Questionable: How Do You Organize Your Computer Files for a Book?

Brooke asked:

“How do you keep all your notes and changes and drafts organized? I’m guessing you don’t overwrite each draft entirely. I’m getting stuck in the weeds and confused by my not-clearly-marked files.”

Organization. Ha.

Here’s where I am right now with my Nita folder:

Taking a break now to clean that up . . .

Here’s what I need:

• Easy access to the files I’m working on right now: (Nita’s January Drafts, etc.)

• All the files I’ve written that I might need to go back to in order to get something I cut or lost: Nita Drafts.

• Notes I’ve made including pictures, floor plans, e-mails from experts, cut-and-paste from internet sources, etc.: Notes

• Pieces of actual scene (not notes about scenes) that came to me and that I needed to get on the page before I forgot: Pieces

• My Curio files, which include plot notes, collages, and anything else I need to mind map: Nita’s Curios

So now the folder looks like this:

Here’s what the folders look like open (except for the Notes folder):

And here’s the Notes Folder open:

So it’s still a mess, but it’s an organized mess. Plus I have learned through sad experience never to dump any file until the book goes to press. Once I know the pieces are slotted into the drafts, I’ll dump those, but otherwise, I keep everything just in case, until I have the actual book in my hand. Then I start dumping files.

You want to see a real disaster, check out my Fiction Folder:

And that’s just on this computer. God knows what’s lurking on the other two.

I am not the person to follow for organizational advice, but this is how I do it.

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