I love this idea! I create spreadsheets for everything (just went back to a submission tracker in Excel because it's easier to use than Duotrope). I do read most books on my Kindle and take notes and highlight there. This will be so much fun to use, thanks!
Keeping a daily writer's journal (my poet's diary = an annual hardback book with 400 pgs) will serve you well, Margaret. There are other options besides spreadsheets.
You know what Oscar Wilde always said about keeping a diary . . . . :-)
Wow! I've been doing the same thing since 1978 in my daily writer's journals - - except my hand-written notes are much more detailed. My notes list the publication / title / author - - then my attempts at writing something that follows the rhetorical example. I then immediately track the author - - well, not exactly the author, the POET, start reading more of his/her poetry.
Then I'll probably buy the poet's latest book, start reading the poems aloud to myself.
FYI: Experts say handwriting one's notes are more helpful than a copy-and-paste.
That's the one and only reason I made the shift from my beloved bound journals and legal pads and butcher paper over to digital, years ago: the magic of effective search boxes.
(Still love personal journaling on paper, though!)
Ever had a case of "corrupted data" or a file that was rendered "unrecoverable"? In 2021, I lost a 37-page file that I'd been painstakingly working on for 2 years. "Corruption" crept in! It was GONE. Poof! I was shaken to my core & lost 3 days pleading with tech gurus who could not help. Boo-hoo. I still shudder to think of this loss.
No doubt some writers are "the spreadsheet type" and good fortune has preserved their files and they always work in front of a computer.
But I do not. I turn off my computer when I begin a first draft, writing on paper.
Thanks to my personal system of color-coded ink, I can "search" my journals at a glance.
This is not a method for everyone. I'm glad that options exist - - but I doubt that the spreadsheet method appeals to one and all either. :-)
Oy vey, you describe one of my worst nightmares. Yes, this happened to me once, but with audiofiles: recordings of all the talks I had given, and that I had attended (if I got the audio recording of it), over the course of 25+ years. This was gigabytes of data: the entire drive failed.
Since then I painstakingly follow Leo Laporte's advice about backups: one local backup drive (which is continuously updating, plugged into my computer), one off-site backup drive (a Synology NAS), and a cloud backup too (iCloud, in my case).
But "bit rot" is still a problem.
I can recover the *text* of my old Clarisworks files, but the few that contain *graphics* are un-openable now, even by software emulators that translate the text files beautifully. Only PDF and plain-text file formats seem impervious to this problem, as long as the backups are refreshed and error-corrected.
Anyway, I love your color-coded ink system, and I envy your ability to visually scan so quickly. And I'm glad there are good spreadsheet apps for those conversant with such magicks. ;-)
Data Rot! That is everyone's worst nightmare. OMG! The loss of 25+ years of precious audio files. The goosebumps are still on my arms, just imagining this blood clot of horror, Nicolas.
Flipping through my color-coded journals gives me a lot of pleasure, strolling down memory lanes of yore. With 8 colors of ink, my searching is really quite easy.
Yes, here's to options that did not exist 40 years ago.
However, please remember what Oscar Wilde wrote:
"Always carry a diary. You will need something sensational to read in the train."
Wow. I may need to interview you about your process at some point.
How long have you been doing this? How far along are you? I presume it is a generally positive experience, or you would have jumped ship back to Scrivener or Plottr or something, right?
I keep thinking I will go back over to Scrivener, that I'm just outlining in excel, but I seem to be writing it there. At some point, I'll have to move things back to somewhere I can line edit better.
Hi Jamie - I love this idea of capturing key quotes and highlights. I am often inspired to write (mainly poetry, but some flash fiction too) from reading passages of work, and sometimes even from podcasts and radio broadcasts. I think I'd need to tweak your layout a little but it could really work for me.
My only fear is that I already spend a lot of time on tracking spreadsheets for submissions so this sounds like another (fun) way of avoiding the hard yards of actually doing the writing/editing!
