RomanceEverAfter

The Writing Craft:
Self-Help for Writers

Clutter Busting
by Lori Soard

Lori Soard is the author of "Housebreaking A Husband." Read Lori's charming interview in our Romance Author Bookmarks category at Lori Soard.

Clutter Busting
By Lori Soard

One of the most difficult aspects of working at home can be keeping an organized office. Clutter starts in one corner and quickly takes over my entire desk. After speaking with other authors, I've found that this is a common problem.   

If you keep meaning to get organized but just can't find the motivation to put in the effort involved, spend some time deciding what your goals for your writing career are. You can certainly have several goals. My goals are to work full-time as a writer and increase name recognition. 

Once you've decided on your goals for your writing, you can then start asking how items in your office help with that goal. The dusty crochet hook in the corner of my closet doesn't advance my writing goals one bit unless I'm planning to write an article about dusty crochet hooks (not likely). Anything that doesn't advance your goal(s) needs to leave the office.

If you can't bear the thought of throwing it away, take advice from Best-Selling author Fern Michaels. "Do what I do! Throw it all in a box, put a lid on it and promise yourself you will never look at it again. Then stuff it somewhere it can't be seen by you or anyone else. Believe it or not, my desk is bare except for the computer. The desk measures 96 inches long and 29 inches wide. I like a clean desk."

I don't know about you but every time I throw out the clutter, it creeps right back in. It's a deadly disease that this writer can't quite shake. And I always have this nagging suspicion that anything I throw out I'll need the very next day because of some twisted plot of the universe to drive me insane. I'm much more productive in an uncluttered office. And, I'm not the only one.

"I am an organized person, and when my work space is unorganized, I have a hard time being creative. Also, if I have things in my office (file cabinets) organized, I don't spend a lot of time hunting for something I need because I know where it is," said Margaret Daley, aka Shauna Michaels.

This can be one of the best investments you make for your office space. Even though we do a lot of our work on electronic media now, writers still tend to generate a lot of paperwork. Query letters, acceptances, rejections, samples of promotions other authors are running, all crowd into my office on a weekly basis.

"Label everything!" said Margaret Perry, who specializes in promoting authors and owns SliceofPromo.com. "I may forget where I put it but if it's labeled and filed away I have a much easier time finding it again."

Got books? Most writers have books coming out of their ears. Research books. Favorite novels. Market guides. Bookcases lay flat against the wall, take up little space, and can help your office look instantly more organized. Don't just use bookcases for books. You can put awards, bins with supplies, and paper on the shelves.

"My secret to keeping things in order--book cases. For manuscripts, I have a bookcase where I keep submissions on different shelves, sorted out into piles according to priority. For other things, I keep folders on my desk for the same reason. I find that if I can put stuff out of sight, I can deal with one thing at a time, rather than deal with everything and get nothing accomplished," offered Brenda Chin, editor at Harlequin.

Clutter Busting - 2  (continue)