Get Better At Organizing And Become A Productive Writer

You might think ‘but why?’ Writing is surely all about being creative and free?!’  

This may be true, however, if you aren’t organized the likelihood is that your creativity will suffer, you’ll write less, and you’ll be far more likely to give up on writing altogether.

So what do you need to do to become a more organized, prolific and productive writer?

Stick to a writing schedule

Without a strict writing schedule it is so easy to find yourself getting out of sync with your writing routine and before you know it you start writing a little less each week until you suddenly realise it has been months since you sat at your computer. This also is true for those who write full-time - be disciplined - don’t work all the hours that God sends, however tempting it may be. If you stay organized and stick to a schedule, you should be able to have time to do other things, you know, like talk to your family.

Have an excellent record keeping system

Keeping records is so important for a range of things. Records of when and who you sent your book to and whether they have responded. Records of books sales, of assignments and deadlines, of useful contacts. Records of finances so when it comes to doing the dreaded tax return your life will be a lot easier - the list goes on and on.

Organize your computer files, bookmarks, and emails

Can’t remember when that deadline is? Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you didn’t have to scroll through hundreds of emails to find out? It would, wouldn’t it? Make folders for different clients, and projects. You should have a separate spreadsheet with your assignments and deadlines too, but this way you can easily access the email as a backup.

Organized files are necessary too. It’s good to keep track of changes on documents, be that articles or novels, so make sure you save different versions and name them something logical so you can revert to a former version easily if necessary. If you like to bookmark useful websites be it for research or perhaps potential jobs then make these organized too. You can create a filing system in bookmarks so group them together and file them virtually so you can easily find what you are looking for.

Be organized when it comes to writing itself too

Don’t just ‘start’ your book or article without a plan. Novels need structure and plot outlines. Articles need research and clear points. Doing this will save you the disappointment of getting halfway through and realising your story/ article actually just doesn’t work.

Since it’s still January, we can legitimately talk about new beginnings, so if you are guilty of being a rather chaotic writer now is the time to get your affairs in order with a meticulously organised desktop, inbox, diary and schedule. Being organized really can make a huge difference, so what are you waiting for?

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'