Young Writers Society

Hey guys. My question is how do you organize your work area/stories? Do you have a computer or hard drive solely for your stories? Do you have a binder or folder full of your material? Do you have a whole office for writing? A section of your room for it? I'm curious because I am having trouble writing, because I am weird and need everything organized and no distractions. So I'm looking for ideas based off what members of you all do, I'm also legitimately curious about how everyone else does their writing.

When it comes to my writing, I am very messy. I have notes jotted down on bits of paper here, margins of a notebook there, multiple stories in a single notebook... Messy, but not disorganized as I know where everything is.

I really don't have much opportunity to sit down to just write, so I take the opportunity whenever I can find it to jot ideas and scenes down on whatever I have on hand. Later, when I'm on the computer, usually during a break from studying/researching, I'll type up the note fragments in the appropriate documents. Since I move around a lot from computer to computer and am usually working on multiple writing projects at a time, I use Google Docs to store my story documents so I can access them from anywhere at almost any time.

Things would probably be a whole lot neater if I could just write things on the computer, but I'm odd in that I write best when I first write by hand. Editing, though, is done almost entirely on the computer, except when the piece of writing refuses to cooperate, in which case, it gets printed out and edited by hand.

But if you know that you need complete organization and lack of distraction to write, I suggest you make a space for yourself and find a time that people are unlikely to bother you and set it aside as your writing time. The late night/early morning hours are usually pretty good times if you don't want to be disturbed, and if you choose the early morning hours, you can easily incorporate it as part of your daily routine. Having a set time of day that you write at regularly gets you in the habit of writing, which in turn makes writing easier.

If you aren't already trying that, I suggest you do.

Thanks.I enjoyed reading about your style for two reasons. One, it is just plain out intriguing to hear how other writers work, at least to me. Two, I learned something new. Google Docs! I am thankful to you for introducing me to this wonderful application that is really going to make my life easier!

Also, The second paragraph was helpful. Deep down I knew the answer to my problem, but, hearing it from another person reassures me of what is needing to be done. Thanks again!

I use both the computer and notebooks. When I feel like I need to just get something out, I use paper, but if I'm being thorough I use this free program:

http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html

It helps me keep everything organized, because I cannot write a story unless I know I have everything all figured out and organized. The program isn't supper fancy but it works for me.