How do you organise research, make notes. Any tips?

I think we can all agree there is no right or wrong way...whatever works for you is best. But sometimes we can get ideas from other people that are helpful so...here's how I do it.

I use the computer because I can type much faster than writing by hand, and also I can cut and paste so that saves time! I start with one document and "throw" things in there. When I cut and paste, I always include the link to where I found it .

Then as the chapter outline began to form in my mind, I made a separate folder for each chapter and cut and paste the information I have gathered into the separate chapters. As I work, I have changed my mind a few times about my chapters (I've probably reworked the outline five times...argh!) Then sometimes that means that I will move (cut and paste) things from one chapter to another.

But the beauty of it all is that when I am ready to work on a specific chapter, I open that word doc and there's a pile of bits and pieces to get me started.

If someone were so inclined this method could be adapted to paper or index cards.

I look forward to gleaning some ideas from other people's methods.

So glad you posted this question. It's something I've been wondering about.

For what it's worth, earlier this week I went to a book signing for Mary Roach's new book. Someone asked her a similar question. She basically said she starts out doing all sorts of basic research to learn a bit about the general subject and then sends a zillion emails to people that are in some way related to the subject. She then visits/interviews people and in the process begins to refine her idea. It sounded a bit like she goes chapter by chapter, at least at first. At some point she knows exactly what she needs to complete the project and then she can go from there. She was careful to say that she wasn't advocating the approach - it was just what works for her.

What you're doing now is a time-honored method. Different people do it different ways; whatever works for you is fine, though you do want to always keep track of your sources.

Some people like a notebook, some like folders, some like a stack of index cards, or even a cork board.

There are software versions of all of these; many of them free.

You might want to take a look at Evernote (basic version is free)

http://evernote.com/

Or Scrivener (free thirty day trial):

http://literatureandlatte.com/

Scrivener is a giant toolbox; different people use it in different ways.

I'd look at the Web site and then watch some of the videos about it

http://literatureandlatte.com/video.php

I think Medievalist said it best: different people do it different ways.

Some of my colleagues use Scrivener and swear by it; others make electronic copies of documents and "tag" them in various ways so they can search by keywords. Still others use the old fashioned note cards, filed away in a long drawer by topic. I'm a bit of everything. I like hardcopies in black binders that I organize by general topic. Then when I get ready to start a chapter, I start "offloading" all my information, typing it directly into the documents, complete with references (If I use a quote, I'll put the full citation in brackets alongside it, so I know exactly where it came from).

In general, this works well for me, though during copyediting I always find that one or two quotes made it through without a citation, and that's where the imperfections in my system come in: I have to sort through all my documents in a particular binder, looking for my quote. Usually I have a vague memory of where I found it, but not always.

Anyway, you'll probably find the system that works best for you as you go along -- and that's the right system for you. Good luck!

I vote for Scrivener. This software easily allows you to create (topic) folders, and then created sub-topic items - all of which can be easily manipulated. Srivener is set-up so that you have a research area, and then an area where you draft content. Further, the s/w allows you to easily keep track of your sources (citations). What a godsend!

I use OneNote for my non-fiction research notes and it's really good at capturing the links from online sources if you copy/cut paste.

I'm using yWriter for my SF/F book I have in progress.

Aside from that like others I files on my computer and piles of pieces of paper in my office/studio. Stacks and piles would be a better description. I also have piles of ringbinders.

now that I have adobe's cloud, and have access to Acrobat, I make PDF's of articles containing information that's relevant to the area I'm studying, which allows me to print them at a later time. Why would I do that? Good question, I've come across a lot of great information only to discover a year later that the website/article no longer exists.

After a lot of trial and error, I use Open Office and set up a master document first. Now I don't lose citations, source material, etcetera.

At first the master document is just random notes- one line links to research documents- names or a sentence that remind me exactly what each one is. For me that's key- it's easy to get excited, save something, then forget which damn article the info was in when you go back to write it.
With a master document, I can write as many notes on each source document as I like, and keep the source linked to it.

As I go along, I move things around, organize my notes and thoughts. When a subtopic becomes more detailed, I open a new document for that topic as a chapter. Open office will update your master document with all the changes you make to new individual chapter files, and you can use the master document to organize, keep track of source documents, move stuff around, etcetera. Using headings and subheadings is invaluable- drag and drop in the sidebar to rearrange chapters is about a thousand times faster than cut and paste!

It's difficult to explain, and I'm not doing it overly well, but it's free software, so you can try it out yourself!

I've been doing research for the last year, and have more or less settled on a system. I do a lot of my web surfing on my phone. When I find a useful article or site, I email it to myself and dump it in a general Book folder, including a keyword or two in the email to remind myself why I saved it. Ditto for news articles that arrive automatically through Google News. I recently went through that folder and split items off into sub folders by topic - eg, Death Penalty, Guns, Grief, Driving, Trends. I made sub folders for Marketing and Sources and Blogs/Publications (for future reviews), as well. Some folders have several hundred items, others just three or four. I can quickly search my Gmail folders to find something.

I have a master Notes file in a Google Doc; every item gets a page where I include full bibliographical/footnote information so it's instantly there. I keep the email folders so I have a backup. (Though if Google goes under, I'm pretty much screwed.) When I write, I print the Notes sections so I have a hard copy to refer to - I like writing that way, and I can shuffle and reshuffle easily.

