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Organizing Ideas and
Articles
By Joanne Stanko
I’m an organized pack rat! I keep and file and stack anything and everything that is of interest to me. There was a time when my office was so cluttered I couldn’t find a pen, let alone an idea I may have scribbled on a napkin from a restaurant. And by the time I had found the idea in this disheveled mess, the opportunity to write the story and whisk it off to an editor had passed by. Never again!
Have you gathered tons of information, research, article clippings, scribbled notes on restaurant napkins or placemats? Do you have piles of magazines, over-flowing file cabinets and stacks of bits and pieces of information staring you in the face? Do you waste a multitude of time finding information?
Organizing articles, article ideas and information isn’t difficult once you have a system. It’s finding the system that works best for you that sometimes takes time.
I’ve never held fast to any one particular topic, style or market. In more than thirty years, my writing has included essays, fiction short stories, news articles, creative nonfiction, novellas and novels. So you can imagine the multitude of information and files I’ve accumulated.
What to do first
Let’s imagine your writing interests vary. You first need to sort your information.
Here’s what I did to organize my files and ideas to keep some semblance of order in this crazy job we call writing.
Create a “Tickler File.” Any new idea I have scribbled on napkins, placemats, notepaper, or any magazine clip that caught my attention, I put into a folder labeled my Tickler File. A Tickler file should hold all ideas for which you haven’t worked an outline or spent time researching. This file comes in handy when you have exhausted all your other categories. Once a week I check these random scraps for something that may “tickle my fancy.” When that happens, the idea is moved from the tickler file to be categorized, indexed, or archived.
Categorize. Whether you write in a specific area of interest or in various genres you need to categorize each of your past works and information on hand. List each type of article idea, such as, interviews, how-to’s, human interest, business, notable neighbors, etc.
Index or Archive. Archiving is nothing more than creating an index list by title, topic, subject, etc. By creating an index you will have information available to you when you need to access it for information on other articles, or reuse for another market.
For example: I have an abundance of information on perennial gardening, several published clips on the subject, article ideas and research notes on various gardening subjects. My category index folder is named GARDENING. In separate folders, archived, each with a different heading, are: perennials, strawberry patches, pruning and transplanting,
Other file folders in the gardening category are: article ideas, research notes and contacts. Any new information I come across is then placed in the appropriate folder. A separate folder labeled published article clips is kept at the front of the entire gardening category.
If an editor contacts me for an article about gardening with a specific idea in mind, I’ve got my information at my fingertips. This allows me the opportunity to suggest an article I’ve already written or inform the editor I have the information he needs and estimate a deadline.
Once you’ve categorized your information you need to decide what type of filing system will work for you. How and where you organize your files is merely a matter of personal preference. My writing career began before the computer age, so much of my work was in hard copy form filed in over-flowing file cabinets. Over-flowing because I’m a stickler for back-up copies.
Types of Filing Systems
Inexpensive. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to keep a filing system. As a novice writer, I wasn’t sure I’d gain success, so I began with the least expensive, most efficient filing system I could afford. My first filing system was a cardboard file cabinet and a few packs of manila file folders. Headings included: story ideas, research, completed manuscripts, stories to finish, submitted, accepted, rejected.
A successful writer friend of mine still keeps his files in several labeled boxes with simple folder headings such as, manuscripts, queries, reference material, drafts, published works and ideas.
Filing cabinets. Because I write on a multitude of subjects, I have four file cabinets: two four-drawer and two two-drawer. Each drawer is labeled by subject. For example: My four-drawer file cabinet is filled with nothing but articles, ideas, research, article clips and information on the craft of writing. This article was archived under writing articles and indexed under how-to’s. My other cabinets contain labels and files pertaining to other types of writing. One drawer is for human-interest stories and interviews. Another is designated for specialty writing such as, crafts, golf, government, birds, etc.
Pick a system of filing you want to use and begin filing all the information you have already organized into categories.
Computer files. Everything I’ve written in the past ten years is now filed in my computer. And just recently I’ve managed to type every article I’ve published in the past and save it on disc for easy reference. Of course, being the pack rat I am, I still can’t let go of my file cabinet back-up filing system.
Using a computer filing system is fairly easy. Once you’ve typed the article, you save it in whatever word processing format you use and give it a file name. I file all my manuscripts in My Documents file by their titles. That part’s simple. Let’s get the filing system a little more refined.
If you have a software program such as Lotus or Excel that allows you to create a spreadsheet or database, use it. There is nothing more handy than pulling up a file that lists every article you’ve written.
An example of the database I use has the heading of Manuscript Record. Beneath the heading are sub-heads: Date created, Manuscript Title, Type, Word Length, Hours Involved, Real Name, Pseudonym, Date Started, Date Completed, Mailed to, First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Telephone, Email, Postage, Date Sent, Date Revised, Date Rejected, Date Accepted, Date Paid, Amount Paid.
With a database you may search under each sub-head. For example: This manuscript is titled Organizing Ideas and Articles. If I want to know where it’s been submitted, the database search will list each publication to which it was sent. Maybe I need to know for tax purposes what postage was spent for that article, it will list and total the postage spent. Everything is at your fingertips. I also print out the manuscript record and attach it to the manuscript to keep an eye on its progress.
Bookmarks
Along with keeping a record of your information and manuscripts in your documents file and database, you might want to bookmark websites you’ve used as information sources. Most websites update information frequently. So if you find yourself with an assignment for an article in which your information is months old, you can quickly access your bookmarks for updated information.
Maintaining Files
Now that you have your filing system chosen and you have organized and indexed your information, you’ll have everything at your fingertips for easy access. But that isn’t the end of the information frenzy. As you cull more information, be certain to update your files, file the information in the appropriate folder and save it on disk. If you maintain your files frequently, your information is ready any time you need it.
Tips
* You should go through your files and toss outdated information at least once a month.
* Keep a running list tacked to your bulletin board of all the ideas you have filed in each category.
* Read the idea list each week. Sometimes, after reading the list a few times, something clicks and that idea suddenly turns into an article.
* Update your database as soon as you receive a response from an editor. List whether the article has been accepted or rejected and add any notes if the editor has made comments or suggestions.
* Check your bookmarks to make sure they have updated in the past few months. Those that haven’t added anything new, delete them.
Your creative space should now be neat, efficient and organized and all you need to do is maintain it. So when an idea sparks, finger through your files, click a button and pull the information you need to make those files pay for themselves.
Don’t worry too much about those few piles of favorite magazines you have stacked in the corner. Even with my great system, I still keep two boxes full of the last six issues of each magazine to which I subscribe. And a pin stuck to my bulletin board, displaying a woman’s head poking up from a cluttered desk, describes my office and me beautifully. It says, “I’m not
messy. I’m cluttered, organized and I’m creative.”
Joanne will also accept questions by email from readers about writing and answer those questions in her column.
E-mail Joanne: joannedstanko@comcast.net.
Visit her site at http://worldzone.net/arts/joannestanko/
Joanne Stanko has published more than 2,500 articles. She was award recipient of the 1990 Woman of the Year for Beaver County, Pennsylvania, for her accomplishments in her community and excellence in journalism.
She was on the staff of Slippery Rock University teaching her copyrighted writing course "Sell What You Write" and Creative and Freelance writing. She has appeared on television and radio, hosted several Writers' Conferences, and spoke for many conferences and writer's organizations. Her most recent articles were published in ByLine Magazine, Absolute
Write.com, and Moondance.org.
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