Organizing Writing

[Djehuty]

How do you folks do it? I'm looking for clues on how to organize both fiction and academic subjects. I have always been terrible at organization. My system of organizing notes and the like has traditionally been whatever notebook I have handy, whatever page is blank; my filing system consists of piles. It's ridiculous, and now that I'm gearing up to re-enter academia and to get started writing seriously, I need to do a better job of it.

 

Oddly -- or perhaps not oddly, for this crowd -- I can't seem to make headway organizing myself on my computer. Things on the computer aren't real. I know from an abortive attempt at using a laptop, years ago, that if I type out my notes I remember nothing. I have to write things by hand. This is incredibly annoying, because writing by hand is slooooooowww compared to my typing. So I'm going old-school. Which is appropriate, as I'll be in school, and I am old (at least compared to the terrifyingly young students at the average university).

 

I was thinking of splurgin on the Japanese binder system sold by Nanami paper. I have a sample of the least expensive loose-leaf paper they sell, and it is wonderful for writing (I actually like it better than its pricier counterparts). Advantages there are excellent paper, excellent construction, and a size which is more pleasant to write on than US letter. Another possibility is Circa, the advantages as I see them being Rhodia paper (not bad, but not as good as Kokuyo), sizes standard in the US, and the ability to turn the binder into a notebook by flipping the cover back.

 

What would you folks suggest? What actually works in the real world?

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

If you like to fill whatever page is blank, you are better off with a notepad than a notebook.

 

Notepads, usually have detachable pages, enabling you to stick with one notebook then transfer each subject to a different binder, single or multiple pocket(s) folder.

 

I used the same binder, made of heavy cardboard, all through my primary, secondary and high school. I also brought it to university but decided to switch to multicolors single carboard pocket folders (one for each class), they lasted the four years of heavy use with,just little wear on the corners.

 

Right now, I use light plastic binders as well as multiple and single pocket(s) folders.

 

Those are more than a couple of years old.

 

It is easy to write on the notepad, then detach the daily notes and either, 3 holes punch the pages and insert them into a binder or slip them into pocket folder.

 

 

I am extremely wary of "exotic" system like disks or non standard binder because one is forced to buy the specific punch before testing the format, which cost pretty penny and might not show its drawback until one is in a hurry and a badly secured couple of pages go flying everywhere.

 

I read that disk pages "smurfs"get loose after some time, I suspect it is probably the same problem with multiple punctures on the same page.

 

These systems, usually hope, that, the user, will be so fed up with the endless punching of their own paper, that, they will, eventually, buy their pre-made refills.

[Djehuty]

Smurfs? Is that what they call the little bits between the cutouts on those disc-system pages?

 

You make many good points. I don't believe I agree that having more rings would increase the problems, but otherwise, I think you're right. But every system is imperfect -- the trick is to find the imperfections I can best live with. I already know three-ring binders are out -- too many traumatic memories from high school. The last thing I need is to have all my PhD notes explode out of a binder and take flight through the campus.

 

I've been pondering this, and I think the question of archiving killed off the Japanese system, for me. Eventually, anything I put in a binder will end its days of wandering and seek a permanent home. If I use Circa, or some other binder based on US letter sized paper (however much I prefer slightly smaller paper for the actual writing experience), I can eventually trim off the "smurfs" (still making me laugh ) and bind the notes/translations/whatever into some format I can stick on a bookshelf for the rest of eternity. I can't do that with the Japanese loose-leaf paper. There isn't enough to it, the margins are effectively nonexistent, and having trimmed off the hole-punched strip I'd have to bind the notes so that I could never read whatever was on the inner margin. Either that, or put full binders on my bookshelf to rest there forever, a prospect that gives my thrifty soul (not to mention my wallet) the heebie-jeebies.

 

So I write off the Japanese system, though not without a pang. Those are some sweet binders, and that paper is just wonderful stuff to write on. But expensive. And impractical. Ah well.

 

Many thanks for the advice!

[Wolverine1]

Djehuty- I too am like you. Getting organised seems to be something that is rather difficult for me to do. But, like Anne-Sophie, I used a binder/folio system throughout college and in the 2 years I spent in the PhD program.