My book proposal has been key to my organization. As I've edited and hacked away at it, I've gotten a much clearer sense of how the book should be structured. My initial organizational plan, which sounded brilliant at first, was trashed two months ago and I basically started from scratch as I belatedly realized it would require a 200,000-word book.

Now to just reel in a publisher or an agent ... 99 submissions, 43 rejections and silence from the rest. Insert deep sigh here.

I had a computer die on me recently and lost loads of research and photos. I've learnt from that and now have an external hard drive and a few memory sticks plus I use gmail to store some research. I've also got a back up via Norton. Modern technology is great but it tends to let you down at the most inopportune moments.

I'm a Luddite. I use post-it notes, scraps of paper, a NOTES folder for what I find on the internet. I email stuff to myself. I save everything too.

Jarte was my favorite tool for years for nonfiction writing. It's a tabbed word processor. I save URLs and clips from websites, Google Books, etc using a different tab for each subject. Then I save related subjects in relevant file folders. I keep a worklog open in one tab and a different tab for each subject and other tabs for writing notes or copy for one or more projects. I back everything up to flash so it's easy to access my material on any system.

Last month I started using Scrivener and it's amazing. The corkboard feature with index cards is fun for organizing. I still use Jarte for fast notes when I'm web-surfing. I'm excited about the potential for organizing novels and other long projects with Scrivener. I've already used it for a couple of short stories, using the corkboard for notes as I revised them.

I'm using Dragon Naturally Speaking more of the time and plan to get used to doing all of my research notes via dictation.

My project is a scholarly history article, and this is my game plan:

First I take handwritten notes with pencil on lined paper, or make photocopies of the newspaper articles that want to use. Then I hole-punch the sheets of paper and arrange them in chronological order. Next I take a bright blue felt-tip pen and write notes to myself (reminders, observations, etc.) at the tops of the pages. Finally I put the pages into a large three-ring binder. Additional notes and articles that don't quite fit into the chronology stay in the "keeper" pockets on the inside front & back covers of the binder, until I figure out where I want to put 'em.

So far, this game plan has been helping me stay organized and on-point...

On MS word I use red coloured writing for "hot" which means something that needs expansion, such as an idea noted in one line that I intend to expand on, or a question like "should I put this bit later on in this other section?". A bit like metal when it is being shaped.

Blue is "cold" for something I am considering not using, but don't delete for the time being just incase, usually blue starts as red and occasionally blue goes back to red, then finally black. Black is for certain or pretty sure.

Once I have finished a chapter I put all the research and ideas I didn't use at the end in blue colour before reviewing the book and removing all blue.

I also use green text for "DIAG" or "PHOTO" in a space where I later put one. I would make sure I write the whole book before making all of the diagrams and photos, for uniformity knowing that a convention required later on in the book might not have been necessary earlier on Bones first, flesh last.

The Research thread here is a really helpful thread where I am concerned and I thank the thread from the botom of my heart.

Another vote for Scrivener--what a wonderful set of tools it is!

I wrote a 50,000 word non-fiction book using hundreds of quotations from which I wrote 100-2000 word essays. I kept them in separate document files, printed them out and put them into a dozen or so chapters like shuffling index cards. Once I knew which went where, it was then a matter of cut and paste.

Looking back on it, it was brilliant. I need to send that book round again.

It might have made a good book, Waldo, but it sounds like a nightmare as far as permissions are concerned.

As far as organising research is concerned, make sure you record the sources of everything you keep. Otherwise you won't be able to cite things properly and chaos will ensue.

I used to do it all by hand, with cards, etc then type it in.

Then, I discovered Scrivener- and I will never go back!!! (Well, once I have the full version)

Each person has their own preference, but I would definitely try their free trial. It is not 30 consecutive days. So, 30 any days!

I discovered it from discussions here I think last Nov or Dec.

I still type in notes on my iPad when away, or in Word when I am working on a section, but then when I have several hours to put it together, I use Scrivener. And once I have the full version, it will be sooo much easier on me.

I have had to exercise impulse control these 3 months, however, as I am about out of those days, but I am trying to stick to Word until April, and buy the full version then. It was half off last April, so I am hoping ... And once I have it, I will not need Word. It is that good.

But there is nothing out there like it, imho. The corkboard, moving sections around, etc. I hear this works amazingly well for character development and other fiction needs (sounds interesting for that). There are other threads here to explain that. I am currently just focused on nonfiction, so the ability to move sections around seamlessly is invaluable, and to see the big picture of what should be where, while writing, is amazing.

I posted in January on a thread that I was about to have to buy Scrivener, but I forced myself to wait in hopes for April. I am using Word when I can, but I miss Scrivener! There may be no April discount, but after making it through February, I am so close, I have to give it a try.

If anyone is going to pay full price, there is a link to Scrivener below AW pages, and clicking on it allows AW to get some portion. I am happy to do that and hoping to, but I don't know first if there will even be a discount in April again, or second if it will be possible to have the discount through the AW link or not. But if possible, I will help out AW when buying-even though it is in a small way, it still is something.

But if you are thinking about a computer system, at least try it.

Can you tell I am excited about getting it? Like a kid at Christmas. I do this to myself sometimes, delayed gratification. It makes the getting that much better I will buy the full version at least by June, when I have the summer to write, but I am hoping my delay will be worth the wait.

Some like it, some do not. In considering organization, I would at least try all the free types (evernote etc) and the free trials (Scrivener..), to see your style.