How to Organize Your Writing Files So You Can Find What You Need
Photo by Christa Dodoo on Unsplash
Imagine that it’s been a few days since you’ve worked on your novel and you’re ready to show up and get some work done. Do these questions sound familiar?
Now which file was I working on?
Where did I put that great character description?
As writers, we produce a lot of words and a lot of computer files. It’s easy to get buried by both.
So I have a few tips.
First, a quick story about the least effective way of organizing digital files I’ve ever seen.
Several years ago my boss was suddenly let go. We were in the middle of producing a magazine, so I stepped into his role to keep the work on track.
I was given access to his computer and quickly discovered that his method of organizing files was . . . not easy to navigate.
He’d simply stacked Word documents on top of each other. Dozens and dozens of Word files. All in a neat pile in the top right corner of his computer’s desktop.
I have no clue how he found anything.
The Goldilocks approach to organizing your writing files
Now, I do not pretend to be an organization guru, but I have found that if you set up a simple system tailored to your specific needs, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for most of the time.
As a result, instead of trying to a) figure out if you’re working on the right version of your novel or b) find that bit of dialogue you know you have in a file somewhere, you can spend your writing time actually writing.
I think of this as the Goldilocks approach, as in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. A digital organization system that is easy, quick, and “just right” for you.
A Goldilocks approach takes two levels of organization:
A way to keep your digital files sorted. This can be on your computer or Google drive or wherever you store digital files.
A way to quickly remind you of your next writing steps.
How to set up a simple folder system
Create one folder for each novel.
Think of this folder as a file drawer that you can store folders and documents inside of, all relating to one novel.
For the MG mystery I’m working on now, I created a folder called “_MG animal book 2.”
I use the underscore (_) at the beginning of the folder name so it shows up higher in my alphabetical list of folders.
Put your new novel folder somewhere logical to you.
That could be your computer’s desktop or deeper within the file structure.
Here’s the file path I use: Documents > _Kid writing > _MG animal book 2.
Create one or more folders within your new novel folder.
But set up only as many as you need. So far for my zoo mystery, I have folders for the following different types of content:
My book’s blueprint and other planning documents, such as my inside outline
Character interviews
Research on animals and zoos
Research on Ojibwe culture
Scene cards (see my post about writing fears and Lisa Cron’s scene cards planning tool)
Submissions
My “Submissions” folder is new. I sent the first chapter of my zoo mystery to the fall 2022 Vermont College of Fine Arts Alumnx Mini-Residency for a workshop with several other writers.
Another folder I can see adding eventually is “Feedback.” It can be useful to keep copies of files with comments in them from your critique group, your agent, etc.
Next time
I’ll share some tips on the second level of the Goldilocks approach—ways to quickly remind you of your next writing steps.