In the past few years, I have been out of academia, and being short of money, I stopped looking for fancy solutions, and began using a bunch of 3-ring binders and Staples Bagasse paper, or using good quality notebook filler paper. I have different binders dedicated to different tasks, and I scrupulously stick to my system. I know my "system" is not perfect, but, it seems to work for me. And when I am on campus, I have a folio which is zippered, and has 3 rings, and I carry my papers with the project I am working on, with me. When I return home, I make sure to file the papers from the day to the big binder dedicated to that project.

Best of luck.

[sombrueil]

I am more organized than average, and I married someone much less so. I have about 35 years of experience living with someone else's rather chaotic organizing principles.

In my considered opinion, the system itself is not nearly so important as consistent daily habits. The way to find things again is to consistently and frequently relocate things to their specified place. I do this pretty constantly. With papers, I have a Rhodia pad with daily memory joggers and lists and notes that get updated at least every morning. By updated I mean the information is either crossed off or relocated to its "home". Without a habit of doing this, no physical system will work very well.

 

Binders work as well as anything, although you really need a 3 hole punch to fully utilize this system, for printed material you want to save. I've also been known to simply tape bits of notes to a piece of binder paper.

 

I use binders for active material -- for example, music I'm studying now, writing ideas, projects, although I compose virtually all my prose except letters and my journal on a computer. I've done this since the 1990's so it is a firm habit. If I need to learn something by rote or organize my mind I will often write them out though. Especially if it has a physical nature that needs to be graphed or drawn. Lots of this initial stuff ends up in my daily journal, which is easy to search because it is bound -- nothing ever gets thrown out accidentally or is hidden a pile of unrelated papers.

Finished or inactive projects go into file folders and are filed alphabetically so I can find them again.

 

Notepad (ephemera) or journal (larger thoughts) --> binder --> file folder. I'm old fashioned. Even if I have a lot on my computer too.

 

 

 

[knarflj]

For class notes, I always used spiral notebooks, a separate notebook for each subject. Since classes are usually taught in some sort of logical progression, the notes are also automatically filed in a logical sequence just by virtue of being chronological. Unfinished notebooks were used in subsequent semesters for related courses (all the education courses in one notebook, music history in another …). I still refer to some of those notebooks decades later, and it's easy to find what I'm looking for.

 

For research and other projects - especially long-term projects - binders are helpful. For small or very short term projects-in-process where you need to keep everything in one place, but frequently need to pull out all the papers and spread them out, you could try project jackets, or perhaps pocket dividers for your binder.

 

You might also want to see whether you can find a copy of a book called The Organized Student. A couple of my children found it extremely helpful, and even I (who tend to be organized by nature) learned a few tricks from it. Sorry I can't remember the author's name at the moment. Our library had it, so depending where you are, you may be able to look and see if it would really help you before investing money that you'd probably rather spend on pens or ink.

 

Jenny

[Djehuty]

Thank you... much good advice here.

 

I'm leaning toward Circa at the moment, in spite of the smurf issue, if the paper works well. Unless I'm mistaken, it's about the only good way to get a binder with standard US sizes that isn't one of those three-ring things. I already have the punch, from a long-ago flirtation with getting organized, so at least I won't have to spend too much to get started.

[duende]

The key to any organization system is the ability to quickly find the right information at the right time. You might find this Japanese hack useful if you're using notebooks: http://blog.highfivehq.com/posts/a-little-known-hack-from-japan-to-get-your-notebook-organized

 

I don't have experience with this system, but I plan to experiment with it.

[Djehuty]

Very clever! Thanks.

[Djehuty]

Right, so, a quick question about Levenger paper points out the other flaw in the Circa thing, namely, most of the paper sucks.

 

This is getting ridiculous.

[knarflj]

Doesn't Staples have a Circa-type product, maybe even compatible with Circa? Arc, I think it's called. I seem to remember having heard that their paper is pretty decent, and the whole thing less expensive than Circa. Haven't used either one myself, so can't speak from experience.

