June Edition: IWSG

Wow! I was out of town over the weekend and completely forgot about the IWSG. Guess I wasn't quite ready for June to get here :) Thanks for stopping by and forgive my late posting. Thanks also to Captain Alex and all our FANTASTIC co-hosts for this month. As always, you guys ROCK!!!

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This past month I've done more gathering than actual writing. I have a pile of folders and notebooks on my shelf that want to become books. They get shuffled and shifted each time I rearrange, each time we move. So I decided to go through them and do a bit of pruning. YIKES! I just have too many papers lying about and in a 700 square foot house, they take up precious real estate.

Each book is getting a 21st century makeover. Every paper in every folder, notebook, and binder is getting scanned, compiled into a PDF and whisked away through the ether to wind up - TA-DA! - on my new laptop AND my external hard drive.

This may not sound like a big deal to most of you but for me, it's HUGE! I LOVE paper. I've a consummate note taker. If I have the choice between taking a picture of something, typing it on my computer, or jotting it down on a scrap of napkin, I'm choosing the napkin. There's just something about the feel of ink gliding over fiber that makes my little writer heart sing. But let's face it: it's just not practical to continue hoarding file upon file especially when space is scarce. Also, I got to thinking that I need to better protect my work and, let's face it: paper is fragile.

This is definitely a HUGE task and one I'm enjoying. I'm rummaging through some old ideas and getting re-inspired. I uncovered a whole slew of outlines and summaries for the WIP I've been slowly outlining and a lot of character references I'd forgotten about. It's a good thing this rearranging. It's a good thing to be clearing out some cobwebs and getting a fresh perspective on things. And the new organization is really going to let my imagination breathe!

Maybe that's been my problem all along. My muse is suffocating under a great big pile of napkins!

TELL ME: Have you ever cleaned out your writing and rediscovered a former story, one you may have forgotten about or just needed some space from? Did the reorganization of ideas help or hinder your flow of writing??

Cheers!