Staying Organized As A Writer & Author

"Everything has a place" Something that was said to me in therapy when I was having trouble detaching myself from objects quickly finding myself buried in clutter, and knick-knacks I didn't need.

Shortly after being told that COVID happened. Major lockdowns, mask mandates, and more. I had been complaining prior that I never had the time to just sit down and find what I needed, what truly held sentimental value, and what could be passed on to a new home.

After COVID well I had plenty of time to go through things and so it began.

The Mass Spring Declutter :

Late last spring I began my journey of self-growth and self-love. I finally went through the 4 drawers of clothes that I had thrifted, been given, or even kept for way longer than needed. I got rid of a whopping 6 large garbage bags of clothes and donated them to a women's domestic violence shelter.

It felt amazing.

Then I found it

Tidying Up With Marie Kondo

This show took no time to grow to popularity shortly after being released on Netflix. Tidying Up With Marie Kondo is about Marie Kondo a renowned tidying expert helps people who lead busy lives declutter their home and life.

Her most known line & rule while tidying "Does it spark joy?"

This show while I didn't use too many of the actual tips though they are fantastic helped me let go of the last bit of things I was holding onto but didn't need.

My biggest example my cake pan cupboard. After running my custom cake and dessert business for 7 years I had gotten quite the collection of pans, including a significant number that I didn't use. So after watching the first 3 episodes of this I began decluttering those. Slowly and thankfully my living space began to open up. I stopped keeping things up past the holidays, I don't keep 12 boxes of Christmas decor and most of all I'm happy.

Enter The New Year. 2021

Which also meant a new time.

Decluttering & Organizing My Life & Hobbies

I frequently laugh at social media and the idea of picking a niche and sticking to it. Fact is, I enjoy many things and do many things and therefore I don't have one niche. When I'm made to pick my top three are :

• Writing
• Cooking
• Art Creation & Photography

However I also equally enjoy art, skincare, and learning new things.

When the new year hit I knew that if I wanted to turn any hobbies and passions into a career I needed to hone in on my skills, stop pulling myself in twelve different directions and be honest with myself on what I wanted.

I invested in an un-dated binder planner, a good desk, and started giving myself time every day. As a mom, COVID like for many has been rough.

Balancing distance learning, finding a schedule that works for us as a family, and trying to manage the stress of everyday life quickly becomes overwhelming. However, nipping that in the bud with the help of Mel Robbin's 5-second rule has helped so much.

The 5 Second Rule is simple. If you have the instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it. The moment you feel an instinct or a desire to act on a goal or a commitment, use the Rule. Your brain loves to protect you in the sense that when you want to do the new, the unfamiliar, and the uncomfortable your brain throws up red flags and hits the brakes. Hard. You have about 5 seconds to beat your brain and decide to do it anyway.

I had already spent the last year slowly and massively decluttering and organizing my home.

Now I needed to organize my writing.

As much as I love free-lance writing. It's not my long-term goal unless I get an employment offer with a news site or something similar that is worth accepting.

My long-term goal is someday to be somebody's favorite author. I don't mean be famous, write a few books, get them published, and be known by someone, somewhere enough so that they truly enjoy my writing and the stories that I tell.

I have one short story self-published and 1 completed novel in the editing & beta read process with a booking agent. This is the first step in becoming published so it makes me full of joy to be in this process and step.

To begin my journey of organizing my writing the first thing I did was give myself some time.

Getting A Writing Space & Time

I obtained a desk ideal for my space and needs.

When writing fiction I have a few tools in my tool belt that help me stay organized and on track.

Firstly this is the desk I bought. Then with that planner, I mentioned earlier I set a daily word goal and writing time. My kids eat breakfast at 730 am and then we have lunch at noon. After lunch is free time and their free time is my hour of writing time. I'm firm on this. Even if what I write never makes it into a book, article, or anything else at least I'm writing, and written words can be edited, added to, fixed, or changed up, you can't do any of those to a blank page.

