HOW I WRITE – Part II
Well, first, a brief digression in re logistics, to answer Midge’s question as to how I handle all the bits and pieces. It’s pretty simple, really, but it works.
Having started writing far back in the mists of time, when DOS-based programs only allowed one to have an eight-character filename (with a three-character extension), all my filenames are in this basic form: [bookname/number][year symbol].[date], wherein the date is the date upon which I began writing whatever file this is. E.g., were I to begin a new scene for AN ECHO IN THE BONE today, the file would be named JAMIE7&.39. (The abbreviation for each OUTLANDER novel is “JAMIE” [g], and ECHO is the 7th book in that series. “&” is the symbol I’ve chosen to represent 2008 (2007 was “@”), and today is March 9. Ergo—JAMIE7&.39.) (This, btw, is how I happen to know that I began to write OUTLANDER on March 6 of 1988; the oldest filename I’ve had is JAMIE!.36. And no, I don’t have this file available anymore; it’s undoubtedly backed up somewhere, but it’s on a 5.25″ floppy disk, which is for all intents and purposes unreadable. It wasn’t a scene that made it into the finished book; just a half-page or so of a young man arguing with his sister while she chopped vegetables—just a place to start, in other words. So I’ve been at this for twenty years—my, time flies when you’re having fun! [g])
OK, so we’ve got filenames. Now, I never leave the computer without backing up what I’m doing to an external medium—these days, that’s usually a USB jump-drive. NEVER. (And I keep whatever word processor I’m using set to do automatic backups every 90 seconds; I hate losing work). But once a week, I set aside an hour or so to do formal housekeeping. This involves:
1. Making a P-file. This is a “printfile”—just a dump of whatever new work I’ve done during the week. No formatting, no nothing—I just pull all new files (or old files that I’ve worked on during the week) into a single file and print it off (with the date at the top) and put this in my hard-copy dump. I’ve luckily needed a hardcopy backup only once or twice in the last twenty years—but nice to know it’s there. Any electronic medium can be corrupted in the blink of an eye and without warning.
2. Updating the MFILE. This is the Master File; I have one for each book (or novella) I’m working on. All this is, is a listing of filenames, with a few keywords following it, which will let me locate a specific file. Here’s a brief sample:
JAMIE#.42 – Death of Simon Fraser (Wheatfield)
JAMIE#A.42 – same as #.42 (compare)
JAMIE7#.413 – Clouds in the water – follows “Laoghaire”
JAMIE7#.414 – fragment at
JAMIE#X.D8 – beer for breakfast
JAMIE7@.410 - Son of a Witch/Sanctuary
JAMIE7@.54 – Simon Fraser’s death – Claire/Dr. Rawlings – Willie’s hat
JAMIE7@.511 – fragment/image – rhythms of sex
JAMIE7A.511 – peelie-wallie, fragment – acupuncture
JAMIE7@.512 – fragment/image – Jem and gem, means of navigation
JAMIE7@.514 – Roger and the chapel (goes w/ @.410)
JAMIE7@.517 – Roger’s faith (goes w/ @.410/@.514)
JAMIE7@.519 – Claire and Dr. Rawlings, injury to hand (
JAMIE7@.524 – fragment – Roger’s faith/father decision (goes w/ @.410)
JAMIE7@.527 – “I’ll just mind it more” fragment
JAMIE7@.528 – numbness – “Bruise me”
JAMIE7@.64 – Lizzie’s Love-Knot (chapter title only)
[“fragment” means it’s not a whole scene, but is a partial scene, or perhaps just a kernel or an image that I wanted to catch, but either didn’t have time to develop, or it just didn’t expand at the time. Additonal letters like “A” or “B” mean it’s the second or third scene that I began on a given day (When I’m really rolling, I often have simultaneous things pop up), whereas an “X” means the scene exists under the original name, but something happened with the computer and it wouldn’t let me save a later version under the same name (Word occasionally corrupts its filenames, or takes exception to the original file having been written in Word Perfect, and won’t let me save unless I rename the file—so I use the original name with the addition of an “X”.).]
That’s about it. You notice that a couple of files in this listing note that they “go with” one or more other files. When stuff starts sticking together—or when I’m on a roll and writing sequentially—I get files that I know are part of the same bigger chunk. Eventually, all the smaller files get attached to one of the filenames, and that grows into a large piece of 10,000 words or more. At that point, it becomes a “chunk” [g], and I’ll likely save it as “CHUNK 2 (rev) – GREAT DISMAL” (for instance). When I have five or six chunks, I can usually arrange them in rough chronological order, and at that point, will probably have a decent idea of the timeline underlying the book. Often—though not always, I’ll also see the “shape” of the book at this point.
