Organize Your Writing Space

Are you getting read to write a novel in a month with NANOWRIMO? Time to get organized! We had this swap before but this seems like a good time to do it again. Only this time, we'll do it online.

Whether you're participating in NaNo or not, you deserve a nice place to get your writing done. It may even help with the word count. That task will be much easier to accomplish if you have a clean organized workspace. Whether you have a desk in a corner, or a laptop by your bed, it could no doubt use a little sprucing up. You can spend money on this or not, as you choose. Look for ideas on-line about household items you might be able to recycle. I chose to focus on the desk area for this swap. You could tackle the rest of your office later, if you have one.

So this is your assignment. Take a before picture of your work space whether it’s an actual desk or the dining room table. Then make some improvements to make it easier to write when you do have time.

Just some things you might do:

• Clean off the top of your desk, throw away/give away/put away clutter items that don’t belong there, file or throw away papers, dust desktop.

• Gather all your office supplies in organizing containers, put them in handy places out of sight or neatly stored.

• Put reference books you use often on a shelf neatly near your desk.

• Keep on top of the desk only those things you need at your fingertips during a work session: pencils, pens, paper clips, staplers, etc. Everything else find a different place for.

• Tame those power cord lines! Wrap them, untangle them, get a better power strip.

• Create a binder to file papers you use often near your desk top.

• Organize your filing system and file some of the backlog.

• Put a recycling bin for paper near your desk.

• If you use this desk for more than one purpose--i.e. household mgmt. in addition to writing—find some way to separate the different purposes. Don’t want to get distracted from your writing during writing time. (A simple timer might be useful for that.)

• Put a calendar on the wall. And USE IT.

• Put up a bulletin board or white board near the desk.

• If you don’t have a desk, think about setting up a dedicated substitute. Like a board across two file cabinets, a tray table beside your arm chair, an old vanity table recycled. You don’t want to have to clear off the kitchen table every time you get ready to write.

• Add a pretty touch to the area that will inspire and encourage you: a poster, picture, a live plant, a pretty figurine. But don’t let it become clutter!

• I’ve seen some nifty and easy fix up ideas online, especially Pinterest, so check it out. Don’t feel you have to remake the whole office in one day. If you make a few improvements, you’ve succeeded.

Take an after picture —of the whole space or a particularly clever improvement you made. Email the pictures and a short note about what you did and how it made you feel to 3 partners. Then get to writing!