Chapter Notes: Organizing Writing

How to Organize your Writing

Why is should  you Organize your Writing?

• When you're thrilled about a story idea, it's tempting to jump straight into the fun parts: developing vivid characters and settings, crafting witty dialogue, and weaving suspense and emotion into your scenes. Many writing tips emphasize "just write" - focusing on putting words on the page rather than getting sidetracked by related tasks.  
• Yet, without dedicating time to organizing your writing, you risk ending up with a chaotic mess of files and ideas. You might have plot details and character notes scattered across Airtable and stray index cards, with one version of your manuscript saved on your computer in Word and another in Google Docs. Before long, you may struggle to locate a critical story note (which you can no longer recall), and the disorganization can stall your progress.

Tips on how to Organize  your Writing

Find a platform that works and stick to it

• My path to discovering how to organize my writing has been far from smooth, but I encourage new writers to experiment with different approaches. Enter this process with the understanding that you're simply testing options and that your success as a writer doesn't depend on mastering tools like Scrivener, index cards, or any specific method. Begin with a daily journaling habit to determine which platform or tool supports your consistency and which ones hinder it. Identifying what doesn't work is just as important as finding what does when it comes to organizing your writing.  
• The key is to select a system that can evolve with your story and your growth as a writer-and then, crucially, stick with it. I rely on G Suite, but the advice I'll share can apply whether you store your writing on a hard drive, another cloud platform, or even in a physical binder. I appreciate G Suite because it lets me edit my work from any device, though I understand that not every writer has reliable access to Wi-Fi or a data plan.

Organize from big to small

• Once you've settled on your preferred platform, sort through all your writing-related materials and group them into broad categories. I organize mine using folders in Google Drive, but you could use folders on a hard drive or tabbed dividers in a binder. (Even though I primarily write digitally, I find it useful to have a system for managing handwritten notes. I use a loose-leaf binder, which allows me to jot down ideas on any piece of paper, then hole-punch and file it.)  
• Here are some of the main categories I use, though you can create as many as needed based on your writing project and organizational preferences:  
  • Writing Advice: When you come across a valuable article, save it in a Google Doc and store it in your Writing Advice folder. Name the Doc clearly with details like the source and topic for easy retrieval later.  
  • Writing Encouragement: Writing a novel is challenging, and you'll need motivation to stay on track. Fill this folder with a Doc for collecting inspiring quotes, along with other items like photos, articles, or blog posts that keep your creative energy high.  
  • Journaling: Create a folder with a Doc containing writing prompts. I've found the New York Times' prompt list particularly helpful. Start a new Doc for each prompt or journaling session. This practice keeps your writing momentum going, even when your story feels stuck, and you might discover material you can incorporate into your novel.  
  • Outlines: If you're a planner (and if you're reading this, you likely are), designate a space for your story outlines. See my tips below on naming files to manage different versions effectively.  
• For my work-in-progress (WIP), I create a series of folders. One approach that's worked well is making a folder for each act of my story. In my system, I include a keyword in each folder's name to reflect what my protagonist is experiencing in that act (Resisting, Learning, Changing). I also append a general word count to the folder name to remind myself of the target length for that section. Following the "broad to specific" approach, I create a separate document for each chapter within these folders. This setup makes it easier to add, remove, or rearrange scenes as needed.

Develop a system for file naming

• Taking care to name and save your files thoughtfully can save you time and effort. By adopting a consistent naming convention, you'll find it easier to locate specific files when you need them. Since I keep my chapters as separate files until the final merge, here's my approach to naming each chapter:  
  [CHAPTER NUMBER] // [CHAPTER KEYWORD] // [CHAPTER WORD COUNT]  
  Using decimal points helps maintain order during the drafting process. 
• For example, if you need to insert a scene between chapters 5 and 6, you can label it 5.1. Once you're happy with the sequence and structure of your scenes, you can simplify the numbering.  

Don't trash it-- Organize it

• When making significant changes to a chapter, I always save a copy of the original version for future reference. As your story evolves-sometimes through multiple revisions-you might want to revisit an earlier idea. 
• I store the current version of each chapter in the main folder for its respective act, and within that folder, I have a subfolder called HOLDING. 
• Any outdated versions are moved there, and if I need to retrieve a specific piece of cut content, I can use Google Drive's search function to find it quickly.  

Keep it Separated and Merge at the End

• As noted earlier, I keep acts and chapters as separate files until the end. Once an act is complete and polished, I combine all its chapters into a single master document, named [ACT NUMBER] // [TOTAL WORD COUNT]. I create a master document for each act, and when all acts are finalized, I merge them into a single, cohesive manuscript draft.  
• This approach works for me because writing a novel is a massive undertaking, and trying to manage the entire project in your head can quickly become overwhelming. By breaking it down into smaller, manageable pieces-word by word, sentence by sentence, chapter by chapter-the process feels far less daunting.