Love this! I use Scrivener to capture my favorite phrases and this allows a way to tag them that feels more accessible for me than scanning a long list. Thank you!
Frankly my dear, this is a great idea. I'm too lazy and disorganized to read the article through yet, but I worked at a tech firm and I loved watching the engineers and developers, for whom all problems are simply things waiting for solutions.
I’m in awe of your dedication to your craft, but I don’t think this would work for me. I’d rather read a few lines by Hemingway or some other great writer and fire up my creative engines that way. A spreadsheet feels too much like an engineering solution to me.
This is great. I already do a similar thing in a different way, with a "Farley file for books & articles", but this approach has some strengths my own Farleyfile lacks. I'll experiment with it a bit (I just reactivated Notion a few weeks ago for a different purpose).
THANK YOU for sharing all this with us. I may quote and attribute you liberally in future articles of mine. ;-)
Good to see you on here Jamie! FYI, her writing prompts have inspired more than a couple of my stories.. would recommend subscribing - link is in her bio
Hi Jamie, nice to see you here. This is great idea. I've been keeping this in google docs and it's not organized and gets lost in the with everything else. I'll give Notion a shot. I'm seconding the recommendation to sign up for your writing prompts!
I feel ya. Not a spreadsheet person myself, either.
Have you tried Prezi? It's supposed to be "presentation software" but I find it super helpful for mind-mapping and developing ideas that might go in unexpected directions. Once you get a feel for it, it's magical.
Difficult to "download" though. You have to open Prezi every time you use it ...kinda like a spreadsheet in that regard. Except with magic.
I love this way of celebrating beautiful writing, highlighting favorite authors, and getting more out of the reading that we do!
I love this idea! I create spreadsheets for everything (just went back to a submission tracker in Excel because it's easier to use than Duotrope). I do read most books on my Kindle and take notes and highlight there. This will be so much fun to use, thanks!
"Fun," she says. Sending you a smile, Barbara.
Thank you!
I know I can't do all that, but I wish I could!
Keeping a daily writer's journal (my poet's diary = an annual hardback book with 400 pgs) will serve you well, Margaret. There are other options besides spreadsheets.
You know what Oscar Wilde always said about keeping a diary . . . . :-)
Wow! I've been doing the same thing since 1978 in my daily writer's journals - - except my hand-written notes are much more detailed. My notes list the publication / title / author - - then my attempts at writing something that follows the rhetorical example. I then immediately track the author - - well, not exactly the author, the POET, start reading more of his/her poetry.
Then I'll probably buy the poet's latest book, start reading the poems aloud to myself.
FYI: Experts say handwriting one's notes are more helpful than a copy-and-paste.
Yes, but they are not searchable.
That's the one and only reason I made the shift from my beloved bound journals and legal pads and butcher paper over to digital, years ago: the magic of effective search boxes.
(Still love personal journaling on paper, though!)
Ever had a case of "corrupted data" or a file that was rendered "unrecoverable"? In 2021, I lost a 37-page file that I'd been painstakingly working on for 2 years. "Corruption" crept in! It was GONE. Poof! I was shaken to my core & lost 3 days pleading with tech gurus who could not help. Boo-hoo. I still shudder to think of this loss.
No doubt some writers are "the spreadsheet type" and good fortune has preserved their files and they always work in front of a computer.
But I do not. I turn off my computer when I begin a first draft, writing on paper.
Thanks to my personal system of color-coded ink, I can "search" my journals at a glance.
This is not a method for everyone. I'm glad that options exist - - but I doubt that the spreadsheet method appeals to one and all either. :-)
Oy vey, you describe one of my worst nightmares. Yes, this happened to me once, but with audiofiles: recordings of all the talks I had given, and that I had attended (if I got the audio recording of it), over the course of 25+ years. This was gigabytes of data: the entire drive failed.