I have to go and buy bagels for lunch, so will post this for now. With luck, I’ll be back later tonight to resume—if not, see you tomorrow!
Hi Diana,
I’ll be interested to see if/how things change for you when you take on Scrivener. I’m still looking at it — it scares me a little, and yet I am SO tempted to give it a try…
~kc (on her BRAND new MacBookPro!)
Diana:
I am humbled.
Your mind functions so differently from mine; it is a blessing that you’ve a background in research and science because, IMHO, it would take a scientist to figure out your method. Or, are your methods of organization a result of your academic/research roots?
It is embarrassing for me to admit that all the fragments I’ve written are saved in individual, labeled files, all backed-up onto my secondary hard drive (built into my Intel iMac) and labeled flash drives. Real clean and simple. But then, I’m not writing great hunks of Literature, either!
Midge
PS: Like kc dyer, I’m interested in knowing whether you’re going to go with the Scrivener software. In your previous post, a person wanted to know how you organized yourself and I couldn’t recall the name, then, of Scrivener (thank you, kc dyer).
Diana:
PPS: How are you doing with your new MacBook Pro? Do you like it?
Midge
Hi again!
This answered my questions (Thanks to Midge and kc as well!) about organization. I’ve been wondering this for, oh, 4 years now, and I finally got the answers I wanted! Hooray! I’m actually looking into a MacBookPro and was wondering about word processors for a Mac (since I heard that was the only area in which they were lacking).
Gee. Two problems solved in less than 10 minutes. This is a good day. [g]
I’ve been organizing my own files similarly, but it never occurred to me to abbreviate so… simply. And then I have fragments that are from various versions of stories that I’ve scrapped and started over… it’s terrible! Spring cleaning is in order… but it’s rather daunting.
Thanks so much Diana! I have renewed hope now! Haha. Master File… you’re so smart [g].
kc–
I’m using it–though cautiously, and exporting everything I write on it (Scrivener, I mean) to a jump-drive in .rtf format, so I can get it back on the PC, if necessary. [g]
I haven’t yet had time to mess around with it in any of the truly interesting ways–joining up, splitting, shuffling files, etc.–but I _love_ the whole-screen view, with its adjustable type and paper-size.
Next thing is to make a new folder/directory into which I can convert all the JAMIE7 files (done with WP51) into .rtf equivalents, so that Scrivener can import these. _Then_ I can really start messing around. [g] (And Patrick from Books and Writers gave me a link to an excellent product that will do this sort of conversion on a whole directory full of files at once, rather than one at a time. I’ve bought and downloaded this, but haven’t yet had time to use it.)
Midge–
But there’s nothing at all complex about the organization! I’m doing just what you do [g]–tucking zillions of individual files away in a directory (or folder, if one thinks in Windows).
I just use the Master File as a tool to find which scene I want, when I need to glue them together. It’s nothing but a straightfoward listing of filenames and keywords, though. Couldn’t be cruder. [g]
Midge–
So far, I’m enjoying the MacBook, though I’ve been in and out so much the last two weeks, I’ve had limited time to mess with it.
I _hate_ Safari, but was able to download and install Firefox, which works much better.
And as I was telling kc, I’ve just begun to play seriously with Scivener, though I need to convert the two or three hundred WP51 files I have for JAMIE7, before I can try out some of its more intriguing capabilities.
I will never be without my FireFox! LOVE it!
As for your system….must be the scientist in you. You lost me after the third sentence!
The biggest reason though is, I write in a linear fashion so all of my things with the very rare exception of a tiny scene here or there that didn’t work one place in a chapter because of POV or the flow, gets saved as book title.chapter number and that’s it.
Then I back up everything on a flash drive every night. But, there are programs out there also that can recover documents that you think are lost forever. Thank God!
Thank you though, for a great lesson in how very unorganized my life is as a whole!
I could never be that precise…but then again, I wouldn’t remember what it was I’d saved anyway.
Dear Nightmusic–
I must be doing a bad job of explaining, because there really is _nothing_ complex about the organization.
Really. I do two things (well, three, if you include printing off stuff, but I imagine everybody does that):
1. Each file has a unique name that tells me which book it belongs to and when I began it.
2. There’s a Master File that lists all the files, and gives several keywords for each one. So if I want, for instance, the file about a conversation that takes place in a graveyard, I can open the Master File, type “graveyard” into the Search function of my word processor, and it pops up (say) JAMIE7#.222.
See? There’s _nothing_ complicated about this. Not a thing. Just a list of files and keywords so I can find the one I want.
It’s nothing to do with being scientific–it’s just…simple.
LOL, must just be that I understand explanations like your second one better than the first LOL
NOW I get it!!
And really, you could stuff the toe of your sock full of post it notes with all your little bits and pieces on them and file them in your sock drawer as long as you keep writing the way you do. You’re just such a wonderful read!
