In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* File Management?
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” Emily Dickinson
File Management?
A writer emailed asking about how I handle file management (so organization) for my writing. I haven’t talked about this for a year or three, so I thought I’d walk you through it here.
First, I have Dropbox, and it’s installed on both my writing ‘puter and my business ‘puter. I use Dropbox because all my files update on all my computers at the same time.
For file management, in my Dropbox, I have a lot of different overall folders. Since this pertains primarily to my fiction writing, I’ll just go into one of those folders. From here on down, everything’s ‘nested’.
HarveyStanbrough.com Folder
In the folder HarveyStanbrough.com I have about 15 different folders. In addition to folders for each of my websites and other interests, I have the folders that hold my writing.
Those are labeled Novels, Short Fiction, Collections, and Nonfiction.
Novels Folder
Inside the Novels folder, I have a separate folder for each series (e.g., Blackwell Ops, Stern Talbot PI, etc.) or saga (e.g., Wes Crowley, Nick Spalding, etc.) and a separate folder for each one-off novel.
Series or Saga Folder
Inside each series or saga folder, I have a folder labeled Bible.
Inside that folder, I have a file also named Bible. That’s basically a reverse outline for a series or saga. It contains the ‘rules’ for the characters’ world in that saga or series in case I forget a setting, a timeline, etc.
I also have separate files that hold descriptions of major characters and major landmarks. Those might be countries or cities or intersections or buildings. Anything important to the series that I think I might not remember.
The series or saga folder also holds an individual folder for each novel in that series or saga.
Individual Novel Folder
Inside each individual novel folder, as I’m writing the novel, I usually only have
- the actual novel manuscript (e.g., BO-53.doc),
- the reverse outline (BO-53 Notes.txt), and
- the cover art for the cover (if I already have it).
After the novel is published, that folder will contain the files in the preceding paragraph plus
- BO-53.pdf, BO-53.mobi, and BO-53.epub (for upload to my online store or to send as gifts or rewards),
- BO-53.ppp (the program file in which I designed the cover),
- BO-53 Promo.txt (a promo document that contains the publication or release date, the sales copy, and the sales links to the novel on Amazon, D2D, and my online discount store), and
- BO-53.jpg (the front cover) in three sizes: 2000 x 3000 pixels, 300 x 450 px, and 180 x 270 px.
I also have all the same stuff (except the reverse outline, of course) in each folder for each of my short stories.
Each step of this takes only several seconds to a few minutes to accomplish, but having it on hand saves huge amounts of time later.
I also keep a spreadsheet with the title of each novel, date completed, date released, word count, ebook price, and ISBN.
Nonfiction Too—For each of my nonfiction books, I also have all of that same stuff in a folder.
So I have everything I might need for every novel or book at any given time.
Caution: Do It Now
By the time I finally got around to setting up this system, I’d already written around 50 short stories (plus probably 10 or 15 short story collections) and probably 7 or 8 novels.
Trust me, it’s a lot easier to set up a nested filing system like this when you start writing and publishing than it is to go back and build everything after the fact.
Hope this helps re organization.
The writer also asked what tasks I complete on my writing ‘puter vs. what I do on my business computer.
My business computer is only for my conscious, critical mind. So on it, I do the occasional copyedit for another writer. On it I also post TNDJ and write nonfiction books. That’s also where, sometimes, I browse the internet or play games, etc.
I keep my dedicated writing computer only for my creative mind (so for writing fiction and cycling).
So as I told my writer friend, when I sit down at the writing ‘puter, that alone keys my creative subconscious that it’s time to have fun and play with the characters.
Your writing ‘puter doesn’t have to be state of the art or pricey. It doesn’t have to be fast, and it doesn’t need a huge hard drive. It only has to run whatever program you use to write and cycle.
Some writers can use a single computer for creativity and business without the left brain knowing what the right brain’s doing. If you can do that and if it works for you, kudos to you.
I still personally recommend having a dedicated writing ‘puter, especially if you write into the dark and even more especially if you’re just starting out (say fewer than 50 short stories or 10 or 12 novels).
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
11 Clever Ideas for Promoting Sequels or Later-Series Books
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 880
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 880
Writing of Blackwell Ops 53: Jack Striker | The Next Level
Day 1…… 2035 words. To date………… 2035
Day 2…… 2217 words. To date………… 4252
Day 3…… 3751 words. To date………… 8003
Day 4…… 2218 words. To date………… 10221
Day 5…… 2181 words. To date………… 12402
Fiction for December……………………… 12402
Fiction for 2025…………………………… 767049
Nonfiction for December.………………… 11730
Nonfiction for 2025………………..……… 276860
2025 consumable words………………… 1036340
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 18
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 36
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 122
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29