Writing Wednesday–Get Organized!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Writing Wednesday 2 

Welcome to Writing Wednesday, my feature where I discuss my works in progress, project ideas, editing struggles, or anything else related to writing. This also serves as a place for general discussion posts.


The return of Writing Wednesday is here! Now that school is done and my writing group is starting up with biweekly meetings, I hope to have more things to discuss related to my writing projects. This probably won't be an every week thing, but I'll revive it from time to time to keep you posted.

This week I want to talk about organization. As some of you may have read last week in my TGIF post on bookshelves, my bookish life has been a bit...cluttered. This includes reading AND writing. Not only were my books shoved willy nilly all over my living room, but so were my writing drafts, critiques, notes and prompt books. It was insanity. This weekend I took advantage of my husband being out of town to pull some old books to sell, reorganize a couple of shelves, and buy a new bookshelf. Though I still didn't get close to solving the problem, I got a lot closer, and moved some of the things I need to easily access to more appropriate locations.

Voila:

This is the one in the worst shape. The top shelf contains an overly stuffed shelf of religious books. The second shelf contains all of our plays (two deep, and you can literally see that shelf bowing under the weight!), the fourth shelf has art supplies and school books, and the last shelf has music and more textbooks. On the floor in front of this shelf are my review copies I don’t plan to keep. (That’s why they’re on the floor – to remind me they are GARBAGE! I’m kidding.) The third shelf is where I did the most work, moving a bunch of mass markets around and adding bloggy TBR books.
 
This next shelf got the best of the makeover treatment. (Seriously. I promise you this is an improvement.) I moved all of my logic puzzles to the top (which also holds random trinkets from India and some candles), moved around and got rid of some lit fiction I’ll never read, and put all of my anatomy, food, and language materials on the bottom shelf. None of it is alphabetized or in much of an order, and it’s still overflowing, but it’s definitely an improvement. If you look closely you can see my Harry Potter collection and nerdy Final Fantasy game guides. Also wave to the husband’s small amp on the right. I’m not sure why it’s there. Don’t worry, the massive one is sequestered in the nightmare that is our office.
 
That last shelf I think is going to be moved over here instead. The white shelf on the left is the new one I bought this weekend and given the layout here I think a taller shelf would look better. The open shelves are our display shelves (remember my fun Disney hat? Top shelf!). You can spy  a copy of my favorite meant-for-adults picture book, It’s a Book by Lane Smith. The white shelves will be used for games, writing materials, cookbooks and comic book storage (my new box for this is on the bottom.) Since I’ve already amassed a healthy amount of comic books, I decided to get organized earlier rather than later and bought the storage container, boards and bags to get me off on the right foot. On top is a wedding photo, but it’s too far away to see. Suckers!
 
This is a closer look at the books that have temporarily been moved to the open shelves. The upper shelf has writing books and the lower shelf has autographed copies and other “keeper” books. These shelves wind up being catch-alls (iPod box, computer headset, puzzles, dog collar, business cards, tape measure, framed photo of the sis and I with a Jubilee! showgirl in Vegas), which I don’t want. I plan to move the puzzles, card deck, writing books and some of the keeper books to the white shelves. I’m getting a little worried about the load bearing capacity of that bottom shelf.
 
So that’s where I’m at. Things need to get shuffled, and the white shelves will quickly fill up at this rate, but that’s okay. My five different writing folders are going to be combined into a binder or two – a system I hope to keep up rather than having loose papers shoved in folders. I also love the idea of having writing materials and notes next to books, so I can grab what I want easily and get working with minimal fuss.
 
I already feel better having more books off the floor and onto shelves. I can’t read them if I don’t know that I have them or can’t find them, so by getting a bit more organized I will lower my stress! Organization is a biggie for me to stay focused and motivated, and since my writing was scattered across multiple folders, email accounts, and flash drives, it was overwhelming me to the point where I wasn’t doing anything. Not cool.
 
Does organization help you? What are your strategies for getting and staying organized in your reading/writing life?
 

Amazingly beautiful and painstakingly crafted signature courtesy of Small Review

10 comments:

Amanda @ On a Book Bender said...

Any writing that I do (which is admittedly very little) is all on my computer or in my head. Perhaps getting more organized would lead to more writing.

Steph (Poetry to Prose) said...

Ooooh, you're motivating me to organize my crap! I have my little pile of TBR books on one of my shelves, but it's slowly growing...out of control. Perhaps I will organize it all today, hehe.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Okay, can you just come over and organize me? Oh man, I so need to do this.

Logan E. Turner said...

@Amanda - That's what I'm hoping for as well!

@Stephanie - I confess that I was motivated by the TGIF from last week. It was long overdue.

@Melissa - It felt so good. I highly recommend it.

Small Review said...

Ha ha I clicked your shelf picture with the wedding photo to make it larger and I can totally see you! You both look lovely, even if you have no nose and mouth and you only have smudges for eyes.

Yay for the return of Writing Wednesdays! And you make it even better by letting me snoop through you shelves!! I love it because I'm nosy like that.

I'm a crazy person for organization. Like, nuts. Insane. Think spreadsheets and a million lists. And lists to organize my lists. And calendars. And, um, yeah, like I said, insane.

Missie, The Unread Reader said...

Oh, hello! Why haven't I thought of that. I should totally keep my autographed copies on a separate shelf.

Honestly, my books are a mess. I can't stand the way everything is so disorganized, but at the same tiem I can't bring myself to do anything about it. :(

Alison Can Read said...

Things always feel cleaner when they're well organized. But I kind of like your first shelf. It shows a girl who's a big reader. There's something to be said for chaos.

Aylee said...

Well, your shelves are head over heels more organized than mine! I can understand how you say that organization helps with staying focused though.

Hannah @ Dragons and Whimsy said...

Totally! I have to write lists that say stupid stuff such as: shower, go for a walk, read. Just to keep it in order. It's very weird but yeah. Lists. And the more clutter, the more grumpy I get. The other half is MESSY. He still hasn't unpacked from 2 months ago and I'm about ready to throttle him for having a great big big and some weights in the middle of our not-very-big room!

Logan E. Turner said...

@Small - You crack me up. I must agree that I look lovely with no facial features and smudges for eyes. :) You are now in charge of making me lists of my lists.

@Missie - That way I know which ones are autographed!

@Alison - You know, I kind of like it too. It says something when you have that much reading material.

@Aylee - So helpful! I needed to do it for personal sanity.

@Hannah - I do too! Also my other half is messy too. Drives me nuts.

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