That Time of Year

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.
— A. A. Milne

The trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they’re organized for.
— Laura Ingalls Wilder

Yup, it’s that time of year again, when thoughts turn to getting my crap organized. And by crap I mean my electronic files. You know, the ones that are spread out amongst several USB sticks and my computer and I think an SD card.

Oiy!

Is there such a thing as being too organized? I’m beginning to think so.

The problem, I’ve found, with getting all my files organized, is that you have to keep up with it. Some time last year(?) I went through all my text files, got rid of a bunch of duplicates, and patted myself on the back for a job well done. I had photos saved to one place, various text files to another, and de-cluttered the desktop of my computer.

Except . . .

I’d upload pictures from my camera to my computer and instead of taking the time and trouble to sort them and save them to wherever it was I’d saved my photos to, I’d stick them in folders on my computer.

And yes, I kept my writing files organized (more or less) on the computer, but I’d forget to update them wherever it was I saved them to. And my poetry files . . . well, frankly they’re a mess again. One of the problems with my poetry is that I never think to put dates on it, especially my early stuff. I’ve gotten better over the last five years or so and started to create a folder for each year. So at least my newer stuff is a little bit organized.

At one point I created a folder on my desktop called “filing.” This is where I’d stick anything that needed to be filed on one of the USB keys I’d used to organize all my files. The idea was, every once in awhile I’d move files from this folder onto their appropriate key to stay, well, organized. Only I didn’t. Just like I didn’t back up any of my text files.

What brought this all to a head was when I decided to move the folders I have on my old lap top over to my new lap top. My method for doing this is simple – copy to a USB stick, then copy onto the new lap top.

Everything was going smoothly. I used the key with the most storage (32G), saved half my folders, then started to save the other half. Only it said I didn’t have enough space. Say what? So I checked the size of a couple of the folders, figuring maybe the folder I kept my background pictures in was too big. Nope. It was only 1G in size. Maybe my miscellaneous files? Nope, it was only 2G. The rest were mostly text files.

Then I checked my “filing” folder. Oops! It was 25G in size, mostly photographs. Apparently I take a lot of pictures. The good news was, although I didn’t file them on my USB key(s), they’re at least organized by year and sometimes subject matter. But still, they ended up on a USB key of their own.

So now I have stuff on the old computer, the same stuff spread out over three USB keys, and some of the stuff on my new computer. Not to mention the various USB keys from my previous organization attempts. I’m starting to think the problem isn’t so much my organization system, as it is the fact I spread it out so much and I don’t keep it up – i.e. update my external files.

One of these days I’ll figure out a way to get and stay organized. I’ll let you know when I do.

Meanwhile, this week was pretty much a bust as far as writing or editing goes. The spirit was willing but the head kept getting distracted. I did finish that free course on “show don’t tell” and while I found it interesting, if not helpful, it didn’t really help motivate me. The sad part is, I have these stories in my head, I just can’t get them out.

I finished reading The Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling and I really enjoyed it. All the stories were wonderful, but I think my favourite would have to be the last one, The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change by Kij Johnson. I advise you to check out her author’s site at Kij Johnson. Her writing link includes so free stories so you can check out her work.

Next up for reading is The Dressmakers of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington. It’s a bit of a departure for me, reading-wise, but it looks fascinating.

The Week Ahead . . .

I’m actually having fun with my non-fiction Spice series, and I already know what my next two spices will be which will tie into the first post in October. I’m not trying to be mysterious about it, honestly! Maybe you’ll figure out what October’s post will be after you’ve read the next two.

A serious application of BICFOK (butt in chair, fingers on keyboard) is needed in regards to Magical Mayhem. I started writing it for my 2013 NaNo, that was EIGHT years ago! Granted it took probably another couple of years to finish writing it, but still, that’s way too long. Time to be done with it.

All the determination in the world doesn’t mean squat if you don’t actually apply yourself, so this week my main goal will be to write every day. Could be a prompt, could be that last scene from The Perfect Match – just so long as I write something. Anything.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Here's An Idea . . .

The irritating question they ask us -- us being writers -- is: "Where do you get your ideas?" And the answer is: Confluence. Things come together. The right ingredients and suddenly: Abracadabra!
― Neil Gaiman, Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions

I always had plenty of ideas. I didn’t exactly have them. They grew—little by little, a half an idea at a time. First, part of a phrase and then a person to go with it. After a person, then a little corner of a place for the person to be in.
― Carol Emshwiller

I know it’s early yet, but with the weather starting to cool off my thoughts have been drifting towards November and NaNoWriMo. Normally I wait until closer to the start before I begin to waffle – should I/shouldn’t I – but I decided to skip that part this year. We all know I’m going to do it, if only because I don’t want to break my winning streak.

So . . . wanting to be prepared I started considering what to work on. Only the idea well seems to have run dry. I don’t really want to do a sequel to one of the books I’ve already done (or started and didn’t finish), but when I started thinking about something new my mind was a dust bowl. We’re talking complete with tumbleweeds.

I briefly considered doing a 1667 word flash a day thing, but I’m not sure I could keep up the momentum. Then I considered the idea I had a couple of years ago for a themed anthology, there’s enough time to do the research that put me off before, but again, I’d need to do a story a day to complete it.

Then I started kicking around a themed anthology idea revolving around flowers . . . That might be doable. I could get my research done ahead of time, maybe even jot down an idea or two about each story. The stories could be as long or as short as I like. Hmm. That might be doable.

Or I might just write the beginning story of Kiranthus (from The Moonstone Chronicles). Lord knows I have enough notes about him. And I know the story pretty well. When I first conceived the idea for the Chronicles, there were going to be 9 books in total – three about Kiranthus, three about Jessica, and the final three about what came after. I don’t think Kiranthus needs three whole books, and I’m wrapping this up nicely in Blood Ties so there’s not going to be much to add afterwards. So a book about Kiranthus just might fly.

It’s nice to know there's still a trickle of water at the bottom of the well. :-)

Unfortunately, I’m still not getting much writing done, other than my blog posts. I didn’t even dabble in poetry last week, although I did make a few entries in my writing journal. But I did make myself a handy dandy chart to keep track of my weekly words. You know, when I actually have some.

I didn’t get much editing on Blood Ties either. I don’t really know where my week went – it’s not like I had anything special going on. I did start doing a free course on “show, don’t tell” that I found on-line to try and encourage me to do other writing but so far although I’m learning stuff, I don’t feel any more motivated to getting back at the writing.

Reading wise I’m still reading The Coyote Road, by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve been alternating it with a couple of writing books, again, to encourage me to actually write. So far I’m still resisting.

The Week Ahead . . .

While last week’s episode of my non-fiction series wasn’t any easier to write, it wasn’t as stressful because I started it earlier. I need to keep doing that.

I really need to quite dicking around and get back to the edits on Blood Ties. Which I’m renaming again – Blood Ties is now going to be Magical Mayhem. It makes better sense and it ties in with the first book in the series.

I’m also determined to start writing every day – a one word prompt, a flash prompt, the scene I need to finish the book I’m taking with me to the retreat, it doesn’t matter as long as I write something.

I’ll let you know how it goes.