I go to a new chapter.  That’ll cut down on the number of files with similar names.

Problem #3: This one also didn’t become apparent until I did the revision.  It’s hard finding a specific chapter to make a change when the book is some 300 pages.  So I’m going to name the chapters.  That way, in combination with Word’s heading styles, I can use the Document Map to easily move around the manuscript.  Once I go into final draft, I’ll take the names off.

Problem #4:  Finding the first draft.  With this one, I created a folder called 1stDraft and put the file in there.  No more hunting, but in a folder, it’s out of the way until I need it.

The Writing Process

I ran across an inteview with M.J. Fredrick on the I Do Not Want to Wait, I Want the Book Now blog.  It’s a series of questions not just about the book, but about how she writes and where she gets ideas.

This bit on the process is particularly interesting …

Sometimes the idea comes first, sometimes the characters. A lot of times characters come to me fully formed. I don’t always know why they’re the way they are until I’ve spent some time with them and put them in some situations, but I can usually say, “No, he’d never do that,” or “She’d never say that,” with some certainty. I’m an organic writer, which is a pain, because I invariably have to rewrite endings. I never get them right the first time. Hot Shot’s had about five different endings.

… because it goes back to showing how subjective writing a novel truly is (and very different from nom-fiction).  No one way works for any one writer, which drives people crazy.  I think everyone starts out looking for something to map to, something to get them started, and it’s just not there.  It’s like a path through an overgrown area that you can’t see any more but have to find your way through. 

My process:  I’m still figuring it out, but I think I’m midway between organic and linear.  I do need some form of outline, but I’ve found that it shouldn’t be greatly detailed, mapping out each scene. Rather, I just need to have an idea of the basic structure and where things need to happen.  This has taken a lot of experimentation to find things for me, and it’s still evolving.  A year from now–or for that matter, a different project–and it might be something else entirely.

What’s your process?

Resisting Temptation

Sometimes one of the hardest things in writing a novel is resisting tempation to fiddle.  During the writing of the first 100 pages, I have to keep the chapters in separate chapters.  Otherwise, what’ll end up happening is that I’ll get stuck and start fiddling with the first couple of chapters.  A word change here, a word change there.

The problem is that it’s non-productive.

The problem is also that it feels productive.

The reason it’s non-productive is because it takes time away from solving the problem that caused the diversion in the first place. 

Another reason it’s non-productive is that those chapters often bite the dust during revisions.  A couple of projects ago, I laboriously spent time revising the first chapter, trying to make it work before finally moving on.  Halfway into the story, it became apparent where the book needed to start, and it wasn’t that chapter.  I think about three were tossed out total.  So all that time I spent early on didn’t do anything other than keep me from moving on.

Sometimes it’s just as important to keep moving and making progression rather than to fix.

What I Learned From Non-Traditional Sources 2

When everyone starts writing, we all tend to hit the writing resources for whatever we’re writing.  For novelists, it’ll be the how-to books on writing novels and the how-to articles in Writer’s Digest on writing novels.  But sometimes other, unexpected sources can influence or provide insight into the writing process.

This time, it’s for a book on Lean Six Sigma, called Lean Six Sigma Demystified.   Lean Six Sigma is the combination of two processes for quality improvement in business processes.

One of the things that particularly struck me was a commentary in the book on–of all things–color coding.  If you’ve ever had blood taken at a hospital, you’ve probably noticed that the vials had different colored caps.  That makes it easy to identify at a glance if it gets put in the wrong place and helps keep mistakes from being made.  The book itself said it’s very human to associate a color with something.

Taking that back to writing …

I’m in the transition period of finishing one project and launching into a second one, with a couple more in the wings.  How do I keep them straight?  I’ve been to the library and discovered I had the wrong notebook (this was with the notebook labeled).  Now I’m working on the first chapter for the Morro Bay project, and I’m thinking, “How do I keep these straight in the file cabinet?”  I still have research that pops up for the first book, too, and of course, am working on chapters for that.

Color coding.

The Morro Bay book becomes associated with the color blue–the color of the ocean, which works out great as instant visual reminder.  So I have a blue notebook and blue file folders.  Sometimes I record small bits of research–like what I might spot at a museum on in a book–on 5×7 index cards.  I also print sections of web pages with information.  Those could be color coded with a blue sticker or a blue flag sticky.  That way, if I get a pile to be filed, I could easily separate what goes where by color instead of having to look at each paper to see what it’s about.

End of the Year Records Review

With the end of the year coming up, it’s time to review all my files and see what I can get rid of.  I’m currently going through my computer’s files to see what I need, what I have to archive, and what I can get rid of.  I always find something I can get rid of!

Next up are the paper files, and those will take a lot more time.  This is a handy link on Records Retention, though do check the IRS website for publications on retaining tax materials. 

NOTE: If you’re getting rid of old receipts, do shred them first.

Forms and Checklists

One of the handiest time management tips I’ve learned is to use forms and checklists where possible.  Why spend time making something if it’s already been done?  Here’s a list of downloadable forms from Real Simple that range from Packing Lists to Emergency Contact Forms.

If you have anything in your writing where you are repeating the same thing (i.e., a query letter or a query letter in email), make a master form for it so that you cut down on the number of steps.

Organizing Links

I tend to accumulate a lot of links as I write.  Some of them are links to research that I need for my story, but a lot them are related to writing.  Like an agent link on word counts.  It’s something I want to keep, but I’m not going to refer to very often.  The result is that as I save them in My Favorites in Internet Explorer is that I end up with a lot of clutter.  Of course, then I can’t find anything, so I start deleting–at which point, I need one of the links (grumble, grumble).

I was doing some non-related research on Web 2.0 (that’s social networking) and ran across a link sharing site called Delicious that was being used to by someone for news articles.  It had a lot of great potential to organize all these links using categories and even short descriptions.  I can also make some of the links private if I want.  It’s been a great resource for keeping all these links organized and is worth a look if you’re having the same troubles.

My listing is here:  http://delicious.com/Garridon

List of Five: Dealing with Paper Files

Writing always generates paper–sometimes it seems to multiply faster than rabbits do.  So here are some ideas on keeping it better organized:

1.  Avoid saving all the multiple revisions.  I went through my archive of files last year and was amazed at how many folders contained not only the final draft, but each revision.   The only thing that counts is the final draft.

2.  Put research materials in the same folder as the story.  That way, you can always find the material if you need it again.

3.  Avoid “Miscellaneous” folders.  These tend to end up as catch-all folders, and often, the stuff in them probably isn’t needed in the first place.

4. Use a label maker to mark the folders.  Folders just feel more organized when the label looks nice.

5. It should go without saying, but the papers won’t get into the folders if they don’t get filed.

Saving Files as I Write

Some people write their entire novel in one file.  Others save each chapter individually.  I’ve gone back and forth between the two because both have their benefits.  But one of the major reasons I’m currently saving it as single chapters is that it keeps me from fiddling.

If I have a hundred pages in the file, I tend to go back and start revising earlier chapters when I’m stuck on the current one.  By putting only one chapter in a file, I can focus just on that chapter.  After I finish, I move the chapter into a subfolder called Done and don’t touch it again.