Getting Organized, Part 1

I’ve toyed with all sorts of different ways to organize my books ever since I started writing eons ago. Some worked, others didn’t. Some books wanted to be organized on paper. Others felt more comfortable on the computer. Most worked with a combination of the two. Over the next two weeks, I’m going to talk about a couple of different methods I’ve used, but just to be different, I’m not organizing these blogs by paper vs. computer as I do in my Start Write class where I teach people how to get started writing a novel, instead, let’s look at this in a slightly different way.

Here’s the big picture

What you’re going to need to organize are the big, important aspects of a novel, namely character, plot, research and notes. These are the headings, the tabs in your binder, the files on your computer – however you organize your book.

It doesn’t matter if you organize these on paper or on the computer, you are still going to be shifting around the same information just in a different medium.

We’re going to look at the first two separately because they’re the biggies, and then I’ll touch briefly on the other two. So, today, let’s start with

Your Character Tab

To organize your characters, look at what you’ve got, or want to get about them. Do you have worksheets you’ve filled out? (I’ve got two in my book Chapter One which I’ve cobbled together over the years, plus I use some created by Michael Hauge). Perhaps you’ve got interviews with your characters, so you could get to know them better. Briggs-Myers tests? Just random writings or observations?

These all need to be corralled in a meaningful way. So, depending on where all this “stuff” is either create a binder (if it’s all on paper) or a tab in OneNote or a notebook in Evernote.

OneNote is a program from Microsoft which usually comes bundled with Word and Excel in Microsoft Office. It is, essentially, a virtual binder. You just cut and paste your information onto one of their pages and, voila, your notebook is done. It’s easy to put in pictures too – and it’s always great to have a visual to go with your characters.

Want to have access to your virtual notebook wherever you go? Create it in Evernote. It’s a free program on the web which has apps which can be downloaded to your laptop, table or phone. It’s easy to use and terrific for organizing things. (Honestly, once you’ve got your book organized in there, you’ll find yourself using it to organize everything in your life!)

Putting all that information, by character, together in one place will help you immeasurably when you need to check on a quick fact (was the hero’s eyes green or blue?), or need to be reminded of your protagonists overall goal if you’ve stepped away from your book for a little while.

Good luck with this! Have fun and check back here next week when I’ll talk about how to organize your plot.