Getting Organized to Write That Manuscript
Before you start writing, it's usually a good idea to get organized.
You've come up with an idea, thought about what you want to say, done your research.
Now you have a box full of papers - notes you've jotted down, ideas, research, and clippings.
In your desk drawer are cassette tapes you've used to capture notes and interviews.
The first thing to do is organize the paperwork into topics.
You might have 6 to 15 separate subjects, which would be quite broad.
Each subject could be a separate chapter, or you might decide to break a general subject into smaller parts, or group two or three smaller subjects together in one chapter.
Now you can scratch out a rough table of contents, jotting down subjects as chapter headings and discovering where you need to fill the gaps to round off the book.
If you are writing a novel, the process is similar, but you also need to organize all the book's characters, their relationship to the main subjects in the story, who they are, their background, physical characteristics, and when they come into the story.
Once you've organized the paperwork (which usually means having piles of paper all over your office or living room), you can set up an organization system that works for you.
This might be a set of file folders, a binder, or some other method.
This process is the key to creating your book.
While the information may not have been gathered in sequence, and the chapters may not be written in sequence, you must have an idea of how they will all fit together in order for your book to flow smoothly.
Next, you might want to start transferring your information to your computer.
Set up a folder for your book, and then a folder for the manuscript.
Inside that second folder, you might create one file for the manuscript, separate files for each chapter, or separate folders for each chapter.
(Eventually, you will have to merge all the chapters into one file, but at the beginning, it's often easier to work on smaller electronic chunks.
) Now you can start entering information for each chapter as bullet notes.
As you transcribe your tapes, slot the information into appropriate chapters you've created.
Now you're ready to sculpt your masterpiece.
Go through each chapter to make sense of your notes.
Start to rough out sentences, and move misplaced paragraphs to improve the flow.
Ask yourself, Is it important to leave this part in? Where do I need to add more information? (Unlike a slab of stone, which can only be made smaller, the slab of words can have material added.
) Who can I interview to fill this gap in the text? Excerpt from bestselling Self-Publishing 101 by Debbie Elicksen (Self-Counsel Press)
You've come up with an idea, thought about what you want to say, done your research.
Now you have a box full of papers - notes you've jotted down, ideas, research, and clippings.
In your desk drawer are cassette tapes you've used to capture notes and interviews.
The first thing to do is organize the paperwork into topics.
You might have 6 to 15 separate subjects, which would be quite broad.
Each subject could be a separate chapter, or you might decide to break a general subject into smaller parts, or group two or three smaller subjects together in one chapter.
Now you can scratch out a rough table of contents, jotting down subjects as chapter headings and discovering where you need to fill the gaps to round off the book.
If you are writing a novel, the process is similar, but you also need to organize all the book's characters, their relationship to the main subjects in the story, who they are, their background, physical characteristics, and when they come into the story.
Once you've organized the paperwork (which usually means having piles of paper all over your office or living room), you can set up an organization system that works for you.
This might be a set of file folders, a binder, or some other method.
This process is the key to creating your book.
While the information may not have been gathered in sequence, and the chapters may not be written in sequence, you must have an idea of how they will all fit together in order for your book to flow smoothly.
Next, you might want to start transferring your information to your computer.
Set up a folder for your book, and then a folder for the manuscript.
Inside that second folder, you might create one file for the manuscript, separate files for each chapter, or separate folders for each chapter.
(Eventually, you will have to merge all the chapters into one file, but at the beginning, it's often easier to work on smaller electronic chunks.
) Now you can start entering information for each chapter as bullet notes.
As you transcribe your tapes, slot the information into appropriate chapters you've created.
Now you're ready to sculpt your masterpiece.
Go through each chapter to make sense of your notes.
Start to rough out sentences, and move misplaced paragraphs to improve the flow.
Ask yourself, Is it important to leave this part in? Where do I need to add more information? (Unlike a slab of stone, which can only be made smaller, the slab of words can have material added.
) Who can I interview to fill this gap in the text? Excerpt from bestselling Self-Publishing 101 by Debbie Elicksen (Self-Counsel Press)
Source...