Organization

[Lord Rae]

How organized are you when you're working on a project?

I was thinking about restarting something because I've radically shifted some of the world details and character names and motivations are all just wrong now. So i'm going to be scrapping what I have for the most part. I'll keep the 9 chapters I had written and use them for notes and maybe some occasional copy and pasting of things that are still relevant.

My question is do you write with one word (or whatever) file and use that for the entire book? Or do you write each chapter into its own word file? And why do you choose to organize the way you do? Benefits to doing it one way or another?

I was going to check Jim's blog to see if he'd mentioned it but I'm at work atm and "personal sites and blogs" are blocked. I'll check it at home though but I figured I'd go ahead and ask here for opinions.

Does it matter one way or another?

[Starbeam]

Jim's blog doesn't really have anything like that on it, I believe.  I used to have separate chapter files and one big story file, and multiple copies of each, but I've stop using word processing programs a while back.  Now I use Scrivener, which has organization built in, if you use it.  Each draft gets a new project file so that I don't bog the program down with everything, and so that I can remember what's what when I make changes.  There's a link to Scrivener in several places here--I think the easiest to find is in the tools for writers thread.  Both one for Mac and Windows versions.  Also, the creator has someone working to make an iPad Scrivener app.

[MClark]

Word does have some sort of Master Document feature that will keep track of different chapters for you, but I don't know the incantations to properly invoke and control that demon. You'll have to look deeply into the various Microsoft Grimoires and websites.

Ditto on reading the The Tools for Authors thread, which lists numerous different software packages, priced free to $100.  Pick two or three and download the free demo, check out how it flows for you.

I don't want to mention names for fear others will chime in and we'll repeat the whole thread.

Is there any interest in creating a master list of all the packages/techniques, and posting a summary post at the front of the thread?

[ItsallSuesfault]

I use scrivener to write chapter by chapter and copy it into one word document.

[Dresdenus Prime]

The program I use is writewaypro. It has a standard version and a pro version. The former is only $25 which is great. It has some really cool features of how to organize your work and also help you to lay out your plans and goals for your book.

[meg_evonne]

Plain old word doc by chapter here and extensive excel sheets for characters, chapters names/goals/word count. Also keep a 'to do' list while re-reading or editing. I use Toshiba bulletin board working off flash drives, which is effective and easy and also allows the addition of images etc. Then I keep a steno pad (or more) for every manuscript where I doodle and work out complicated world info.  (I back up on two separate computers as well.) That system works well for color highlighting certain things and for shrunken manuscript work, which I find crucial.

I believe that the Google cloud will be my final home, but for now--I don't have the hard control I want to have on the editing process there.

Some downsides: Once I compile it into the single manuscript after I've gone through several drafts--live gets complicated. As I set up pages for agents etc i can't keep from tweaking, and those tweaks don't always make it back into the original manuscript. (Not sure they should--often times the tweaks are god-awful mistakes.) Problem is that I start to get confused on which is the most recent vetted pages and are they in the single manuscript or not? I don't know if other writer programs would solve that or not.  Generally those are e-mails that I save, so they are located on a whole different platform.

I keep everything, labeling chapters 01.23 (Chapter 1, rewrite 23 etc) for example. I tried Scriver beta, but it was more complex than the system I've in place. I don't like to fight a system while I'm writing. Also, my Toshiba has a cool bulletin board that is excellent, but over time the short cuts can get lost and I have to relocate and reattach--especially when I do my year end back up into a safe deposit box. That bulletin board though gives me one central location to easily click back and forth.

I do know that Jim specifically mentioned that he didn't recommend any particular program, and I think that he uses a word type program. He does love his giant poster board for plot work etc. That's in his writing journal.