Category Archives: Organization

Indie Authors – Are you planner junkies like me?

Organization, Planners, Writer's Life, , , ,

Okay. Who of you besides Sara Cannon. We know she’s the queen of notebooks and planners when it comes to organizing her writing and life. Check out her YouTube channels if you haven’t already!

I’d love your comments on planning systems you like to use, if any. If not, how do you organize your work?

Before I was a writer, I was a planner nerd. Well, maybe a planner girl? Planner addict? No matter what you call it, once a person starts collecting planners, it’s hard to stop. It’s only a question of which system you like best. Unless you’re like me and like them all for all sorts of reasons. These days, though, I’ve settled with Personal Planner. I can customize everything just the way I want, and it’s fun to design it each year. I often use my book covers for the cover art, but you can use their beautiful templates too.

For cover aesthetics in my favorite ring binders, it’s Filofax, first the Malden, next the Original, and third, the Finsbury. Gorgeous but too much work, unless you’re a normal non planner person who doesn’t need to decorate, and used the Filofax inserts that come with. Hmmm. Never could do that.

Other Ring binders:

I was crazy about Daytimers back in the 80s and 90s. Still have my favorite cover, tapestry and leather.

My Instagram was devoted to my crafting and planners. Then, I started writing. I created an author account on Facebook linked to Instagram. Something happened when I tried logging in using two-factor authentication. Instagram booted me from my author accounts with nary an ounce of help to get me back in.

So, I decided to return to my PlanKnitStitch and rebrand it as starlightc.writer. I hated the idea it might seem like I was abandoning my stitching and planner friends, but I just didn’t have it in me to go for a new account.

I also have a love for all travelers notebooks for when you want super customization. And went the expensive route a few times just to get a Chic Sparrow or two in my collection.

A few other custom travelers notebooks:

Erin Condren’s are beautiful, but they just haven’t stuck, though I tried out a couple:

No planner nerd is full-on nerding over planners unless you collect Hobonichi Techos.

And of course the pens and pouches… I won’t go into the sticker collection… you’re welcome 🙂

The End…

“Toy Story” has been done. How about a movie for neglected reference books?

Organization, Writer's Life, , , , , ,
Neglected crafting books holding up a tea set

I cleaned my desk today. It was the result of a cascade of cleaning, beginning with my computer files.

I recently had to reset Windows 10, and OneDrive swooped in like an invading spaceship and hijacked my files and has been syncing and copying huge volumes of data since. It’s nuts. Our internet literally came to a crawl as soon as I booted up. I had to do something.

I was fortunate that my nephew (he has a great podcast, Cosmic Castaway) built my computer with a separate Mass storage drive. Everything got moved there and, of course, it was agonizingly slow because I couldn’t pause the sync, or the files I was trying to move would disappear into the cloud, completely inaccessible. But I got it done, then I backed it all up to my external drive. No more OneDrive! Which means I’ll have to transfer files to my phone and laptop some other inconvenient way. Microsoft… please… let us take back control of our own files!!

Anyway, as I cleaned my desk, totally neglected since I started writing novels two years ago and piled with stuff I really didn’t need (aka trash), my attention was drawn to my monitor stands… and I got pensive.

Does anyone else use nice chunky old reference books to raise their monitors like me?

As I dusted the still beautiful tomes, their undignified state got me thinking. I once believed having information at your fingertips meant owning a thorough reference library, arranged handsomely and conveniently on shelves. I loved collecting dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedic volumes. But now it means bringing up information instantly on a screen, fingertips dancing over a cold, plastic keyboard, instead of rifling through warm paper that smells divine (more like musty these days).

One thing still remains true, however, whether it be books or computers. It all needs dusting!

If you like my blog and have comments about the woes of OneDrive and memories of hardback paper reference libraries, please drop me a line. While you’re at it, check out my other blogs for more thoughts on a Writer’s Life, and find your way to my riveting paranormal/fantasy romance fiction series on My Books page. I’d love to stay connected!

A sad dictionary… or a happy office accessory?