 

Jenny

[Djehuty]

I seem to recall reading that the disc sizes are slightly different, so they're compatible, but not perfectly so. In any case, the Staples paper isn't much cheaper than the Rhodia Circa paper (seemingly the only good kind Levenger sells), and I think the lines are too dark for me. I tend to have trouble reading things written on darkly-lined paper (something I discovered when I tried to print my own on HP laser paper).

 

To make things even more annoying, Clairfontaine has their own disc-bound notebooks, but they seem to use their own kind of discs and punches. No one's willing to standardize.

[sharon888]

I use the Vivacious cross dot paper for my Circa notebooks. It takes fountain pen ink very well. No feathering, bleed through or show through. I always stock up on some when Levenger has a sale. It does fit the ARC notebooks as well, which are cheaper than the Levenger versions.

 

Here's a review of the vivacious paper.

 

https://fromthepencup.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/confessions-of-a-hoarder-levengers-circa-vivacious-refill/

[Sailor Kenshin]

Interesting topic! I'm kind of in the middle: semi-organized, but too often losing track of 'stuff' because it gets moved around.

[Djehuty]

I use the Vivacious cross dot paper for my Circa notebooks. It takes fountain pen ink very well. No feathering, bleed through or show through. I always stock up on some when Levenger has a sale. It does fit the ARC notebooks as well, which are cheaper than the Levenger versions.

 

Here's a review of the vivacious paper.

 

https://fromthepencup.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/confessions-of-a-hoarder-levengers-circa-vivacious-refill/

 

Thanks, that's most helpful. I was hoping I'd be able to find a decent grid-type paper, that wasn't actually grid paper, for hieroglyphing.

 

I think this will work, then. I'll get a nice folio-type thing for working on whatever I have to work on, then transfer to separate binders for each category of stuff, then cart it off to the copy-shop to have it bound when something is finished.

 

I appreciate the help here, and any further suggestions anyone might have! I can't really turn to friends and acquaintances in the real world. Everyone I know academically at or near my level is pretty well fully computerized, and I know from experience that notes on a computer exit my brain. The Professor is nearly as disorganized as I am, and he uses three-ring binders (which everything is falling out of, tearing, shredding, generally decaying). And in the family, I inherited my lack of organization from my mother, and my father can't comprehend not being perfectly organized and thus can't teach it! So I'm most grateful for this assistance.

[Ghost Plane]

Doesn't Staples have a Circa-type product, maybe even compatible with Circa? Arc, I think it's called. I seem to remember having heard that their paper is pretty decent, and the whole thing less expensive than Circa. Haven't used either one myself, so can't speak from experience.

 

Jenny

I use the Staples Arc system, the paper is decent and it's brought sanity to my pile of plotting notes. If I jot on whatever paper is handy, a quick punch with the punching thing and that piece of flotsam (or is paper jetsam?) slots neatly into my circle thingies. Far more flexible than a ring binder and I can use whatever paper I like. They come with tabs, plastic pockets, nice covers, To-Do lists that slot right in...even a calendar version. LOVE them.

 

Many thanks to my plotting coach and a couple of self-publishing people who showed me how quick it was to set up style manuals for myself and have one notebook per book. Even run off a hard copy of my manuscript and slot into BIG circle thingies so the ultimate backup in case electronics fail.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have an Arc notebook, too. And a few others of that sort. What I don't yet have is the punch.

 

I also like comp notebooks, being the type who will also cut out a scrap of jottings and glue or paste onto the notebook page, like Sombrueil mentions.

[Ghost Plane]

The punch is what brings sanity, 'cause then anything and everything can go in those beauties to be arranged and re-arranged ad nauseam while adding and subtracting whatever papers I want, from print outs to brochures.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Gonna hafta find me one!

[Djehuty]

Do you suggest Arc over Circa? I ask in part because the lack of any link to the Arc product page on the main Staples website troubles me. I can find it by Googling, but the main staples.com page does not want to admit it exists.

 

Also, it's jetsam if you threw it overboard to lighten the load so you could escape from a French 64 that had the weather gage and some disturbingly accurate gunnery; it's flotsam if you had to leave it behind when you took to the boats after that French 64 hulled you beneath the water-line, the carpenter couldn't get at the hole properly, and it became clear the pumps couldn't keep up. Either way I hope you used a good cipher, because Napoleon probably has it by now.