Are you not writing as much as you would like to during your writing time? Is your desk cluttered with books and papers? Are you having a difficult time focusing on what you are doing? Perhaps it is time for you to become a more organized writer. The following five tips will help you do just that in no time at all.
1. Make a weekly writing schedule
When you schedule time to write, you are more likely to be more organized. It doesn't matter whether you are a fulltime or part-time writer; the first step to being organized during your writing time is to schedule specific times to write. Decide each week what days and how many hours you plan on writing. Select the best days and times when you know you can be alone and not disturbed. Rather than writing whenever you find a few moment, you will discover you are capable of writing a lot more and a lot better.
2. A personal writing space
Every writer needs a space of their own just for writing. It doesn't matter if it is in the basement, a home office or a corner in a spare bedroom. Just like an artist needs a place to create art, a writer needs a place to be alone with their words. In your writing space make sure you have at least a desk, paper, pens/pencils, a computer and some storage space. Arrange your space so everything is accessible from your chair. The last thing your want to do when you are writing is to leave your chair to get something. In just that brief moment you could lose a thought or forget the ending of a sentence. Having a personal writing space which is tidy and organized will make your writing time more enjoyable.
3. Storage space to organize your writing projects.
It is important to have a place to store what you write. It can be a file cabinet or a folder on your computer. An organized writer has several folders for different purposes. This allows a writer to work on multiple projects but keep them separate from each other. Rather than having all your writing work in one big folder, consider creating a different folder for finished projects, work in progress, and published work. Writing ideas and any associated information should have a separate folder. This will ensure you can locate these ideas when you are ready to write about them.
Also, create a folder for all your research material. This will help you locate this information when you most need it. If you want to be even more effective, create folders within your research folder to store information in alphabetical order. With all your work organized in folders, you will find yourself having more time to write instead of looking for something. Also remember, if you create folders on your computer, backup these files on a regular basis.
4. Know what you want to do during your writing time
You can do more during your writing time, when you know what you need to accomplish. When planning your weekly schedule or before a writing session, create a task list. Your task list should outline what you will do during your writing time. Be realistic when developing this list. Take into consideration how long it may take you to complete a task. Some tasks like starting a new project or rewriting some articles may be on our task list for several days. The important thing to remember is use your task list to eventually complete them at some point. Knowing how you will spend your writing time, will help you stay organized and do more writing. You will know what you have to do and your task list will ensure that it gets done.
5. Set writing goals
It is important to set writing goals for yourself, even if you work in an office. It doesn't matter if writing is just a hobby or you want to be a published author. Think about what you want to do with your writing. What do you need to do to reach the level you want to be at? Do you need to improve your writing? Perhaps you need to get a mentor? Do you want to earn a living writing? Write down what you would like to achieve and what you need to accomplish to reach those goals. Establish deadlines for specific steps toward achieving the overall goal. Make a commitment to yourself to meet these deadlines. However, don't be too hard on yourself if you miss them. Just continue to work toward reaching all your goals.
It does take some extra effort to be organized during your writing time. However, to make your writing time more productive, being organized is important. All you really need to remember to do is make time to write, keep your space tidy, develop a task list and set personal goals. If you do this every week, you will enjoy your writing time a lot more. .