Organization? What’s that?

I’m a huge fan of spreadsheets, color coding, and calendars. I mean, come on, the word spreadsheets is actually in my author bio. I started out in the math and science area of life and though I don’t use the deep part of those daily, some of that bled into my writing.

While writing a book seems like it should just be that—writing the book—sometimes you need a bit more. I love book bibles. You can have someone make them for you—Lillie is amazing for my friends—or you can do it yourself. There are programs like Scrivener and WriteWayPro to help you for Mac or Windows. I tend to use OneNote since I can color code a bit better there.

1. Character Tables

These can include names, ages, scents (PNR romance!), jobs, tattoo placement, hair color, height, etc.

I like having a spreadsheet of my characters, characteristics, and other things I might forget six books down the line. Or let’s face it, I might forget it 6 chapters down the line. Not everything is used, but the fact that I know it is what matters. This helps me (hopefully) not have a hero with blue eyes, then green eyes, then brown eyes in the series or even the same book.

You don’t need to use a table, but you do need to write it down somewhere. I have another sheet with all my side characters. It’s always good to remember what you named a random character that one time in a store so you can maybe use them again next time.

2. Notes and organization

I like to keep notes of what I’m doing in one book and what might be a seeder for the next book. Not all of these notes are used but I at least have it in the back of my mind. I use OneNote so I can have a tab that has a timeline, character table, seeder notes, research notes, maps, character images, etc.

I also put each book in its own tab within a notebook that is the series. See? Color coding!

3. Calendars

I keep calendars that are color coded (sense a theme?) that tell me when things are due, release dates, edit dates etc. I’m lucky in that most of the time, I can set my own timeframes, but deadlines keep my sane. That is NOT how some people work so if looking at a calendar frightens you, it’s okay. I promise.

4. Outlines

I write by outline. I actually start with color coded sticky notes. Each POV gets its own color and I pull off how many sticky notes I need to get the word count I want. I know about how many words I write per chapter, so it works for me. Then I plot out the conflicts, inner and outer, and arrange the main points so I can create an outline from that. I then fill in the outline a bit more until I’m ready to write. I’m a heavy plotter that allows for some inner depth when I’m writing. Again, this works for me, not everyone.

5. Saving. Saving. Saving.

One of the main things I’ve learned from writing is I need to keep organized when it comes to my folders. Each series has it’s own folder, then book, then within that I have drafts and other files that are nicely labeled. Don’t just put your draft on your desktop and call it a day. Save it in your cloud, your Dropbox, your external hard drive etc. Keep it organized and don’t label everything the same thing so you never know where you left off.

I hope this helps you somewhat. I try my best to keep organized and keep daily goal lists of admin and writing things I need to do for the day. Those lists feed into the large monthly and yearly goal lists. It’s how I can write 8-10 books a year, own a small press, and live a life I love. Good luck and you can always ask me questions if you need to.
A little about Carrie Ann Ryan : 

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.

Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.

Get in touch with Carrie Ann Ryan!

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