I like to look to this quote for my reasoning and words behind that habit and practice.

You can also read the article I wrote here about writing daily with a word goal.

This desk isn't the most ideal for every writer but I love it and the functionality it offers's me. Here are some reasons why

We have a PS4 and there are spaces for the remotes to store away neatly. + Game storage which is on both sides. One side is used for games I use the other side for my writer worksheets. I will touch more on my writer worksheets below.

It also has a space to hang headphones on the side as well as an area to charge your phone easily or ever place small notes about a storyline or to myself.

Under the desktop is a storage bin that I frequently use for papers, binders, notebooks, or the wireless keyboard that we occasionally use.

There's even a cup holder on the left-hand side which makes it easy to stay hydrated while staying focused on writing.

Bit's & Bauble's The "Tool's" I Use

• Pinterest
• Spotify or Youtube
• Writing Worksheet's
• Notebooks & Binder's
• Canva

Pinterest

I use Pinterest for so many things for writing. The most used/notable would be for character boards or inspiration. I find that making a board for a story then filling it with character inspiration helps the character come to life more within a story. Even if the photos aren't exact to a character they can be so close and to me, I find it helpful in lieu of Character cards / or character worksheets.

Another fun feature about Pinterest is that you can find heaps of writing advice and writing prompts for when you need to keep busy or get some ideas flowing.

I also use aesthetic collages like this and others to inspire storylines or scenes.

Pinterest's New organize tab/option makes it easy to keep everything straight forward and tidy.

Spotify or Youtube

Not everyone can write with music on. Though if you are like me music can help you write. It can help set a scene, let you forget about the ticking of the clock on the wall or the dripping faucet your landlord won't fix, and just create.

I create playlists on both Spotify and youtube. Though I have found Spotify seems to be easier to create more shareable playlists I do sometimes struggle to find the songs I want on there.

Writing Worksheet's

These are such a helpful tool for me and before getting our desk I would have them stacked up not separated and have to dig through them anytime I needed them. Enter desk organization!

It is so much easier and pleasing to see them neatly stored on the desk and easily accessible.

I get all my writing worksheets here and her blog is full of amazing resources and explanations on how to use each of them. My favorite form is the love your antagonist and the editing checklist. Helps you edit without mercy without feeling overwhelmed.

Notebooks & Binders

Ah, I think every writer has at least 1 notebook they probably don't need. I have many however each has there purpose.

1st is my leather "idea book" This is where I write down all those ideas that swim around in my head when I'm trying to think of one idea/storyline.

Idea's for articles, basic research and notes for other projects in my life go in here too!

I also have many spiral notebooks that go in the car, the bus or etc with me to be able to write when I don't have a computer handy or I'm somewhere like the park with my kids , and taking a computer isn't the best plan. I use my desk and a small bookshelf to keep these organized and safe.

Binders I tend to keep completed manuscripts or printed off articles in . That way I have a hard copy for every piece of work I've written. I don't want this to get out of hand so when I finish editing a manuscript I retype it and then dispose of it or put it in our memory box when the book copy arrives.

Canva

I've written another article about Canva however it concentrated mostly on what you could use Canva for in business. In addition to those you can also use it for writing!

My favorite is book cover creation.

Luckily though Canva has many other uses including but not limited to creating and designing your own bookmarks for published works, or self-promotion, business cards, calendars, creating plot lines and graphs plus so much more!

All of these tools help me and have been helping me stay organized so I can be the best writer I can. It helps me keep storylines straight creating interesting worlds, expereinces and more. It also helps set a good example for my kids who also have desks and all their school work to help me keep organized. They each keep their binders and school boxes on their desk with a small lamp and the books, binders, and spiral notebooks all get put on the bookshelf. Nice neat and orderly.

Exactly how I've come to love things.

Everything has a place and everything is in its place helps create stress-free days, effortless crafts and time well spent writing.

Thankful & grateful to be springing forward in 2021 creating new goals, habits and romanticizing all the small things in life. and I live with no intention of taking any steps back.