I've been going back through my notes on my main project. I have stuff scattered all over. It's all collected in one place but there are so many different documents, it's becoming difficult, if not impossible, to keep the information in sync from one note to the next. Character sheets are each out of sync with timeline, which is out of sync with character comparison sheet, which is out of sync with the project development document (which is like a short story in itself in length). Driving myself a little bit crazy trying to get the background information all updated to reflect the same data and yet preserve the development history. On the plus side, I'm finding answers to questions I'm posing on the actual story draft. Anybody else have this experience, basically too many supporting documents?
No I just have pages all over the place. But it could be equally annoying. I think I’ve got to get get it organised. I don’t know the difference between a “good draft” and a “rough draft”. The clutter’s getting in the way of my writing a little bit. But, yeah. First thing to do is tidy up the mess. Sheets all over the place.
Maybe make folders for your notes. Characters Protag/Antag Plot/Outline Misc. Notes/Ideas That way you can easily keep each part seperate from the others, while leaving the main document clutter free, and still gives you quick access to the info you may need when you need it.
Store your notes in a google sheet, on various tabs. You will be able to interlink data and will always be able to find the specific cell / data to edit in order to update every tab at once. Timelines and such require some advanced knowledge but nothing impossible with some creativity.
Of course I've got I think close to 1TB in pdf/pics/txt documents but so far I'm keeping track. Store pics in a dedicated folder, with subfolders designating the topic Store txt/pdfs in a similar folder structure Do this immediately when coming across something you want to save! If you don't, you'll have the hell of a time finding what you're searching for. Odd bits and pieces: Compile ONE document where you copy/paste into (e.g. odds-and-ends.txt). AT REGULAR INTERVALS, go through it and write up summaries or braindumps of what the pertinent info reminds you of into a separate txt file (e.g. summaries.txt). Then copy/paste these into the appropriate destination document (e.g. character-descriptions.txt, area-notes.txt). This way you won't loose track of the small ideas that the odds-and-ends.txt generates.
I feel quite inadequate... I tend to keep, maximum, a single page of notes. I don't feel the need to keep gigabytes of character files on my characters and world any more than I do on friends, family, or Yorkshire. I have experimented with mind-mapping software for notes which is quite good, but seem not to have bothered with current WIP -- admittedly current piece is a "real world" thing, exploring a limited cast more deeply, so maybe there isn't such a need. Fantasy needs more organisation...
Yeah, it's all about keeping your stuff organized. I used to have the same problem, but at least now I can keep track of the important stuff (while still having massive amounts of material supporting it all). I found a way to make a step outline in Evernote that functions as a top-level device to give me access to everything without it all getting lost. Take a look at This post about it. You can make separate notebooks for Setting, Characters, Research etc, and in the outline you can place links to anything relevant to that particular cell. What I did was, after figuring out how to make the step outline, I went through my copious notes and pulled out all the most relevant stuff, which I then pared down and turned into the step outline. I didn't remove it from the original notebooks though, I copied it so I didn't lose anything in the original notebooks. I should add this info, which is posted a little farther down on that page: What you see above is the (beginning of) the big story beat sheet. When you click one of the titles it opens a page of scene beats, which breaks the action down to a much finer scale. I'm also adding more links now in each beat that go to pages of rough notes and ideas. I like the way it's working out, and it's so much more organized than just page after page filled with unorganized ideas that I can't find later. If you have any questions ask away.
