Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Files, Files and More Files!


It's still organization week around here. I'm definitely taking my own advice and organizing my work space. Still pondering Pinterest, trying to decide what kind of storage would work best for me. (Pondering Pinterest is a great blog name!)

As I mentioned, Brandi Parker Bosserman and Samantha Ryan are talking about organization this week. Brandi over at Finding a Path for Me gave a fabulous tip about timing yourself with an actual timer while organizing. She applied that tip to her bedroom

Samantha at The Marble Jar shared tips about organizing your meal planning, especially if you have particular dietary concerns. It's a tip I wish I'd found years ago when I was a working single mom because it's a fantastic time saver.

If you're in an organizational mood, check out their posts, too.

File organization

My files are way more organized than my desk. It has to be, so that I can stay productive. In freelance writing, it's essential that a writer remain speedy and organized. There are deadlines and clients to deal with if you want to get paid. You can hardly say, "Oops. Sorry about losing your article." They would say, "Oops. Sorry, I lost your check."

I keep every article I've written. There are various reasons for this, but I like knowing what I've written in the past. I may never look for it, but I like knowing that I could if I wanted. I have work and personal files separated.

Work Files
I have my work files divided by client. If I'm working on an assignment from a content mill, I try to include the type of order in the file name. Otherwise, I save under the various online sites that I use. When I have a personal client, I save under that person's name or company name.

That's the extent of my saving. I don't need to back up these files. I'm keeping them for my own peace of mind, not for any concrete reason. I write about the same topics quite frequently. I might need to make sure I'm not being repetitive.

Blog Files
I write my blog posts in Open Office before copying them into Blogger. Blogger likes to eat things. If it ever eats all my posts, I'll be able to recreate many of them. I organize them into folders by month then by theme week. Any pictures used are kept in the file folders with the posts, too. If I ever had to recreate my blog, I could do it. I might cry a little about the amount of work, but it wouldn't be a total loss. When you are using a free service, you're at their mercy. They can change their terms of service, delete your account, or mess with your blog for any reason. It's important to have everything saved.

Story Files
Each story has it's own Scrivener document, of course, but each story has its own folder in the story section of my computer. I keep that as organized as possible because often I'll edit, but keep the old file for a while in case I've made a mistake. I make sure they are clearly marked. It might say something like "Guardian angel first edit after beta" but that's perfect for me because I know exactly what that means. When I'm ready for promotion, I'll create a file for the media information which includes links to the buy pages, blurbs, excerpts and covers of various sizes.

Everything for personal use is saved to Dropbox, which is a free service that gives you 3GB. I'm not sure if this would be considered organization software, but if it isn't, it should be! I believe Google Drive does the same. It helps when I'm switching between computers. I can access a file I've been working on when I move from the laptop to the desktop and vice versa. It's also vital that you back up your files every month or two in case something horrid happens like the blue screen of death or whatever.

Pictures
I don't have a lot of pictures on my computer. For those that need help with that, there is photo organizing software that helps with keeping pictures organized and easily accessible. Actually, I should find something for that since I do have a lot of stock art for book covers.

Even though I'm fairly organized, it's still a constant work in progress for me, too. If I had one piece of advice, it wouldn't be to purchase photo organizing software, it would be to back up everything you value and hold dear.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've got it all worked out! I've got things organized by files similar to you on a portable drive. And YES, backing up is HUGE! We should all be doing it!

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    1. Usually, something horrible will happen and THAT'S when we will start backing up files. That's how it happened for me!

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  2. Thanks for the shout out!! After the kitchen I need to work on my office this week. Can you come do a house call??? I left the messiest for last!

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    1. I would totally do a house call! You have that warm weather down there, too. I could work in the sunshine.

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  3. Wow...This post has scared me straight! I have done a poor job of backing up my work. The idea of losing all of the work I have put into my blog is SOBERING. Thanks for putting it into perspective!

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    1. It's a scary, scary thought!

      I believe there's a way to create a backup copy of your entire blog depending on the service you use. Something to consider if you haven't saved all your posts as files.

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  4. It sounds to me like your writing is VERY organized! Thanks for the reminder about Dropbox. I had that when I was teaching and should probably re-investigate that for my blogging stuff.

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    1. I wasn't sure if it would be enough space for all the things I wanted to save, but it's been pretty good. I'm at 75% capacity right now, and I have tons in there.

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  5. Once again we're talking about organization. This makes me cringe. lol. One day I WILL be organized again. I think I'm in a stage of what they call organized chaos. I've just accepted it. :)

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    1. It's been organization week around here! There are certain areas I swear I'll get better about and others I have to keep organized for my sanity. The computer and work space are the ones I can't leave chaotic.

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  6. O.k... so, this I can do.. well, maybe not as organized but I can do e-files.. I've been meaning to buy an external hard drive and put it off so long, I forgot how important it was.. off to order one today! I love the picture organizer idea, it's just awesome how many great software options there are out there! I did read all about bedroom organizing and meal planning.. I'm in the midst of chaos with my clutter.. but I love how you all are making it much more manageable! Great team effort to help us all be more organized!!

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    1. I'm glad you're finding it helpful. Even if you don't get to the organization, thinking about it is the first step! Even if you don't buy the drive, save some of your most important files in Dropbox. It's free and easy to use.

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    2. I feel like I need a disclaimer. I'm in no way affiliated with Dropbox!

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  7. I think every beginning writer or blogger should read this! (Insert my name) There is so much here I didn't know to consider!

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    1. You should save all your stories in one place, organized and with the potential for all the other stories to go in there, too!

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  8. Ugh Organization is a four letter word around here, well not technically but figuratively lol :) We are definitely not the organized type. I would love to be more like this! I'm going to take your lead and start trying to be more organized. :)

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    1. It's a little misleading because in other areas, I'm not organized at all. The desk, work files and fiction. Those have to be done properly. I'd die if anything disappeared. Literally. No exaggeration. I'd hyperventilate and fall to the ground where the cat would smother me, or I'd have a heart attack and because of the clutter in the rest of my house paramedics would never get to me in time.

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