Since then I painstakingly follow Leo Laporte's advice about backups: one local backup drive (which is continuously updating, plugged into my computer), one off-site backup drive (a Synology NAS), and a cloud backup too (iCloud, in my case).
But "bit rot" is still a problem.
I can recover the *text* of my old Clarisworks files, but the few that contain *graphics* are un-openable now, even by software emulators that translate the text files beautifully. Only PDF and plain-text file formats seem impervious to this problem, as long as the backups are refreshed and error-corrected.
Anyway, I love your color-coded ink system, and I envy your ability to visually scan so quickly. And I'm glad there are good spreadsheet apps for those conversant with such magicks. ;-)
Yaay, options!
Data Rot! That is everyone's worst nightmare. OMG! The loss of 25+ years of precious audio files. The goosebumps are still on my arms, just imagining this blood clot of horror, Nicolas.
Flipping through my color-coded journals gives me a lot of pleasure, strolling down memory lanes of yore. With 8 colors of ink, my searching is really quite easy.
Yes, here's to options that did not exist 40 years ago.
However, please remember what Oscar Wilde wrote:
"Always carry a diary. You will need something sensational to read in the train."
:-)
Very, very clever. My (personal) scores: 10 for great idea, 2 for me being this organized.
thanks for sharing
Love this! I am writing a book in excel and I have felt so strange for using it in that way.
Writing a book—a full-length manuscript—in Excel?
Wow. I may need to interview you about your process at some point.
How long have you been doing this? How far along are you? I presume it is a generally positive experience, or you would have jumped ship back to Scrivener or Plottr or something, right?
I keep thinking I will go back over to Scrivener, that I'm just outlining in excel, but I seem to be writing it there. At some point, I'll have to move things back to somewhere I can line edit better.
Hi Jamie - I love this idea of capturing key quotes and highlights. I am often inspired to write (mainly poetry, but some flash fiction too) from reading passages of work, and sometimes even from podcasts and radio broadcasts. I think I'd need to tweak your layout a little but it could really work for me.
My only fear is that I already spend a lot of time on tracking spreadsheets for submissions so this sounds like another (fun) way of avoiding the hard yards of actually doing the writing/editing!
Love this! I use Scrivener to capture my favorite phrases and this allows a way to tag them that feels more accessible for me than scanning a long list. Thank you!
You're too much, Jamie Li! I just subscribed to your prompts to honor your energy.
Frankly my dear, this is a great idea. I'm too lazy and disorganized to read the article through yet, but I worked at a tech firm and I loved watching the engineers and developers, for whom all problems are simply things waiting for solutions.
This is great! Thank you for the spreadsheet AND the link to my Kindle highlights (I never knew!!).
I’m in awe of your dedication to your craft, but I don’t think this would work for me. I’d rather read a few lines by Hemingway or some other great writer and fire up my creative engines that way. A spreadsheet feels too much like an engineering solution to me.
This is great. I already do a similar thing in a different way, with a "Farley file for books & articles", but this approach has some strengths my own Farleyfile lacks. I'll experiment with it a bit (I just reactivated Notion a few weeks ago for a different purpose).
THANK YOU for sharing all this with us. I may quote and attribute you liberally in future articles of mine. ;-)
Good to see you on here Jamie! FYI, her writing prompts have inspired more than a couple of my stories.. would recommend subscribing - link is in her bio
Hi Jamie, nice to see you here. This is great idea. I've been keeping this in google docs and it's not organized and gets lost in the with everything else. I'll give Notion a shot. I'm seconding the recommendation to sign up for your writing prompts!
Thank you for sharing, I love this idea.
Spreadsheets? Uh, no thanks.
Exactly.
I feel ya. Not a spreadsheet person myself, either.
Have you tried Prezi? It's supposed to be "presentation software" but I find it super helpful for mind-mapping and developing ideas that might go in unexpected directions. Once you get a feel for it, it's magical.
Difficult to "download" though. You have to open Prezi every time you use it ...kinda like a spreadsheet in that regard. Except with magic.