I'm extremely disorganised and scatterbrained. The notes I have made for my novel are currently strewn about my bedroom floor on the backs of envelopes and chocolate wrappers. I need to go to a stationery shop and buy some books or something.

How do you organise your writing? Do you have, say, a notebook for jotting down ideas as they come to you, a big pad of paper for first drafts and a CD rom on which to actually write the thing?

What about notes that you have made, and now feel sure you won't use? Do you throw them away or save them for a rainy day? What colour pen do you write with? Do you think it makes a difference?

Any other organisational tips?

When I'm at home, I usually just type any ideas that come to me on the same document that I'm writing on, and then I just edit the ideas to fit in the novel.

At school, I have a 2nd notebook that I take out when I'm in class. I usually get bored in class, so I just think up ideas and jot them down on that 2nd notebook. Usually I don't have to refer back to them, but it's a good idea to have notes just in case you do forget something. BTW, I use a pencil. I don't think different colors or pens will make any difference for me.

For organization, I would make an outline so that you get an idea of where you're headed. Then, it's just a matter of expanding on that outline to make a novel. However, other people may not need an outline, and they just write whatever comes to mind (like me). Also, remember to go back and edit to make sure your novel is well organized.

I use a cheep lined note pad for ideas, what ever hits me I write. When I jot an idea down on something like a candy wrapper or what have you, I tape that into the note book for later use.

other then that - I just get a feel for what I want to write and then when I get the chance to sit at my computer I start to type out the story.

I write on random bits of paper/receipts etc and put them in a growing pile on my floor, and then every few months I go back through all this stuff, staple it together and put it in a wallet file in an A4 ringbinder, and type up all the poems collected in it to the computer. I don't often compose straight to the PC.

I plan to start using notebooks soon though because I get too many ideas/fragments that don't get typed to PC so just get lost in an old folder.

I use notebooks. My problem is that I have so many lying around that i may have ideas about the same thing in different books. The only reason I like that is because when I am looking for something for a particular story I remember other ideas that are waiting to be used.

I also have a tendecy to write a lot of back story for characters and places. There is a novel I am working on that I wrote a short story about each persons life before I started.

I tend to write stories on the computer, and then print then off to edit them. In black. It's easier to read through when its on paper rather than a screen, and easier to jot notes on, I find.

Or for vague, random ideas, I have a growing A4 pad by my bed. Which just gets random paper added to it when needed.

I like to keep all my notes in a book, but sometimes I end up writing them on random pieces of paper.
As far as organization goes, I think the best way is to keep everything together in one spot. Say in a box, or in a binder. Just something to make sure nothing is lost.
I keep (usually) all of my notes; I like to re-read them later on for other ideas.

I don't compose on the computer; I only transcribe daily work to OpenOffice.

Each novel-length project begins with 2 things. It's own marble front composition book for the novel itself and a steno pad for character work, timelines, outlines, backstory, etc. I use black ink, but keep a red pen handy to mark something I want to look at or research later and to make notes to myself.

On the computer, when I begin a new project I set up a folder for it. One OO doc is for the story itself, another OO doc is for cuts, and another doc is for research (websites, usually).

I use the hard drive on my computer. I have a file for my story. Within this file I have a file for the story itself and additional files for research.

One of the stories I am presently working on is a fantasy set in 12th century, Northern China. The file for this story includes files for information on the military, fantasy and magic, urban and village life, technology, religious beliefs, customs, culinary arts, literature, economy, and law and government. I also have a picture file and a map file.

I'm extremely disorganised and scatterbrained. The notes I have made for my novel are currently strewn about my bedroom floor on the backs of envelopes and chocolate wrappers. I need to go to a stationery shop and buy some books or something.

Can't you just use a normal notebook or printer paper...? You don't need to invest in anything special to keep notes. I read in a book on journaling once about how when people buy special fancy journals to write in, they usually end up not writing in them at all, since they think the books are far too nice to put regular journaling in--they end up "saving them for something special" which never comes. To go to the trouble of buying nice stationery to take notes just seems like a waste of time and money better spent on the actual writing. :confused:

If I spent a great deal of time organizing notes then I'd never get to writing any stories. I realize many people have to take notes, and I do take some, but when I see people agonize over organizing them, and spending so much time on them...I wonder how far the writing itself gets?

How do you organise your writing? Do you have, say, a notebook for jotting down ideas as they come to you, a big pad of paper for first drafts and a CD rom on which to actually write the thing?

I just write the thing. I don't take notes. I took notes for one story once that I was heavily researching, and that helped with small details, but in the end it just took up a lot of time that I could have spent writing. I only finally got started writing the thing because the computer monitor died and I couldn't type up my notes anymore! And I ended up not using most of the notes anyway. Most of the really important stuff just stays in my head. Then again, this might be because I write fantasy, and even though it's based on existing cultures (meaning I do have to know some stuff), I take liberties as well. I just tend to remember the things I really want to include in the stories, I guess. Any notes I take are in Notepad or something on the computer.

No big notebook, no big pad of paper, no CD-ROM. I just open up Wordpad and write.

(OH. Though at the moment, I am taking small notes in some books I'm reading! Forgot. :redface: But they're just on little slips of paper from a notepad and I'll probably type them up when I'm done. I keep the papers in the books I'm taking notes from.)

What about notes that you have made, and now feel sure you won't use? Do you throw them away or save them for a rainy day? What colour pen do you write with? Do you think it makes a difference?

I wouldn't throw them away, if I had them. (Somewhere I still have the folder of notes I took for the story mentioned above.) But I'm obsessive-compulsive and don't throw most things away.

I don't write with any color pen since I type. I really don't think it would make a difference. O_o Again it just seems like a distraction from actually writing the story, to wonder what color pen one should use! But maybe that's just me. Perhaps different color pens help some people. I wouldn't know. Writing by hand is too slow for me. I tried taking color-coded notes once and it was just too time consuming and confusing.

Any other organisational tips?

Whatever works for you and helps you actually write the story! So if you believe buying some nice stationery and a colored pen will put you on track, then do that. And then write the thing. :D

Bad thing is, I don't organize it... not really. :D lol, I mean, I have a notebook for jotting down my ideas, but I almost never use it. I also have some word docs full of different story ideas and plot points, etc., but don't really use that either. I usually come up with the stuff I use for my writing when I'm at work or doing something routine, like eating. I just try to keep those ideas or interesting thoughts for story pieces in my head.... which is the problem, because I usually end up forgetting what I came up with, aha. Really, though, I never really make a habit of writing it down on paper or typing it in word doc; I don't think that sort of organization is for me, since I usually never keep to it. The only thing I'm consistent in, is typing a document full of basic key facts to my story at the time. That's necessary, imo, as far as for when I as an individual work/write.

Anywho, long ramble summed up into a sentence: I don't organize, because I'm lazy (that's probably it) and I take the chance that my good ol' memory will keep hold of it all (which it doesn't, but oh well). :)