IWSG: Organizing My Life

The Insecure Writers Support Group meets online every first Wednesday of the month. Founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG was created to support and encourage writers in every phase of their work, from writing to marketing. Click here to join, and for information, writing tips and more. 

Co-hosts this month are Allison Gammons, Tamara Narayan, Eva E. Solar, Rachel Pattison, and Ann V. Friend!


I recently purchased Scrivener, a software program for writers that I've known about for some time now. The tutorial is quite involved, but after spending two days going over all this software has to offer, I'm glad I made the purchase. I was a little put off by the terminology at first. The Table of Contents is called the Binder. The writing space is called the Editor and the research area is called the Inspector. But once I understood the layout and the three root folders--Draft, Research and Trash, I knew Scrivener would work for me. I like that you can easily move chapters around, create character and setting sheets, create an outline and synopsis as you flesh out the plot. There's a cork board when you need a visual breakdown. There are ways to track themes, plot points, etc. I worried that setting things up would be tedious or feel too confining, but so far it's been fun to use.  

Hubby and I purchased new Smart Phones and with the purchase received a nice Tablet. We needed the phones. Our old phones worked okay for online searches or email, but the phone service was horrible. We are so remote here (an hour from anything major). 

The Tablet has been fun. We're sharing it, but have separate sign-ons. No really, sharing works fine for us! Vince wanted it for his aviation apps and I wanted it for online communication, organization apps, and games. I haven't downloaded any games yet, but no doubt will. I like scrabble, crosswords, and solitaire best. 

I downloaded an app called ColorNotes and love it, a glorified set of sticky notes that you can design anyway you wish. I'm using it to track some of my goals for 2016. It's something you can play with relaxing in front of the TV at night. For instance, I wanted to track the number of books I read, not titles necessarily, but Types of books. Here's my list: The Classics, Books on Writing, Books by Other Bloggers, Books I Review, Book Club Books, and Other Books. I'm also tracking Writing projects and Cozy Comforts I make (I joined a group that makes blankets for the needy).     

"Meercat"

So I guess you could say, I've been organizing my life this month :)   

Found a quote on plotting and writing outlines by Ray Bradbury I like: 

“Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is through." 

Isn't that great advice?

And something else I thought good: Think of outline as a  "living map." Things are bound to change and that's a good thing. >>>>You can read more at: How to Abandon Your Outline to Improve Your Story
// Writer Unboxed

 
Also: Signed up for the A-Z April Challenge. Anyone else do this? It's a whirlwind month of reading other blogs and learning about a topic of interest, and I have to ask myself....Am I crazy? But it turns out, I really enjoy the challenge. The A-Z was my first introduction to the blog community and it changed the way I blog. This will be my fourth year and I hope to see some of you there. Click here to learn more and sign up if you like!