Diana,
It _is_ simple, which is why I wouldn’t have thought of it! I think I was trying to make something more complicated than it was. Long file names containing some sort of summary instead of simple file names and a master file that contains the summaries. I always have to open the file to remember what in the world it is.
So does everyone recommend a MacBook Pro (or general MacBook)? I was waiting because I wasn’t sure about word processors, since that’s mostly what I use day to day. Everyone I know has a PC laptop; I have no references! Sounds like everyone in here has one though… so I figure that’s a good sign. [g]
-Melissa
Okay, okay! I understood your second attempt more clearly than your first, so maybe nightsmusic and I have the same brain functions. And yes, I do think in Windows because I’ve never cared for Apple’s word program. Having an Intel iMac, I’ve downloaded Windows for Mac and also use Powerpoint and Excel. That’s why I was so curious about Scrivener.
Also, I use both Safari and Firefox — Safari is my default browser. I have to use Firefox to participate at CompuServe — I can read the discussions using Safari but CS doesn’t support it (I believe) for participation….. weird, I know.
Midge
PS: It’s so good to *hear* your voice again, Diana. We all missed you.
Well, thank God it wasn’t just me! LOLOL!!!!
I have a couple of questions about the multiple POV’s used in your books. It sounds like ECHO will have six major POV’s: the same ones you had in ABOSAA (Jamie, Claire, Bree, Roger, Ian) plus William’s. Juggling all six of them must get *very* complicated at times [g]. Do you make any particular effort to ensure that each one of these characters’ POV gets “equal time”, so to speak? I imagine that most of the time, you don’t consciously control that; the scene develops from a particular character’s POV, like Willie in the swamp, and you just follow wherever it leads. But I’m wondering if there are situations where several of the main characters are present in a given scene, and the scene could be written from multiple POV’s. How do you choose which character’s POV to tell it from?
I’m not a writer myself (nor even an aspiring one [g]), but I’ve been an avid reader all my life, and I think it’s fascinating to see how the process works.
Karen
Hi Diana,
One of the best decisions I made when I bought this MacBook was to also buy a peripheral hard drive. As soon as I plugged it in, Time Machine started backing up my MacBook hard drive, and does so again roughly every hour ever since — or whenever I plug the laptop back into it when I’ve been away. This means I don’t need the jump drive to save everything — a huge bonus for my memory-challenged state these days. I must troll back through your conversations with Patrick on B&W to find the name of the software that will convert en masse. I have a lot of Windows files that I would like to move to RTF.
I must say I am having a lot of fun with this new machine, though. I hope you get a bit more of a chance to play with yours in the next little while!
~kc
Diana-
How often do you go back to a piece that you’ve written, only to discover that the imagery or dialogue is not up to par? Sometimes when I write something, the blood is flowing properly to the grey matter, and the vocab and sentence structure is great. Then other times…well, it’s like English is a foreign tongue. Or does this problem fade over time, as you spend more time writing?
Dear Diana,
If only I’d known! I could have shipped you some Montreal bagels for Christmas/your birthday!
I do apologise for hijacking this thread, as it were, but being from Montreal (aka Only Place for Bagels) I must inquire where you get your bagels from and what they’re like
Deniz–
There’s a local chain of bagel/deli shops called Chompie’s that have terrific bagels–fresh and tasty.
Dear Melanie–
Well, see, I don’t do drafts, as such. I write reeeeeaallly slowly, fiddling as I go; taking words out, putting them back in, messing around with the structure of phrases, clauses, and sentences, etc.
So by the time I’m finished with a scene, it’s pretty much as good as I can make it. So no–if there were anything lacking in the English of a piece (so to speak [g]), I just couldn’t leave it.
This is not to say that I never change anything; when the pieces begin to stick together, there are always small tweaks–changes of season, timing, tiny physical things–necessary to make the larger piece internally coherent. And now and then I discover other things in the research that I think would improve a piece by being added, or changing something for the sake of increased accuracy. But no, I don’t usually look back and see anything horrible. [g]
Dear Karen–
Seven, actually [g]–Lord John, too.
Yes, occasionally I do need to consider who “owns” a scene. Generally, it comes clear fairly quickly; I just think about it from one person’s point of view or another–one of them “clicks,” and I can go from there.
There’s a sort of balance among the viewpoints, though it doesn’t amount to giving them all completely equal time. [g] Some storylines have more prominence than others, though, and usually one viewpoint character is much more vocal about a particular storyline than the other(s) involved in it. But the storylines in turn need to be balanced against each other–which is more prominent at a given time, and how often you switch from one to another depends on the underlying structure–the “shape”–of the book. And as I say, I won’t know what that looks like for a little while yet.