Messy Mondays

Feeling messy and cluttered? If your desk is overflowing with papers, you’ll have a difficult time focusing on your writing.

Try some of these tips to get your notes and ideas organized:

1. Jot down notes on 3×5 notecards, then file in an index file box by category: horror fiction ideas; fantasy story ideas; character names; settings, etc.
2. Keep a 3-ring binder of helpful articles: handouts you get in class, articles you find on the Internet (like this post!) Again, use tab dividers to better organize all those tips! Try these: plotting; characters; setting; voice; story pacing; how to submit a story to a magazine, etc.
3. Keep another binder or accordian file for all the markets you want to send your stories to: contests, magazines, newsletters, on-line”zines” You can categorize this by deadline date: have a tab for each month of the year and place the info for that particular contest behind the tab for the month it is due.

 

Do you have any organizing tips that you can share?  Please tell us!